SUPERCHARGING YOUR DOCUMENTATION

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CAPTURING INFORMATION By Adrienne Bellehumeur

www.leadersinbusinessanalysis.com

This booklet covers Step 1 Capturing Information of the six-step documentation process (Step 1 – Capturing, Step 2

– Structuring, Step 3 – Presenting, Step 4 – Visual Documentation, Step 5 – Documentation for Effective Meetings,

Step 6 – Storing & Maintaining Information). This booklet provides some basic tips, techniques, approaches and

exercises for understanding and practicing how to capture information effectively.

WORKBOOK SERIES

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CHALLENGE

How to Capture Information Locked in People’s Heads

Capturing information is often for many organizations; one of the biggest challenges

is extracting information from the heads of their employees. How do we pull this

information out?

This is a challenge for organizations and

professionals because many interviewees do not

want to cooperate in the process. Their reasons

are usually;

(1) They don’t recognize the value of

documentation.

(2) They don’t like doing it.

(3) They don’t have time.

(4) They don’t know how to engage in the

documentation process.

(5) They feel threatened. (“Am I being evaluated)

Who might be your “problem” interviewees? You will find it hard to extract information in

organizations where documentation is new and not yet engrained in the corporate culture. You

may also have difficulty with employees who have been doing the same job or working on the

same system for many years or those who see little value in the documentation process.

Remember, these people will be challenging!

They will not want to give you information.

They will make it difficult to meet.

They will not always engage in meetings.

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SOLUTION:

Build Momentum Through a Writing & Review Process

The only truly effective approach for understanding how to get through

to difficult interviewees is by building momentum using a writing and

review process.

Traditionally, textbooks and consultants list

off a number of techniques such as

facilitated sessions, surveys and

questionnaires to pull out the information.

These techniques provide good ideas but, in

practice, they are ineffective on their own.

To extract information, you need to dive

into the writing process quickly to extract

whatever is relevant; put it on paper;

structure this information; and then send it

to the interviewee to provide feedback.

This simple process builds immediate

trust which brings momentum. Often, your

difficult interviewee is not used to seeing his

or her duties, experiences and advice written

down clearly and, after seeing the initial

input, becomes more engaged in the process

than you expected. There are interviewees

who will never write anything down for you.

But that does not mean that they won’t be

comfortable commenting, editing or even

stroking lines through substantial portions of

your notes to provide you with corrected

ones. Remember documentation is about

process, not perfection.

PERSONAL INSIGHT What are some situations that you have had that have been hard to document?

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QUICK TIPS:

Extracting Information from Difficult Interviewees

Use these quick tips for effective results

(1) Come Prepared with Interview Questions

Have a plan for what information you need to gather from your interviewee. Interview

questions will stop your meetings from turning into unproductive chat sessions.

(2) Set-up Interview

Difficult interviewees might try to make it impossible to meet. Ignoring your emails? Then

drop by their desk, call them, or catch them at the water cooler. Documentation experts

must be good at tracking people down.

(3) Find a way to Connect on a Personal Level You need to gain the trust of your interviewee through creating an environment of

respect. Strong interviewers take a genuine interest in their interviewee and the work

that they do.

(4) Have Your Interviewee Walk Through Their Process or System at a High

Level For the first meeting; be sure to focus on high level concepts. You can’t move forward

until you have these concepts nailed down.

BREAK THE ICE

List a few questions to help break the ice. Examples: How long have you been at ABC

Organization? Are you running the half marathon next month? Do you have a pet

Chihuahua too?

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Active Listening Techniques

It takes a lot of

concentration and

determination to be an

active listener.

Be deliberate with your

listening and remind

yourself frequently that

your goal is to truly hear

what the other person is

saying. Set aside all other

thoughts and behaviors

and concentrate on the

message.

Ask questions, reflect, and

paraphrase to ensure you

understand the message. If

you don't, then you'll find

that what someone says to

you and what you hear can

be amazingly different! See

the 4 Active Listening

Techniques on page 7.

(5) Get Your Interviewees to Draw

Drawing is a great technique for extracting information

especially when it comes to processes and data flows. If

your interviewee won’t draw, then you can draw out the

steps for them and encourage them to comment. These

drawings will become an essential part of your notes.

