When working with faculty [or others] who already have an online course/classroom, one of the first questions might be to ask, “How can I help you?”

Starting the conversation this way leads no where. The client I am working with can just say, “I think everything is OK” or “I just don’t know what to do.”

Instead I try to open the conversation with something like: “This is a [insert adjective and noun] here on this page and in this area.  How did you come about deciding to add this to your course?

Bam…now, I have paid attention to the professor/client and a rapport can be built.  They can talk about their online classroom/situation and we can both discuss what’s working and what  might need some tweaking.

When working with professors/clients/whomever, I always listen first and then ask open-ended questions  to generate empathy, trust, and most of all, learning…for both sides.