Root Cause Analysis Eyewitness Interview Guidelines

Understand their Perspective

• Who is this person (name, function)?

• Learn a little more about their background.

• Where were they physically standing (sitting, etc.) as an eyewitness?

• If they were not immediately aware of the incident, how did they become aware?

• If they were not immediately present, when did they arrive?

• Who else was present?

Take them Step-by-Step through their involvement, capturing their Senses.

• note 1:  Let them lead you.  Do NOT lead them.

• note 2:  When they mention any of their senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste), slow down and probe them.

• Tell the person that you'd like to take them step-by-step through their involvement in very small steps.

• Tell them to start before the incident.  Use your judgment as to minutes, hours, or days before the incident.

• Start the questioning with either:

  • "What happened first," or

  • "What did you do first?"

• The standard follow-up question is always:

  • "And then what?"

• Exceptions to the standard follow-up question:

  • If you do not understand why they did something, ask "why did you do that?"

  • If they mention anything about their senses, slow down and probe all their senses.

• Do your best to capture a time-line as the interviewee is explaining the above sequence.

Ask them WHY they think the incident occurred.

• Be curious.

• Probe each of their responses.

• Ask them why they think what they think, i.e., listen for any evidence that might have lead them to their conclusions.

• Ask them "what were the warning signs?"  There are always warning signs.

Probe their Latency Issues.

• Tell the interviewee to forget about this particular incident.

• Ask him/her to think about their role, in general.

• Say "I wonder what it's like being you, in your role?"  Tell them "I'd like to understand what it might feel like to walk in your shoes during a typical day."

• After they think about it for a while, say "Are there any general frustrations about being you (in your role) that you can share with me?"  This is called the "As-Is" state.

• After they tell you about a frustration, say "How would you like it to be," or, "what would it look or feel like if this frustration was not present?"  This is called the "As-Desired" state.

• Capture the "As-Is" versus "As-Desired" for each frustration.

• Finally, ask them to think about the incident again -- and then rate each frustration for its influence on the incident (0 to 5, 5 high).  Make sure you understand the reasoning behind their ratings.

Summarize the interview with the interviewee. 

• Re-state what you learned from the interviewee.  Allow the interview to make corrections if needed.