(6) Engage in Active Listening Techniques

Make sure that you have understood the key messages of

your interviewee by repeating the points back to them to

recap the meeting. Don’t be afraid to ask for them to

repeat what you have said.

(7) Create Effective Meeting Notes

After the meeting, complete comprehensive meeting

notes including diagrams and pictures. Include action

items which represent areas where information is missing,

decisions need to be made or items to be followed-up on.

(8) Send Notes in Less Than 24 Hours

Don’t ever delay sending your meeting notes – delay leads

to lost momentum. If you don’t have time to write

meeting notes, you shouldn’t be having the interview –

interviews are useless without written records.

(9) Provide Feedback on Notes in 48 Hours

To get your interviewee to engage in the process quickly,

encourage them to provide comments on your notes in 48

hours.

(10) Review the Edited Notes and Begin Follow-up on

Action Items

You have now started the documentation momentum.

This means that you have information to push you

forward. Continue to build on this information through

repeating the process as many times as is needed.

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EXERCISE:

15 Minute Practice Interview

Get a partner, preferably a co-worker, who is also

interested in improving his or her interviewing skills.

Choose a subject that your partner knows a lot about

and that you know very little about.

This exercise provides you with valuable insight into your own personal style for extracting and

capturing information from your interviewee. The added bonus is that you will get to know your

partner or co-worker better.

STEPS:

(1) Conduct a 15 minute interview with your partner trying to capture as much relevant

information about his or her subject as you can.

Examples

How to bake a pie

How to drive a

standard car

Traveling in India

The rules of croquet

How to ride a

motorcycle

How to sing opera

(2) After the meeting is over, spend 15 minutes creating notes, including visuals, from the

meeting.

(3) Present these notes and your understanding of the subject back to your partner.

(4) Switch roles and let your partner interview you on a subject that you know about and

that he or she knows little about.

(5) Discuss the results of this exercise, and provide comments in the following Interview

Results table.

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15 MINUTE INTERVIEW NOTES Key Points: Be sure to have the interviewee walk through the process and

focus on high level concepts first. Remember to use drawing as a way of

extracting information especially when it comes to processes and data flows and practice active

listening techniques listed on page 7.

Interviewee Name: Date:

Interview Topic:

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ACTIVE LISTENING TECHNIQUES Below are four techniques for active listening:

1. Paraphrase - Restate the same information the interviewee has said in different words.

2. Summarize - Reiterate and tie together key points from the interviewee’s discussion.

3. Clarify - Ask the interviewee to explain an element of the discussion that was vague.

Examples of clarifying questions include: I am not sure I quite understand; or do you mean

that?

4. Reflect - Reflecting is probably the most important listening technique. To reflect on

what the interviewee has said is to rephrase the affect, or feelings, within the interviewee's

message. Reflecting gives the interviewee the opportunity to hear his or her own thoughts

in a different way and helps the interviewee to ensure they are clear. Reflecting also helps

an interviewee feel that he or she is understood and that you have paid attention to what

he or she has said.

Active listening involves being truly engaged in an interviewee's message and listening

more than talking.

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INTERVIEW RESULTS: RATE THE INTERVIEWER’S SKILLS

RESULTS Low High COMMENTS

Rate the quality of the

interviewer’s questions?

1 2 3 4 5

Rate the interviewer’s skills for

extracting information from

them?

1 2 3 4 5

How were the interviewer’s

listening skills?

1 2 3 4 5

How was the quality of the

interviewer’s notes?

1 2 3 4 5

Are there any questions that

the interviewer’s missed or

other comments for

improvement?

1 2 3 4 5

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INTERVIEW RESULTS: RATE YOUR OWN SKILLS

RESULTS Low High COMMENTS

Rate the quality of your

questions?

1 2 3 4 5

Rate the quality of your skills

for extracting information from

them?

1 2 3 4 5

How were your listening skills? 1 2 3 4 5

How was the quality of your

notes?

1 2 3 4 5

Are there any questions that

you missed or other comments

for improvement?

1 2 3 4 5

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Requirements Interviewing Techniques

businessanalysisexperts.com/requirements-interviewing-techniques/

Questions for Eliciting Information

http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/what-questions-do-i-ask-during-requirements-

elicitation/