Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Interviewer Guidelines (These Are for You)
•
Conduct the interview in a well-lit room, separated from distracting noise, with a
large table and comfortable chairs.
You'll greatly enhance your chances of carry-
ing out a successful interview when you pay attention to atmosphere—you'll be
surprised how much of a difference this makes to the tone and energy of the meet-
ing. Use a well-lit room because it allows the participants to read your interview
materials very easily. A large table ensures that everyone has space to work, and
comfortable chairs keep them relaxed enough to concentrate on the conversation at
hand.
The business climate has changed considerably since I first wrote this topic and the
subsequent second edition. Many people are now conducting interviews and meet-
ings remotely via the computer and in more public places, such as restaurants or
the local Starbucks; these are all great options if you can't devise an appropriate
setting for your interviews. Many companies are more frequently moving certain
meetings off-site and into hotel conference rooms, after finding that it can be quite
advantageous and beneficial to get people away from their daily work environ-
ments.
•
Set a limit of ten people for each interview.
Limiting the number of participants
promotes a more relaxed atmosphere and makes it easier for you to encourage
everyone to participate. One problem you'll find in conducting an interview with a
large number of people is that the intimidation level of some of the participants
will rise in direct proportion to the number of participants taking part in the inter-
view as a whole. Some people are just afraid of looking ignorant or incompetent in
front of their colleagues, regardless of whether there's truly any justification for
such feelings. As such, you do have a very good reason to restrict the number of
participants in an interview.
•
Conduct separate interviews for users and management.
Separating the two groups
is a good idea for a variety of reasons, including the “fear factor” noted in the pre-
ceding item. Primarily, you want to separate them because each group has a differ-
ent perspective on the organization as a whole and how the organization uses its
data on a daily basis. Conducting separate interviews for each group allows you to
leverage their unique perspectives to your advantage as you work through the data-
base design process. Another reason for keeping the interviews separate is to elim-
inate the conflicts that can arise when these groups disagree about certain aspects
of the organization. It's quite common for there to be a lack of communication
between them and the odds are 50/50 that the interview will bring this problem to
the surface. This may impel them to establish better lines of communication or it
