Interview Tips for Authentic Conversation | The Data Coach

Transcript:

Lindsay: [00:00:00] The microphone is on, and I'm not going to mess this up for the third time today.

Hey everyone. My name is Lindsay. I'm The Data Coach, and today I'm gonna be sharing some tips with you for conducting successful interviews.

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Okay. Onto our tips. I love doing interviews because when they're done well, they're a great way to gather rich, detailed insights into a person's story, their experiences, their thought processes, and ideas. Interviews do what a survey can't, which is to fill in the [00:01:00] why. Behind someone's perspective.

I have a separate video about asking good questions, which I'll include in the description box, but this particular video is about how to create a safe, welcoming environment that will encourage your interview participant to share open and honest feedback with you, especially in cases where it may be risky for them to do so.

The first tip is to be as accommodating as you can. A lot of the times, I'm not just an interviewer, but I'm a facilitator of the process. So we wanna make it as easy as possible for people to participate in our interviews so we get the maximum number of participants. For example, if they wanna meet you at your office, great.

If they prefer a virtual setting, fantastic. If they want you to come to them, try to make it work. Do they need transportation help? Do what you can to get them from point [00:02:00] A to point B. Translation services? Let's get an interpreter in the room. Taking this kind of initiative

to meet people where they are is a great first step in building trust and rapport, which are critical for successful interviews.

Next, be intentional about the physical space. If you are conducting the interview in person, try to find a quiet private room with decent sound insulation. We don't want a situation where everyone who passes by can hear what's being said.

Plus a quieter space makes for better recording, which you should be doing for analysis purposes. It will make analysis easier as long as you have permission from your participant.

The same goes for virtual interviews. Your space should be quiet. It should be free from any distractions. You know, your pets are adorable, my pets are adorable, but you don't want your cat climbing across your desk in the middle of a [00:03:00] deep conversation.

If your participant is sitting in a cubicle or they're in a coffee shop or some other public space during your virtual interview, you can always allow them to use the chat function to answer your questions if that is easier for them.

Third tip, be a hundred percent clear on the steps you are taking to protect the person's privacy before you start the interview. Data privacy is always essential, but it is extra critical when interviewing someone, say during a strategic planning process or other process, where there is any perceived risk of retaliation. What I mean by that is that if a staff member has a lot of complaints or concerns about their supervisor's management style, they may be less likely to be honest about their concerns if they think their supervisor might end up seeing the interview transcript.

[00:04:00] So what can we do to ease people's concerns in these situations? Always remove individuals names, roles, locations, or any other identifying information from the transcripts. Limit the number of people who have access to the transcripts, such as the only person who will see it is the interviewer and your analyst.

Ask for permission before using any quotes from a transcript in a report or other deliverable anonymize, any quotes used in final reports. You can say things like one staff member said, one program participant reported. Being transparent about the steps we take to protect people's identities is another critical step in quickly building a trusting relationship with an interviewee.

Fourth, let people talk. One of the hardest things about doing interviews is balancing, letting people share their stories and ensuring that you cover all your questions in your allotted time. It is anxiety inducing [00:05:00] for sure, but over time you will learn to read body language, notice patterns, sort of trust your instincts to tell you when it's time to redirect.

After 15 years of practice, I can tell you that over time I've done less interrupting and more just letting people talk, and here's why. People have different ways of understanding the world and expressing their thoughts and feelings about it. Some are very direct in describing their experiences, while others are non-linear, full of similes and metaphors and twists and turns, and as I see it, my job is to hang on for the ride.

I want whoever is with me to feel comfortable being their full selves during their short time with me, and that means respecting all types of expression. Most times people will get to their point, and I just need to be patient. Plus allowing people the time to [00:06:00] express how they think about different situations can provide you with incredible data.

And if I'm running short on time, a gentle reminder about the original question, usually does the trick.

Finally, be available for follow up. I always invite interview and focus group participants to reach out to me after our session if they have any questions, comments, or thoughts that they didn't get a chance to share during the session or came up after we concluded our time together. Keeping the door open gives participants a second chance to share more insights with you and allows you to continue collecting data in a different format.

When I worked on a DEI evaluation a while back, I had a lot of neurodivergent participants take me up on this offer. So it's a nice way to give people more options and build inclusivity into your practice as well.

So that's it. Five tips for building rapport trust in a comfortable interview [00:07:00] environment. If you have tips that you'd like to share, please leave them in the comments so we can all learn from each other. Thanks again for watching and we'll see you next time. Bye.