Consulting
Interviews
Team
Always interview with a min of 2 consultants in the room
One to lead the conversation
One to take notes and get clarity
Keep the ratio of consultants to clients to less than or equal to 2-1. Two consultants and one client is okay, but no more than that. 2 consultants to more than 3 clients is no longer an interview and should be treated as a working session or workshop. If there are more than two consultants in the room, the note taking rule still applies. Anyone not leading the conversation takes notes.
If this is a workshop or working session because of the number of clients in attendance, engage the PM to attend and assist in the documentation process.
Process
Prepare
Plan and prepare for the interviews
Align all interviews with the desired outcome or deliverables that needs to be created.
Prepare a set of topics and questions that are the focus of the interview
Questions can be broken into topics
Topics can be lead by the lead interviewer or the two consultants can take turns in the role of interviewer/note taker based on assigned topic
Align interview questions based on the current hypothisis associated with the topic(s) that will be discussed in the interview.
Set aside the proper amount of time per resource for the process of each interview/workshop. The standard ratio for an interview is 4:1:2 as a guideline is:
- 4 hours of preparation for the meeting.
- 1 hour meeting/interview.
- 2 hours of post meeting analysis and documentation.
If appropriate and beneficial to the interview, provide the client with some topics or high level questions that will be discussed to help them prepare.
Plan the interview execution.
The two interviewers should determine who will ask which questions.
Plan the transition of questing back and forth including exactly how you will do the handoff. How will each of you know when to hand off or when to take over.
If it is a complex conversation, or there are materials to review, do a mock run of the interview or meeting.
Peform Interview
Stay focused
The consultant in the note taking role is responsible for making sure all the topic questions the interviewer needs to ask get answered.
As the note take, prompt the interviewer appropriately about any missed questions so they can ask them. Help keep them on track.
Introductions and expectation setting
Whoever is the first interview should perform the meeting introductions
Introduce the interviewers
Review the purpose of the meeting and the desired results, outcome, benefit of the meeting.
Review the topic to be discussed
Close the meeting
Client
Review what was covered.
Review any follow-up work.
Discuss any next steps for the project as appropriate.
Thank them for the time.
Recap with the Project Team
PMO
Account Team (if appropriate)
Delivery Team
Document
Pre-Interview
Document the hypothisis for the topics being discussed.
Document the questions that will be reviewed.
Post-Interview
Document the results of the meeting aligned by topic/question
Document analysis and changes to the hypothesis
Methodology
EDGAR
Hypothesis Approach
Define project problem statement (from SOW)
Define project objectives (desired outcomes)
Formulate Initial Hypotheses
Subject Area 1 Problem Statements
Hypothesis 1
Subject Area 2 Problem Statements
Hypothesis 2
Subject Area 3 Problem Statements
Hypothesis 3
Example Hypothesis:
Problem Statement:
The current network lacks sufficient redundancy, which could lead to significant downtime in the event of a hardware failure or network disruption.
Hypothesis:
The current network may lack sufficient redundancy, risking significant downtime during hardware failures or disruptions.
Validation Steps:
Inventory Review: Document all existing redundancy mechanisms, such as backup links, redundant hardware, and failover protocols.
Configuration Analysis: Examine network configurations to ensure redundancy features are correctly implemented.
Simulation Tests: Conduct failover and redundancy tests to see how the network responds to simulated failures.
Downtime Analysis: Review historical data on network outages to identify patterns and assess the impact of redundancy mechanisms.