This booklet covers Step 1 Capturing Information of the five-step documentation process (Step 1 – Capturing Information, Step 2 – Structuring Information, Step 3 – Presenting Information, Step 4 –Communicating Information, Step 5 – Storing and Maintaining Information). This booklet provides some basic tips, techniques, approaches and exercises for understanding and practicing how to capture information effectively.

1. SUPERCHARGING YOUR DOCUMENTATION
1
CAPTURING
INFORMATION
By Adrienne Bellehumeur
www.leadersinbusinessanalysis.com
This booklet covers Step 1 Capturing Information of the five-step documentation process (Step 1 – Capturing
Information, Step 2 – Structuring Information, Step 3 – Presenting Information, Step 4 –Communicating Information,
Step 5 – Storing and Maintaining Information). This booklet provides some basic tips, techniques, approaches and
exercises for understanding and practicing how to capture information effectively.
WORKBOOK SERIES
1

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CHALLENGE
How to Capture Information Locked in People’s Heads
For many organizations one of the biggest challenges is extracting information from the heads
of their employees. How do we pull this information out?
This is a challenge for organizations and professionals because many interviewees do not want
to cooperate in the process. Their reasons are
usually;
(1) They don’t recognize the value of
documentation.
(2) They don’t like doing it.
(3) They don’t have time.
(4) They don’t know how to engage in the
documentation process.
(5) They feel threatened. (“Am I being
evaluated)
Who might be your “problem” interviewees? You will find it hard to extract information in
organizations where documentation is new and not yet engrained in the corporate culture. You
may also have difficulty with employees who have been doing the same job or working on the
same system for many years or those who see little value in the documentation process.
Remember, these people will be challenging!
 They will not want to give you information.
 They will make it difficult to meet.
 They will not always engage in meetings.

3. 2 | P a g e
SOLUTION:
Build Momentum Through a Writing & Review
Process
The only truly effective approach for understanding how to get through
to difficult interviewees is by building momentum using a writing and
review process.
Traditionally, textbooks and consultants list
off a number of techniques such as
facilitated sessions, surveys and
questionnaires to pull out the information.
These techniques provide good ideas but, in
practice, they are ineffective on their own.
To extract information, you need to dive
into the writing process quickly to extract
whatever is relevant; put it on paper;
structure this information; and then send it
to the interviewee to provide feedback.
This simple process builds immediate
trust which brings momentum. Often, your
difficult interviewee is not used to seeing his
or her duties, experiences and advice written
down clearly and, after seeing the initial
input, becomes more engaged in the process
than you expected. There are interviewees
who will never write anything down for you.
But that does not mean that they won’t be
comfortable commenting, editing or even
stroking lines through substantial portions of
your notes to provide you with corrected
ones. Remember documentation is about
process, not perfection.
PERSONAL INSIGHT
What are some situations that you have had that have been hard to document?

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QUICK TIPS:
Extracting Information from Difficult
Interviewees
Use these quick tips for effective results
(1) Come Prepared with Interview Questions
Have a plan for what information you need to gather from your interviewee. Interview
questions will stop your meetings from turning into unproductive chat sessions.
(2) Set-up Interview
Difficult interviewees might try to make it impossible to meet. Ignoring your emails? Then
drop by their desk, call them, or catch them at the water cooler. Documentation experts
must be good at tracking people down.
(3) Find a way to Connect on a Personal Level
You need to gain the trust of your interviewee through creating an environment of
respect. Strong interviewers take a genuine interest in their interviewee and the work
that they do.
(4) Have Your Interviewee Walk Through Their Process or System at a High
Level
For the first meeting; be sure to focus on high level concepts. You can’t move forward
until you have these concepts nailed down.
BREAK THE ICE
List a few questions to help break the ice. Examples: How long have you been at ABC
Organization? Are you running the half marathon next month? Do you have a pet
Chihuahua too?

