Chandresh Gujar

Hardik Shah
Yash
Ghelani
CRITICAL INCIDENT TECHNIQUE
 The critical incident technique is a qualitative
approach for obtaining specific , behaviourally
focused descriptions of work or other activities.
 The technique was originally developed as a training
needs assessment and performance appraisal
 Critical incident can be gathered in various ways , but
typically respondents are asked to tell an story about
an experience they have had.
4 Characteristics
 Specifi c

 Fo c u s on observable behaviours on the job

 Describe the content in which the behaviour
occurred
 Indicate the outcomes
LOOKING FOR A CRITICAL JOB….
 A critical incident must be sufficiently detailed so
that knowledgeable people will picture the same
incident as experienced by the individual.
 For example :
An extremely poor performance was provided by a
police office in describing an ex-partner. He wrote,
“while on duty this officer went out of his assigned
duty area, went into a bar ,got drunk, and had his gun
stolen.”
History of CIT
 The studies of Sir Francis Galton (1930) are said to
have laid the foundation for the Critical Incident
Technique, but it is the work of Colonel John C.
Flanagan, that resulted in the present form of CIT
 Flanagan's work was carried out as part of
the Aviation Psychology Program of the United States
Army Air Forces during World War II, where
Flanagan conducted a series of studies focused on
differentiating effective and ineffective work
behaviours.
Principle uses of CIT
 CIT major purpose is to develop
performance appraisal systems.
 CIT also helps for the development of customer
satisfaction
 CIT is also useful developing highly detailed selection
procedures such as assessment centres or behavioural
interviews (For e.g. Office dept. developed their
district mangers assessment method using CIT)
 C I T useful in variety of job- Air line Pilots, research
scientists, dentists , Life insurance Agents etc.
 ADVANTAGES OF CRITICAL INCIDENT
REPORTING METHOD OF APPRISAL
 Person’s calibre is best judged in critical conditions.

 As evaluation is incident specific,the rater bias is minimised.

 Feedbacks can help improve the employee performance.

 Greater role clarity and improvement of work methods.

 Identifi es near misses, which can have bearing on safety critical

applications.
 THE DISADVANTAGES…
 THE TERM ITSELF CRITICAL INCIDENT IS SUBJECTIVE.
 THELACK OF TIME OF THE RATER IS ONE MAJOR
HINDRANCE FOR CRITICAL APPRISAL.
 SOME OF THE MAJOR POSITIVE ATTITUDES LIKE
OBIDIENCE,FAITHFULNESS,HONESTY ETC ARE NEGLECTED
HERE.
 RELIESON MEMORY,SOME OF THE MAJOR INCIDENTS MAY
BE FORGOTTEN.
 UNLESSUSED FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTION,THE SCOPE IS
RATHER RESTRICTED.
HOW TO DESIGN THE
FORMAT?
STEP1:GATHER FACTS ABOUT WHAT ACTUALLY
HAPPENED…
- BEFORE
- DURING
- AFTER THE INCIDENT
STEP2: ANALYZE THE CONTENT
STEP3: INFER ABOUT HOW TO IMPROVE THE
PERFORMANCE
STEP1:GATHERING FACTS…
 OPEN ENDED QUESTIONNAIRE OR INTERVIEWS
CAN BE USED TO GATHER DATA.
 THE EVENT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED
RECENTLY,OTHERWISE THE USER WILL GIVE
IMAGINED STEROTYPICAL RESPONSE.
STEP2:ANALYZING THE CONTENT
 THE INCIDENTS ARE COMPILED INTO
CATEGORIES.CATEGORY MEMBERSHIP IS
MARKED AS:
-IDENTICAL
-QUITE SIMILAR
-COULD BE SIMILAR
THE PERCENTAGE RESPONSE IN EACH
CATEGORY IS CALCULATED AND A REPORT IS
PREPARED.
STEP3:INFERENCE AS TO
IMPROVE THE
PERFORMANCE
 POOR FEATURES AS WELL AS GOOD
FEATURES SHOULD BE ARRANGED IN ORDER
OF FREQUENCY USING THE NUMBER OF
RESPONSES PER CATEGORY.
 THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT LED TO EACH
CATEGORY OF CRITICAL INCIDENCE SHOULD
BE ANALYZED AND IMPROVED UPON.
 Thank you
for putting us in this
CRITICAL
SITUATION.