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Have you ever run into a coworker in the breakroom and felt a little awkward or uncomfortable?

Maybe you felt like you should try to engage them in a brief conversation, but you didn’t know what to say.

Whether you cross paths in the hallway, are taking a quick break between meetings, or are pouring yourself a cup of coffee or refilling your bottle at the water cooler, you likely have plenty of opportunities to interact with your coworkers.

In these situations, it pays to be prepared with a simple but effective question:

What’s keeping you busy these days?

Since you’re at work, you probably feel like you should be busy completing assignments, so the word “busy” acknowledges the tasks on your to-do list and enables you to stay focused on work-related topics.

Beyond the office, this question is also appropriate for when you run into a friend or acquaintance that you haven’t seen in a while.

You may not know what’s going on in his or her world, so you can’t ask a more specific question.

If you’re not sure what to say, “What’s keeping you busy these days?” (or one of its variants) can get the conversation going.

Starting Conversations with Open-Ended Questions

“What’s keeping you busy these days” is a classic example of an open-ended question.

As with the question “What brings you here?”, you’re not guiding the conversation in a particular direction.

Instead, you’re giving the other person control of the conversation (which is actually a polite thing to do!).

They can decide how much information they want to share.

Their response will help you judge whether they’re ready to engage in conversation with you at this particular moment.

If so, you can start steering the conversation to other topics.

The Best Time to Ask “What’s Keeping You Busy These Days?”

As I mentioned above, you’re most likely going to ask this low-pressure question if it has been a few weeks or even months since you saw your friend or acquaintance.

(Same thing at the office; you wouldn’t ask this question if you just got out of a status meeting!)

If you *do* know what’s going on in the other person’s life or work, then you want to ask a question that’s a little more specific; this shows that you were paying attention.

Think of “What’s keeping you busy these days?” as an invitation to open up dialogue.

As the conversation evolves, you can ask more specific questions and steer the conversation towards other topics.

Keep Your Conversational Goal in Mind When Answering the Question

To create a strong response to “What’s keeping you busy these days?”, be sure to consider your goal for the conversation.

After all, your answer to this question is going to guide the conversation. No pressure, right?

I once had a client tell me, “My coworker keeps asking me what’s keeping me busy or what’s new with me. To be honest, I don’t have an interesting response! What’s keeping me busy is my child!”

I want to remind you that you DO NOT have to answer this question literally!

(Literally is when we share the precise, exact truth.)

In this case, a literal answer might be “I have a two year old, and he’s not sleeping. I’m staying up all night, I’m exhausted, and I hate my life!”

As you can imagine, it’s not usually necessary to share these personal details in the workplace.

Or you may not want to tell a casual acquaintance all about your frustrations or challenges.

Rather than answering with the 100% truth, remember your goal for this conversation.

What is necessary or appropriate to share with the other person at this moment in time?

This helps you craft a stronger answer that can get the conversation going.

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