Some years ago in a facilitation course, I was introduced to the idea of empathy interviews as a preparation technique for large meetings (offsite, workshops, etc. — anything larger than 1 hour, especially with a disparate group).

This technique has been an incredible tool for me in preparing for facilitation engagement, and I would like to share some perspectives and insights I have gained over the past few years.

Empathy interviews are designed to not only provide some insight into the meeting attendees and to understand their perspective, preferences, and how they might show up at the meeting, but also to help shape the outcome and ultimately the agenda for the event. I prefer to use the term preparation interview with clients to focus more on the preparation piece, and the importance of being more effective in the early stages of the meeting by doing this preparatory work ahead of time.

Dancing in the Moment

As a facilitator, you are engaging a human system in a collaborative endeavor to accomplish a goal or set of goals. By taking the time to interact with each element of the human system, you can better design the experience where these individuals will interact and you will be better suited to flex and adapt during the event. Lyssa Adkins calls this dancing in the moment and is a coaching skill that translates very well to facilitation.

As you develop your plan and design the experience for the event, you are creating a container for this human system to do its best work and achieve established outcomes. Yet no plan survives first contact. Things will happen you could not foresee, and the individuals and interactions that emerge in the event may require you to shift and adapt. There is a real art to this. But the more you can do upfront to understand the social landscape, empathize, gain trust, and gain clarity on expectations, the better suited you will be as a facilitator to make adjustments. The planning and preparation are more important than the plan.

Start with a good Opening

So let’s explore what a good empathy interview approach could look like. The first step is to develop a good opening script. This could be something you send in an email, or add to a calendar invite for the interview itself to explain what you are trying to accomplish. It will help establish the purpose of the exercise and gain some trust right away, as this is likely a very new approach or technique for your client.

A good opening script introduces a few key things quickly and succinctly

1. Yourself and your role as a facilitator (a few quick ideas like creating the container and helping the group determine and own their outcomes
   can help affirm the nature of facilitation, particularly if your client(s) are not accustomed to it).
2. The date, location, purpose, and stated outcomes (if you have them. You may also use these interviews to gain clarity on outcomes, aggregate and share back out)
3. The conditions of confidentiality surrounding the interview (you are here to gather information to be aggregated and shape the design of the event. Specific details will not be shared with the broader group)
4. A request for their permission/comfort to continue the interview (if you send this opening in an email, make sure you circle back to points 1-3 above at the beginning once you meet, and then check in one last time to make sure it is okay to continue)

An Example Opening

As you may know, I am facilitating an offsite next Thursday for you and the rest of the team for (X endeavor).   I would love to engage for a few minutes to understand your perspectives and hopes ahead of time. I am a trained facilitator, and I take the role and preparation for any engagement seriously. 

It is my role to create a safe and effective container for the exploration of ideas. I will own the process for the teams’ work, and you will all own the content. I will ensure that every voice is engaged, that we are having a collaborative discussion, capturing our ideas by recording decisions/actions, and that we are using timeboxes and breaks appropriately. I certainly welcome feedback on the process as we go, but I will do my best to choose a path most appropriate for the team and the situation. 

The workshop is consuming the time and focus of a very busy group of people, and we want to ensure that it is as valuable and impactful for everybody involved. To do this, I would like your permission to set up a private interview to explore your expectations, goals, challenges, and concerns. We can also use this as an opportunity to address any questions you might have ahead of the offsite. All of your responses will be confidential and will be used only in aggregate and help to design a more effective session next week.  

Purpose Statements

A good purpose statement takes the following form:

Purpose: “TO <immediate outcome to accomplish> BY <key activities in the workshop> SO THAT <the larger purpose the outcomes are advancing>.”  

Move on to the Interview Questions

In order to craft your questions for the interview itself, consider the following process.

• Reflect on the purpose, outcomes, and broader context of the organization. (TO and SO THAT portions of your purpose statement)
• Jot down a few questions related to these outcomes, and ask for their perspective and input (what do they hope to achieve there?).
• Think through the flow of the workshop, including breaks, meals, and any planned exercises. Evaluate any concerns you think people may have about these (BY part of your purpose statement) including safety, trust, and willingness to engage in collaboration.
• Reflect on any organizational soup (context) that may infiltrate the event (drama, politics, recent changes)
• Craft some questions related to attendees, or who might be missing that should be there
• Evaluate the whole list. Consider sorting it into “must have” and “nice to have” sections. Check again for order and flow (what would be natural for you to structure the conversation?)
• If you have time, share your questions with another facilitator, or even members of the organization to get feedback.

 

Things to Consider and Avoid

As you craft your interview questions, be aware of the following:

• Avoid personal questions about home lives, medical conditions, etc. unless the interviewee brings it up as relevant.
• Be aware of your own biases and perspectives on the group and the event itself. Avoid “selfish” questions related to other work you do for them (coaching or consulting, for example).
• Avoid fact-based questions that could be answered elsewhere. This is a short and focused interview based on their perspective of the event. Minimize small talk and demonstrate that you value their time.
• Avoid leading questions. Remember this is not just about you getting information. It is as much about them preparing mentally for the event, and processing out loud what they need to be successful. Keep questions open-ended, ask for examples when possible, and poking around the organizational context a bit.

Consider these Ideas to get Started

• Personal objectives: What do you want to get out of the meeting? How do you see yourself contributing? “Imagine that the meeting has just ended. You are walking out the door of the meeting, and you turn to your colleague and say, ‘I am so happy with what the group has accomplished in this meeting! What was it that the group accomplished that made you so happy?“
• Problem-focused questions: What problems do you intend to address in this meeting? What organizational issues do you wish to address?
• Solution-focused questions: What benefits do you hope to reap? What would success look like? What is the future state desired?
• Organizational context questions: What is the current situation of the group? Who needs to be involved? Will everyone be in the room or are some attendees remote What conflicts may be in the room that I should be aware of? What might be other barriers to success in the group collaborating on the purpose?

 

Some more great ideas can be found in  Eric Willeke’s Blog

What do I ask in an Empathy Interview?

Are you ready for your empathy interviews?

What is an empathy interview?

Wrapping Up

I hope this gives you a solid guide to get started with empathy interviews. It is an incredibly powerful tool and has greatly augmented my success in preparing for events that I facilitate. I wish you the best on your next facilitation!

 

Until the Next Iteration . . .

Jason