Questions for an interview with line manager or other appropriate colleague on a specific area to draw out their tacit knowledge.
What's included in the template?
- Name:
- Role:
- Leaving date:
- Facilitatior:
- Session date:
General information
Questions and their relevant prompts are detailed below.
What do you consider to be the most valuable and or unique knowledge that you hold in your current role?
Prompts
- Do you have any specialisms?
- Do you hold any valuable knowledge that you would consider hard to replace?
- Do you hold any knowledge or skills that no one else in your organisation has?
What aspects have made the largest contribution to you learning what you know?
Prompts
- On-the-job training and work assignments, previous jobs, educational background, mentors, other people.
People and people skills
Questions and their relevant prompts are detailed below.
Who are the people you interact with most frequently?
Prompts
- Is there anybody for whom you are the main or only point of contact in your team?
- Have you thought about internally and externally?
Who do you consider are your key contacts, both inside and outside the organisation?
Prompts
- Do others on your team know about these?
- Do you have any useful 'shortcut' contacts who can help you get things done?
- Do you have a relationship with specific vendors and contractors?
- Is there anyone you can go to for expert advice, decisions or permissions?
- Was anyone particularly helpful or difficult?
Key operational information
Questions and their relevant prompts are detailed below.
What are the key factors contributing to the successful carrying out of your job? Is there any key documentation that you find particularly useful to your role?
Prompts
- Are these readily available to others? Is there anything you feel was missing and would have made your life easier if you had access to? Think about procedures, manuals, software, reference materials, websites, e-newsletters and subscriptions.
Are there any immediate issues specific to your role that in your view need to be urgently resolved?
Prompts
- Think about any decisions, threats and opportunities.
Are there any dormant issues specific to your role that in your view need to be resolved in the longer term?
Prompts
- Think about any decisions, threats and opportunities.
Lessons learnt and pattern recognition
Questions and their relevant prompts are detailed below.
In your position, what is generally likely to go wrong, and how do you usually respond to or resolve problems?
Prompts
- Do you have any specific skills you use for troubleshooting or diagnosing shortcuts – rapid ways of finding the cause for a fault?
How have you identified and managed potential risks or problems in the past?
Prompts
- Do you have special knowledge for spotting deteriorating performance or imminent problems and failure?
Other questions
- What mistakes do you think have been made in the past that you think could be avoided in the future?
- Are there any unexploited ideas or potential improvements and or innovations that you want to mention? This could apply to the organisation itself, or the whole sector.
- Are there other roles that you perform - officially or unofficially - in the organisation? Also mention anything else generally of which you think we should be aware?
Page last reviewed: 11 July 2023
Next review due: 11 July 2024