Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Contents
Types of interviews Three steps in successful interviewing
Rapport
Questioning Interview review
The interviewee
Dos and donts Further assistance
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Interviews
Interviews are in essence guided dialogues to gain information, made effective by using a well prepared interview guide.
Some examples are:
Requirements gathering interviews Post implementation review interviews Job and team selection interviews Performance review interviews Exit interviews
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Interview schedule
Interview guides
Interview
An interview guide should be created prior to all interviews to ensure the interviews are focused and efficient and enable comparison and summarisation.
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Rationale
Date
To understand R&D strategy 25/4 and get future R&D expenditures To get facts on competitor Xs latest development. In particular: Potential customers Our position 27/4
Roy Wilkinson
Bob Johnson
Lab assistant
An interview schedule is helpful, to track who is going to be interviewed, when and why.
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Identify what the objectives of the interviews are, what information you need to find out and therefore what areas of the business you need to obtain information from. Identify who needs to be interviewed to obtain this information. Create an interview schedule, allowing time to review and record notes between interviews. Book the interviews and record them in the schedule.
To make the most out of an interview, a well thought through interview guide is extremely helpful.
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The interview guide enables standardisation of interviews for effective comparison and summarisation
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Interview execution
Interviews are exceptionally rich sources of information. However, no two interviewees are alike: some tend to ramble, others are suspicious and curt, some will need only the slightest encouragement to speak their minds, while others will have to be guided along. The interviewers job is to conduct the interview to gather the information required, which takes skill, practice and structure. Once you have concluded your interviews, they must be summarised to yield the big picture. Your questions should therefore allow for valid comparison and summarisation of your interviewees viewpoints.
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Conduct at their place of work where possible Always state the reason for the interview and how it will be conducted Put the interviewee at ease Ask the interviewee if they agree to you taking notes Body Listen to the answers and request clarification if necessary Avoid making criticisms or taking sides Keep control of the interview: refocus the interviewee if they are rambling or clarify if they misunderstood the question Stay focused and follow your interview guide Allow the interviewee to ask questions
Wrap-up
Thank the interviewee Advise them what the next steps are and the timeframe
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Build rapport
Your interview needs to balance the building of rapport and collecting of required information. Introduction Gain rapport first. Explain the context, set the tone, and make the interviewee feel at ease. The introduction serves to: Introduce yourself Gauge the interviewees style, expectations and concerns Confirm the timeframe Sequence the interview items Items should be ordered by importance and sensitivity. The more sensitive your interviewee, the more important it is to avoid an inquisitorial interview tone. A non-threatening format for interviews involves the careful arrangement of interview topics: General before specific External before internal
Ask closed questions To elicit a specific reply: use this type of question sparingly to avoid appearing as an interrogator ask in order to understand rather than impress be concise
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Open questioning
Examples: So what do you enjoy about the role?
You may lose control May use up too much time Interviewer may appear unprepared Harder to analyse later Lower reliability of data
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Closed questioning
Examples: Is the new form better or worse than the old form?
Disadvantages
Can be boring for interviewees Doesnt provide the opportunity to qualify answers You may miss other areas
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Probe questioning
Probe questioning is honing in on a particular area of interest and drilling down to obtain more detail. It includes asking for more information to clarify a vague phrase or statement made by the interviewee such as quite high or often late. Probe questioning needs to be balanced with open and closed questioning to avoid the interview seeming like an interrogation. Examples: How does that happen?
How did that change impact your department? What specifically do they do as a result of that?
Advantages
Disadvantages
Provides data on new aspects Supplies detail in context Shows interest in conversation
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Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is a technique used to confirm or clarify something the interviewee has said or implied. There are three levels of paraphrasing: 1. The first level confirms or clarifies expressed thoughts and feelings, for example: so there are three factors that determine the present situation 2. The second confirms implied thoughts or feelings, for example: so you would really like to change this situation 3. The third surfaces core thoughts or feelings, for example: you are afraid that it might make things worse for you or so you think the strategy is wrong (Note that with paraphrasing of feelings you can trigger a strong emotional response particularly with this third option )
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Interview review
A standard interview note format is useful in orienting interviews to results:
Key Steps Format
Write interview notes as soon as possible after the interview Outline key findings, note emerging hypotheses Consider how findings fit with earlier evidence Identify gaps to be filled in subsequent interviews
DISCUSSION NOTES
NEXT STEPS
Interview notes are valuable when sharing information with other team members.
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Overwhelmed by you
Protecting others Exaggerating the immediate problem Overestimating the importance of the job telling you what they think you want to hear
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Did not make an appointment Arrived late Was rude Exhibited one upmanship Did not explain the purpose of the interview Did not explain the scope of interview Used jargon Became confrontational Was inconsiderate Talked down to the interviewee Abruptly ended the interview Did not explain what happens next
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Do not
Arrive without warning Forget interviewees name or role Show off Criticise Interrupt Be impatient
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Do
Create rapport Make notes Be sincere Be objective Be courteous Verify your findings Separate fact from fiction Pitch the interview at the right level Keep within the scope of the interview Establish the option to ask follow up questions Wrap up the interview and thank the interviewee
for their time.
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Further assistance
For additional supporting guides refer to:
Guide to communicating
Guide to requirements gathering Guide to conducting meetings and RAP sessions
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