to them. • Acquire (first-stage thinking) . The second step is information gathering. Concentrate on finding out as much as possible about the matter, as the interviewee sees it. Your task is to listen. Ask questions only to keep the interview on course or to encourage the interviewee further down a useful road. Take care not to judge or imply that you are making any decision. • Supply (second-stage thinking). Now, at the third step, the interview has moved on from information gathering to joint problem solving. Review options for action. It’s important at this stage of the interview to remind yourselves of the objective that you set at the start. • Part (second-stage thinking) . Finally, make a decision. You and the interviewee work out what you have agreed. State explicitly the interview’s outcome: the action that will result from it. The essence of the parting stage is that you explicitly agree what is going to happen next. What is going to happen? Who will do it? Is there a deadline? Who is going to check on progress? What about after the interview? In many cases, you may need
time to put your thoughts in order and make decisions. Indeed, it
might be entirely inappropriate to decide – or to tell the
interviewee what you have decided – at the end of the interview
itself. The interviewee, too, may need time to reflect on the
interview. Nevertheless, you must tell the interviewee what
you expect the next step to be and make sure that they agree
to it.
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