Conduct an Effective Interview As you learned in this chapter, gathering information is a critical element in system development, because without accurate facts, it is unlikely that the finished system will perform in the desired manner. An important means of gathering information is the personal interview. Interviews are used in several stages throughout system development, and they must be thorough and comprehensive. Prior to conducting an interview, you must determine that an interview is the best means for obtaining the information you seek. You have learned a variety of ways to obtain information, and you should use each of them appropriately. Because an interview interrupts a person's work and takes time, you must be sure the information gained in the interview justifies this interruption. Once you have determined you should conduct an interview to gather information required for system development, a variety of factors become relevant. Goal: The most important element of a successful interview is for you to determine exactly what knowledge you hope to gain as a result of the interview. If you do not have a goal, you are unlikely to emerge from the interview with much useful information. Do Your Homework: You should complete a variety of preparatory steps that will help ensure a successful interview. These steps include the following:
1. Gather as much information as you can from the fact-gathering processes that do not require an interview. Because an interview takes a person's time and interrupts work, you must be sure the information you are seeking is not available from other sources. Additionally, if you ask someone questions to obtain information they know is available elsewhere, you will lose credibility with them during the interview process.
2. Be sure you plan to interview the best person to obtain the information you need. To do this, you must research every person you plan to interview and understand their job, their posi tion within the department in which they work, the knowledge they should possess relative to the information you need, the culture of their work environment, how the system being developed relates to them, and an estimate of the cooperation you can expect from them. If someone is the most knowledgeable person regarding a certain subject but is unwilling to share information other than with trusted coworkers, you likely will be better served by talking to someone else.
3. Prepare the questions you want to ask prior to setting up the interview. In this way, you can have a good estimate of the time required for the interview. While other questions will occur to you as the interview proceeds, you should have a good idea of the questions you need answered to reach your goal.
4. Prior to setting an appointment for an interview, be sure the management personnel of the people you will interview have approved. Because you will be disrupting employees' work days, you must obtain management approval before even asking for an appointment. Make an Appointment: An appointment almost always is required. By making an appointment, you ensure the person to be interviewed will be available. Normally you should request an appointment in writing, often through the use of e-mail. In this written request, you should set a time and place for the interview, inform the interviewee what you need to know, and establish an agenda with an estimated time. You must recognize that most people do not like to be interviewed, so often you will not be seen as friendly. In addition, it might be possible that the system being developed could eliminate or change the person's job, and clearly this can establish an adversarial relationship. Your task when making an appointment, then, is to establish credibility with the interviewee and set the stage for a successful interview. Conduct the Interview: When conducting an interview, remember that you are the "intruder." Therefore, you should be polite, prompt, and attentive in the interview. Always understand the perspective of the person being interviewed and understand his or her fears, doubts, and potential hostilities. Sometimes, the interviewee might feel he or she is in conflict with you, so by listening closely and being aware of the body language, you should be able to discern the amount of truth and the amount of hedging that is occurring. Some of the details of the interview of which you should be aware are as follows:
1. If possible, the interview should be conducted in a quiet environment with a minimum of interruptions.
2. The demeanor should be open and friendly, but as noted you should not expect to be welcomed with open arms.
3. Your questions should directly address the goals of the interview. Do not expect the person being interviewed to provide a tutorial. Your questions must generate answers that supply your information.
4. Your questions should be thought-provoking. Do not ask questions requiring a yes or no answer. Your questions should not lead the interviewee to an answer - rather, the questions should be open-ended and allow the person to develop the answer. As an interviewer, you never should argue with the person being interviewed, you should not suggest answers or give opinions, you should ask straightforward questions rather than compound questions, you never should assign blame for any circumstance that might come up in the interview, and you must never interrupt while the person is talking. Finally, you, as the interviewer, should not talk much. Remember, you are conducting the interview to gain information and it is the person you are interviewing who has that information. Let him or her talk.
5. Listen carefully, with both your ears and your eyes. What you hear normally is most important, but body language and other movements often convey information as well. Concentrate on the interviewee - expect that you will make much more eye contact with the person than he or she will with you. Allow silences to linger - the normal impulse in a conversation is to fill the silence quickly; in an interview, however, if you are quiet, the person being interviewed might think of additional information.
6. As you listen, concentrate on the interviewee - when points are being made, do not take notes because that will distract from what the person is saying - stay focused. When the information has been conveyed, then jot down something so that you will remember.
7. Throughout the interview, offer reinforcing comments, such as, "The way I understand what you just said is ..." Make sure when you leave the interview there are no misunderstandings between you and the person you interviewed.
8. Before you conclude the interview, be sure all your goals have been met. You likely will not have another opportunity to interview the person, so ensure you have nothing further to learn from the person. Follow-Up: After the interview, it is recommended you send a follow-up letter or e-mail message to the person you interviewed to review the information you learned. This document should invite the interviewee to correct any errors you made in summing up your findings. In addition, for all the people you interview, keep a log of the time and place of the interview. In this way, if any questions arise regarding the interview, you will have a log.
Exercise
1. Using the techniques in this activity, conduct interviews with three students on your campus. Your interview goal is to find out about both the most successful class and the least successful class the student has completed. Why was the class successful or unsuccessful? Discuss the instructor, textbook, subject matter, and other relevant items. After the interviews, write a one-page paper summarizing your findings and identify common elements found in successful classes and in unsuccessful classes. Submit this paper to your instructor.