You need as a consultant to gather information directly from your client in almost every project. I recently interviewed 22 people within a week and needless to say it was consuming, but it's basically the best way to gather the information needed for the diagnosis.
First of all, it's crucial to be prepared before conducting an interview, and once it's done, to quickly prepare a report. In between, you must ask the best possible questions in order to gather as much information as possible.
Here few tips you can remember while conducting the interview:
1. Make sure your interviewee is aware about the scope of the project before the meeting by sending them a project description and the topics of the conversation. They will come better prepared.
2. Avoid asking questions you can answer yourself by just searching online or by reading their previous reports.
3. Start by laying out the different subjects you are interested to talk about with your interviewee. It reminds them about what it's expected from them to talk about during the interview.
4. Keep you questions as much open-ended as possible and avoid asking multi-choice or closed questions. It will help you get more insights.
Bad: "You think the main issue with ... is ... or ...?"
Good: "What are the main issues with ...?"
Bad: "Would you do that again?"
Good: How would you react in the same situation again?"
5. Don't ask for permission. It will tell them you are expecting answer, but not just hoping for one.
Bad: "Can you please tell me about..."
Good: "Tell me more about..." (politely)
6. Have a sheet open with all the questions and their answer fields ready to be filled. When you ask open-ended question, you will probably get the answers to other questions you were planning to ask about later. Take note and you will save yourself time and efforts without interrupting your interviewee.
7. Dig dipper when you hear something interesting. Not only you will get to learn more, but also you interviewee will feel you are actually listening.
I hope you found this helpful. Please leave a comment below if you have any question or any recommendation to share.
You can follow me on Twitter and add me on LinkedIn.
First of all, it's crucial to be prepared before conducting an interview, and once it's done, to quickly prepare a report. In between, you must ask the best possible questions in order to gather as much information as possible.
Here few tips you can remember while conducting the interview:
1. Make sure your interviewee is aware about the scope of the project before the meeting by sending them a project description and the topics of the conversation. They will come better prepared.
2. Avoid asking questions you can answer yourself by just searching online or by reading their previous reports.
3. Start by laying out the different subjects you are interested to talk about with your interviewee. It reminds them about what it's expected from them to talk about during the interview.
Bad: "You think the main issue with ... is ... or ...?"
Good: "What are the main issues with ...?"
Bad: "Would you do that again?"
Good: How would you react in the same situation again?"
5. Don't ask for permission. It will tell them you are expecting answer, but not just hoping for one.
Bad: "Can you please tell me about..."
Good: "Tell me more about..." (politely)
6. Have a sheet open with all the questions and their answer fields ready to be filled. When you ask open-ended question, you will probably get the answers to other questions you were planning to ask about later. Take note and you will save yourself time and efforts without interrupting your interviewee.
7. Dig dipper when you hear something interesting. Not only you will get to learn more, but also you interviewee will feel you are actually listening.
I hope you found this helpful. Please leave a comment below if you have any question or any recommendation to share.
You can follow me on Twitter and add me on LinkedIn.
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