Guide
Ask experts to explain a real decision.
Use these interview questions to uncover checks, exceptions and approval rules that the process document leaves out.
Start with a recent case.
Show the records and ask the person who handled the case what mattered. Ask what would have led them to choose a different action.
Use a specific choice to test their explanation. A general description of the process may leave out the conditions that changed the decision.
The aim is to record practical knowledge that has not been written down, often called tacit knowledge. Check each explanation against the records; an interview cannot guarantee a complete or correct account.
Ask six questions.
- Check the sequence. “These records show the request, stock check and review message. What happened between them?” Correct the sequence before asking why.
- Find the deciding fact. “What did you notice that made the usual next step unsuitable?” Ask for a specific fact or limit.
- Check the alternatives. “What other options did you consider? What ruled them out?” Record why each option was rejected.
- Test the limit. “What would have made you refuse this exception?” Compare with a case where the person chose a different action.
- Check permission. “Was this an approved exception, an established team practice or your judgment in that situation?” Record which answer applies.
- Find missing records. “Which information did you use that is absent from these records?” Decide whether the agent can obtain it or must ask a person.
Ask without suggesting the answer.
Ask “What made the difference here?” Avoid questions such as “You did this because the customer was important, correct?”
If the person struggles, offer several possible explanations and let them give another answer. Record what they say. Do not replace it with a more polished reason.
Accept “I do not remember” and “I cannot tell from this record.” Record the question and assign someone to investigate it.
Resolve disagreements about the rule.
Keep both explanations and the cases behind them. Check whether the people handled different circumstances, followed different policy versions or disagreed about allowed practice.
Ask the process owner to decide the rule for future cases. Keep that approval separate from the historical question of what happened and why.
Write a decision record.
- State the decision and the conditions that affect it.
- List the information needed, actions allowed and limits on exceptions.
- Name the approver. Link the evidence, conflicting examples and applicable dates.
- List unanswered questions and who will resolve them.
Replace vague instructions such as “prioritize urgent customers” with a specific rule. For example: investigate an urgent replacement sooner, but confirm compatibility before offering it.
Practise with the replacement case.
Read the replacement example. Draft a question about missing information, a question about a case where the action should differ, and a question about approval. Decide what can become a rule and what still needs an answer.