Interview Guides for Consulting Engagements

Interviews are the primary tool for understanding organizational reality. They reveal what actually happens (vs. what's supposed to happen), uncover pain points and workarounds, surface political dynamics, and build relationships with key stakeholders. Good interviews are disciplined and structured; poor interviews are rambling, biased, and generate unreliable insights. This skill covers designing, conducting, and synthesizing interviews.

Interview Types

Discovery/Diagnostic Interviews

Purpose: Understand current state, identify pain points, establish baseline understanding Duration: 45-60 minutes Frequency: 20-30 interviews across organization Who to interview: Cross-functional representatives—finance, operations, IT, customers, suppliers, frontline staff Question style: Open-ended, exploratory, hypothesis-generating Output: Pain point inventory, process understanding, organizational dynamics, hypothesis validation

Use when: Starting an engagement, need to understand lay of the land, validate scoping assumptions