interviewing tips

[Miki Magyar <MDM0857 -at- MCDATA -dot- COM>]

Give what you want to get. Put yourself in the SME's place - harried, hassled, not enough time to do what's needed as it is. Now here comes this writer with questions - sheesh!

So - do your homework. Can you find the answer any other way, by actually using the widget yourself, looking at specs and requirements, or checking previous versions of the document? Only ask questions the SME alone can answer.

Don't waste valuable time - theirs or yours. Have a list of specific questions. Don't go in three times a day with one question, but rather once with three questions. Write them out, with enough context so the SME can understand why you're asking. Or copy the page of the document (or dump of the screen) with annotations. Leave the written questions if they prefer that to verbal Q&A. If the written questions is not clear enough that they can give you the answer you need, then you haven't thought it out enough. Or fill in the answers as you talk, then ask them to confirm you got it right by reading it back.

Be relaxed and friendly. If it's a bad time, reschedule. If they want to talk about fishing, listen. And always say thank you. Many times. Say specific things, like "You always explain things so clearly. /This is really going to improve the book. /The users are going to like this." At the end of the last project, I brought in a chocolate cake and invited everyone who had contributed to come have a piece. This was very popular!

Most SMEs will respect intelligent ignorance, but not laziness or incoherence. I try to let them know my intent is to bother them as little as possible, while getting what I need to make the docs work for the user. It's worked for me. Be the kind of interviewer you wouldn't mind talking to.

Hope this helps.
Miki
mikim -at- mcdata -dot- com


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