By Thomas Murphy, 4/25/2015 1

Document Maintenance, Inc.

How to Interview People Who Have No Time to Talk with You Situation: You are a technical writer. Your deliverable is a user guide, and you need information

from a programmer. He is too busy to talk with you. His boss thinks he is too busy to talk with you. You are supposed to figure everything out by yourself, which of course, you can’t.

Mythology: There is some implied mythology here. First of all, programmers and project managers

seem to think that technical people do not eat, sleep, or discuss babies or football during working hours, and that they do not surf the Internet or play Solitaire or Free Cell. They code 10-12 hours per day, of course. This is mythology, pure and simple.

Issues: Some of the issues going on here that make the interview so difficult are that the

technical person may have “issues.” One issue is that IT people are notoriously security conscious about losing their positions. They fear if they write anything down, the company will not need them. They may also be somewhat self-conscious about talking to writers if English is their second language. Also, they may feel pressured to always be coding in case the Project Manager comes around.

Solutions: First, you must gain the trust of the technical person. You must be a nice and likable

person. If you are confrontational, things will be very difficult. The technical person may deliberately sabotage your work by leaving key things out of the interview.

Second, you must be a “promise-keeper” and be punctual. If you say the interview will

last 30 minutes, make sure you end it at the half-hour. If you say you will have a draft for review the next day, be sure you do that.

Third, you must convince the technical person that it is in his or her best interest to meet

with you. Stress to them that if you don’t do the writing, he or she might have to do it as the last thing in the project, after the coding is done. You are selling salvation, here, and the technical person must realize it.

Strategy: The most successful technique I have discovered is to record the interview. Nothing

fancy is needed, just a garden-variety (but reliable) recorder will do (I use one that records directly into MP3 format). Have headphones, and transcribe the interview. Depending on the details of the interview, you might have to transcribe it word-for-word. This is tedious, but well worth it. You can estimate that it will take about four hours for each 30 minutes of interview time. (Using Dragon Naturally Speaking can cut this time by 50-60%)

Schedule the interview to last only 30 minutes, and end it then. If the technician feels

like talking more, remind him or her that the interview is over, but if they can spare more time, you really appreciate it the extra effort.

Be sure to conduct the interview in neutral territory. Avoid the technician’s office or

cubicle. They will take calls, read Emails, etc., while you are talking. Find a conference room or vacant office or lounge area.

By Thomas Murphy, 4/25/2015 2

Document Maintenance, Inc.

Produce the transcript of the interview as soon as possible. Try to do it within 24 hours,

so that the interview is fresh in both your minds. DO NOT just leave it on the desk or send it through Email. Schedule a follow-up editorial session, again limited to 30 minutes. Read over the write-up line for line with the technician, and change it as necessary. Give the corrected copy to the technician (and copy in the project manager), and move on. Make sure that you remind the technician that the interview took a total of one hour from their busy lives. See how painless it was? There will be much less resistance the next time.

Repeat the process as necessary. Techniques: What do you do if the technician will not meet with you? Well there are several

possibilities: One, offer to meet the technician any time, day or night. (I once interviewed a

technician at 2:00 a.m.) This might not be as convenient for you as you might hope, but it will pay off in the long run. You can also point to your efforts when the Project Manager asks for progress.

Offer to meet the technician for lunch, breakfast, or dinner. I would normally pick up the

check, and this makes for good cooperation. You will recover the costs down the line with repeat work and good cooperation.

When you meet with your interview subject, have coffee or snacks available. This

works surprisingly well. (A colleague of mine used Dove ice cream bars to great results!)

When you schedule meetings, send an Email and copy in the Project Manager. Keep

records of your efforts to make contact, as you might be asked if progress is slow. Ask for help from the Project Manager, only as a last resort. Keep on good terms with

the technician, peer to peer. Beware of sabotage. These techniques evolve from many years of not getting the interview in a timely manner. These techniques can also apply to other interview situations, not necessarily technical. Be nice, but be persistent!