—— Knowledge Base ——
Structured Interview Guide
By Nolan Myers·
Practices
- Take all interview notes in a single notes file, or store them in a single folder. We utilize a Google Doc with a heading-level-2 title for each interviewee. Our naming convention for the headers is
@<date> <first-name> <last-name>. e.g. “@2024-10-14 Nolan Myers” - Record the interviews, with permission. Of course, do not record if the interviewee is not comfortable with it.
- Plan for each interview to take 45 minutes, but reserve 60 on the calendar. If your organization uses speedy meetings, plan for 40 and reserve 50.
Preparation (Prior to Interview)
- Add their name and date to your interview list
- Put the interviewee’s LI profile as the first line in their notes. Spend ~10 minutes prior to each call to review it to understand their context. Typical things to note:
- How long have they been in their role and with the company?
- What has been their career trajectory and how might this influence the perspective?
- Do they tend to be concise or verbose?
- Do you have any common touch points — experiences, schools, or people? These can be helpful to build rapport at outset
Script
Preamble
[7 mins.] This allows 2 minutes for interviewee to be late. Preamble should not take more than 5 mins.
| Spoken Text | Rationale and Considerations |
|---|---|
| Share some commonality or nicety, especially if you found one on LinkedIn. | Build some rapport, but briefly |
| Thank you for being with us today. | Always start with thanks. They are giving their time. |
This interview is part of our project to address [theme].Include project name, if appropriate. | Provide context as to why you are here. |
| We appreciate your input, and want to let you know that no comments will be shared with attribution. | Establish confidentiality. NB: do this only if you are confident you can honor this commitment! |
| Are you comfortable if we record the call? | Recordings are very helpful, but do it only when interviewee feels comfortable. |
Body
| Question to Ask | Interviewer Notes and Followups |
|---|---|
| Briefly describe your organization and role. [5 mins] | Establish rapport. Understand the context in which this person operates. Typical things to ensure are covered in their response: - For how long have they been with the company? And in this role? - What are their primary responsibilities? |
Describe what [theme] means to you. [5 mins] | This is a fairly general question and primarily to get their minds thinking about the theme. Interviewer Some followup questions might include: - Can you give me an example? - What does that look like? - How have you observed us doing this differently than in other places you’ve worked? |
Describe areas where you have seen challenges with [theme]. [10 mins] | Here you want to find specific anecdotes or facts that will contribute to evidence. Look for answers that give specifics around these areas: - Process - Tools - Organization / skills Some followup questions: - Can you give me an example? - How often do you experience this? - What is the impact on your team? On the business? |
| What are the root causes of those challenges? [10 mins] | |
| What would you recommend to improve the situation? [5 mins] | |
| Anything else you would like to share? [3 mins] |
Closing
[2 mins]
| Text | Rationale |
|---|---|
| [If applicable] We are in week __ of __ and expect to share more once our assessment is complete. | |
| Thank you. We really appreciate your time and valuable insights. |