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Active Listening
Techniques
It takes a lot of
concentration and
determination to be an
active listener.
Be deliberate with your
listening and remind
yourself frequently that
your goal is to truly hear
what the other person is
saying. Set aside all other
thoughts and behaviors
and concentrate on the
message.
Ask questions, reflect, and
paraphrase to ensure you
understand the message. If
you don't, then you'll find
that what someone says to
you and what you hear can
be amazingly different! See
the 4 Active Listening
Techniques on page 7.
(5) Get Your Interviewees to Draw
Drawing is a great technique for extracting information
especially when it comes to processes and data flows. If
your interviewee won’t draw, then you can draw out the
steps for them and encourage them to comment. These
drawings will become an essential part of your notes.
(6) Engage in Active Listening Techniques
Make sure that you have understood the key messages of
your interviewee by repeating the points back to them to
recap the meeting. Don’t be afraid to ask for them to
repeat what you have said.
(7) Create Effective Meeting Notes
After the meeting, complete comprehensive meeting
notes including diagrams and pictures. Include action
items which represent areas where information is missing,
decisions need to be made or items to be followed-up on.
(8) Send Notes in Less Than 24 Hours
Don’t ever delay sending your meeting notes – delay leads
to lost momentum. If you don’t have time to write
meeting notes, you shouldn’t be having the interview –
interviews are useless without written records.
(9) Provide Feedback on Notes in 48 Hours
To get your interviewee to engage in the process quickly,
encourage them to provide comments on your notes in 48
hours.
(10) Review the Edited Notes and Begin Follow-up on
Action Items
You have now started the documentation momentum.
This means that you have information to push you
forward. Continue to build on this information through
repeating the process as many times as is needed.

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EXERCISE:
15 Minute Practice Interview
Get a partner, preferably a co-worker, who is also
interested in improving his or her interviewing skills.
Choose a subject that your partner knows a lot about
and that you know very little about.
This exercise provides you with valuable insight into your own personal style for extracting and
capturing information from your interviewee. The added bonus is that you will get to know your
partner or co-worker better.
STEPS:
(1) Conduct a 15 minute interview with your partner trying to capture as much relevant
information about his or her subject as you can.
Examples  How to bake a pie
 How to drive a
standard car
 Traveling in India
 The rules of croquet
 How to ride a
motorcycle
 How to sing opera
(2) After the meeting is over, spend 15 minutes creating notes, including visuals, from the
meeting.
(3) Present these notes and your understanding of the subject back to your partner.
(4) Switch roles and let your partner interview you on a subject that you know about and
that he or she knows little about.
(5) Discuss the results of this exercise, and provide comments in the following Interview
Results table.

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15 MINUTE INTERVIEW NOTES
Key Points: Be sure to have the interviewee walk through the process and
focus on high level concepts first. Remember to use drawing as a way of
extracting information especially when it comes to processes and data flows and practice active
listening techniques listed on page 7.
Interviewee Name: Date:
Interview Topic:

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ACTIVE LISTENING TECHNIQUES
Below are four techniques for active listening:
1. Paraphrase - Restate the same information the interviewee has said in different words.
2. Summarize - Reiterate and tie together key points from the interviewee’s discussion.
3. Clarify - Ask the interviewee to explain an element of the discussion that was vague.
Examples of clarifying questions include: I am not sure I quite understand; or do you mean
that?
4. Reflect - Reflecting is probably the most important listening technique. To reflect on
what the interviewee has said is to rephrase the affect, or feelings, within the interviewee's
message. Reflecting gives the interviewee the opportunity to hear his or her own thoughts
in a different way and helps the interviewee to ensure they are clear. Reflecting also helps
an interviewee feel that he or she is understood and that you have paid attention to what
he or she has said.
Active listening involves being truly engaged in an interviewee's message and listening
more than talking.

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INTERVIEW RESULTS: RATE THE INTERVIEWER’S
SKILLS
RESULTS Low High COMMENTS
Rate the quality of the
interviewer’s questions
1 2 3 4 5
Rate the interviewer’s skills for
extracting information
1 2 3 4 5
How were the interviewer’s
listening skills?
1 2 3 4 5
How was the quality of the
interviewer’s notes?
1 2 3 4 5
Are there any questions that
the interviewer missed or other
comments for improvement?
1 2 3 4 5

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INTERVIEW RESULTS: RATE YOUR OWN SKILLS
RESULTS Low High COMMENTS
Rate the quality of your
questions
1 2 3 4 5
Rate the quality of your skills
for extracting information
1 2 3 4 5
How were your listening skills? 1 2 3 4 5
How was the quality of your
notes?
1 2 3 4 5
Are there any questions that
you missed or other comments
for improvement?
1 2 3 4 5

11. 10 | P a g e
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Requirements Interviewing Techniques
businessanalysisexperts.com/requirements-interviewing-techniques/
Questions for Eliciting Information
http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/what-questions-do-i-ask-during-requirements-
elicitation/