The Follow-up Question

(See Questions, Questions, Questions for the types of question to be asked.)

One of my golden rules of interviewing is that once you ask that wide-open narrative question, sit back, listen and DO NOT interrupt the witness. If the witness does not provide an answer to a question you thought he might, or they are being evasive about some aspect of the accident; you need to make a written or mental note of the question and save it until they have finished speaking.

The downside of this approach is that you forget what you were going to ask or you become so focused on not forgetting that you fail to listen closely to what you are being told. Another approach is to ask a follow-up question and the rule here is to ask it as soon as you realize you need to.

First, let the person finish speaking about the immediate subject material as you don’t want to interrupt the information flow; look for that natural pause to step in with your question.

My follow-up questions usually involve trying to understand a work process the witness is very familiar with, and I’m not. When they mention a term, a tool or use jargon unfamiliar to me, I need to ensure I understand what they are saying, and how this information fits into the accident scenario. I find witnesses are not offended or put off by this type of question; but are in fact, anxious to share their knowledge of the work process.

When I ask a witness to repeat or explain again, what they just told me, I find that unless they are being evasive, which is very rare, they are glad to comply. I find doing this actually builds more rapport with the witness as they perceive I have a genuine interest in fully understanding what they have to share, and by my questions he knows I’m paying attention to what’s being said.

If the witness has trouble answering my follow up question as it’s an area of his life or work he’s not comfortable discussing, I try and find some neutral ground to start building towards the question I really want answered. In the world of health and safety, a natural place to go is to the organizations’ basic safety program and culture. The witness may not want to discuss at first how he failed to follow a procedure, but he’s likely more at ease talking about big picture safety issues. Once this foundation is in place you can move towards your initial question in small steps making sure the witness is comfortable all the way there.

My bottom line? I’m moving away from the “never interrupt golden rule” to “ask the follow up question now while it’s fresh in my mind”.

Summarized from Reading People by Jo-Ellan Dimitrius

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