Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Adaptive Training on Interview Techniques
On Monday (5/3/07), I completed step 2 of the TNA project I mentioned a few posts back.
Step 2 is to interview Head of Department (Step 1 is interviewing the General Manager). I interviewed 6 HOD, with half-an-hour each.
Let me share my experiences in conducting a successful TNA interview.
Firstly, you must prepare or structure your interview questions. I used all open-ended questions. Some literature will call this as semi-structured questionnaires.
Secondly, you must remember that what you are trying to do is to collect information on behaviours required, gaps compared to current abilities and then what knowledge and skills people need to develop to be able to close these gaps.
Thirdly, be confident, and use active listening technique always. The art of getting the interviewee at ease is crucial to create an open & trusting environment so that there is free flow of information. Problem is you only have the first 2 minutes to achieve that. Two key thoughts:
1) Ask the question
2) SHUT UP and LISTEN!
Fourthly, record the key points of the interview.
Fifthly, look out for hidden rocks. Observe the body language of the interviewee, the tone of their voice, and other non-verbal signals. You may need to dig and probe to uncover the rocks below. The "truths" could be the crucial information to bring a good programme to become a great one. However, you should only concern about matters pertaining to "training". Don't waste time on other non-training issues.
Lastly, remember the objectives of the interview. The session is not for small talks. Be focus. When it is time for the last question, mentioned that to the interviewee. At the completion of the last question, thank the interviewee, shake his/her hand, and say good-bye.
The session should not take more than 45 minutes.
Note that I only used two methodologies (interview & workshop) for the TNA project. There are others methods you can use, like written questionnaires, phone interviews and even observations. Each method has its pros and cons. But I would advise you to only employ two methods in a project to avoid confuse the hell out of yourself.
Step 2 is to interview Head of Department (Step 1 is interviewing the General Manager). I interviewed 6 HOD, with half-an-hour each.
Let me share my experiences in conducting a successful TNA interview.
Firstly, you must prepare or structure your interview questions. I used all open-ended questions. Some literature will call this as semi-structured questionnaires.
Secondly, you must remember that what you are trying to do is to collect information on behaviours required, gaps compared to current abilities and then what knowledge and skills people need to develop to be able to close these gaps.
Thirdly, be confident, and use active listening technique always. The art of getting the interviewee at ease is crucial to create an open & trusting environment so that there is free flow of information. Problem is you only have the first 2 minutes to achieve that. Two key thoughts:
1) Ask the question
2) SHUT UP and LISTEN!
Fourthly, record the key points of the interview.
Fifthly, look out for hidden rocks. Observe the body language of the interviewee, the tone of their voice, and other non-verbal signals. You may need to dig and probe to uncover the rocks below. The "truths" could be the crucial information to bring a good programme to become a great one. However, you should only concern about matters pertaining to "training". Don't waste time on other non-training issues.
Lastly, remember the objectives of the interview. The session is not for small talks. Be focus. When it is time for the last question, mentioned that to the interviewee. At the completion of the last question, thank the interviewee, shake his/her hand, and say good-bye.
The session should not take more than 45 minutes.
Note that I only used two methodologies (interview & workshop) for the TNA project. There are others methods you can use, like written questionnaires, phone interviews and even observations. Each method has its pros and cons. But I would advise you to only employ two methods in a project to avoid confuse the hell out of yourself.
# posted by Dr Roland Chia @ 8:45 PM 
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