Interviewing Results

[00:00:00]
>> As you were interviewing, what did you notice?
>> One thing I noticed that I thought was fascinating was that when I started interviewing Russell, I didn't ask him about the details of what industry he was in and that actually helped I think, because suddenly we were talking about it more broadly as opposed to specifically what is your product or where to use the size 12 or size nine product.

[00:00:28]
>> Sure.
>> I'd no idea is that software hardware, heavy industrial or office wear and so that was actually very interesting. So by doing that way it was able to really focus on the pain and it almost feels like a lot of what he told me could probably relate to a lot of other industries and scenarios.

[00:00:45]
>> Yeah.
>> So yeah, so I thought that was very interesting.
>> Great. What did you notice about the way that you were interviewing?
>> Honestly, I was really self conscious. [LAUGH]
>> Yeah?
>> Yes. It's like my goodness, am I being quiet enough, are you listening in and thinking Jeez, he's asking too many of those questions instead of those but I did really like some of the things he said before and I'm just reading the notes about not trying to relate cuz I think I do that naturally.

[00:01:12]
>> Sure
>> So instead what I was doing and I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I was reframing some thing that he said.
>> Yes
>> But reframing it so I understood it.
>> Sure
>> So he I think kinda maybe sometimes use some of his experience but in a way that didn't make sense but I was able to say wait do you mean that it's a little more like [SOUND] and he responded yes or no or explain more, so.

[00:01:33]
>> Yeah, so.
>> I have to admit I wasn't sure was that then leading or?
>> Well, it depends, right? I mean, I think that what I will often say to people if I'm not quite following them because not everyone is super articulate, [LAUGH]. What I will often say to them is just let me make sure that I'm understanding what you're telling me, let me reflect back to you what I'm hearing.

[00:01:54]
So then even if I'm reframing it so that I understand it or whatever, if I just repeat back to them what I'm hearing and sometimes I'll just read directly from my notes to make sure that I've captured it correctly. They'll either be able to say actually, no, let me put that a different way.

[00:02:09]
Or, yes, you've got it exactly or whatever, but the primary purpose is to make sure that they are being heard correctly.
>> Right.
>> Makes sense?
>> Yeah, makes sense.
>> Yeah. What else did you notice, As you were interviewing? Did people have trouble not immediately jumping in and relating to what was being said?

[00:02:34]
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah? Did you feel like people were addressing actual content pin points or was it more just sort of general here's about my role.
>> Little of both.
>> Little both. Tell me about your conversation.
>> We're kind of in pretty similar roles like he does more engineering and I do more UI UX.

[00:03:01]
>> Sure.
>> So we actually thought communicating pretty easy, we spoken the same language, so-
>> Great, that helps a lot, isn't it?
>> Which is why our conversation kind of happened pretty quickly.
>> That helps a lot.
>> And we're able to identify each other's pain points, even though they're similar but different.

[00:03:18]
>> Yeah, we both took it from different sides.
>> Sure, what were some of the shared pain points that you identified?
>> Not enough control over our process.
>> Sure.
>> He had some of the services that he relies on he doesn't really sometimes he's held accountable for them but he's not, he doesn't have any real power to.

[00:03:39]
>> Sure.
>> Or able to hold other people accountable. And I don't really deal with content at all. Sometimes I don't even know what the content really is before I start-
>> Right.
>> And I don't have control over that.
>> Right.
>> So that seemed to be a pretty similar one.

[00:03:53]
>> Yeah, for sure, anybody else share that pain point? Like having to start before you have the content, not knowing what it is? Yeah, sometimes, how is your conversation?
>> It was good. I think like you mentioned before, my biggest problem is not relating that's just such a.

[00:04:17]
>> Not jumping in.
>> That's such a natural reaction.
>> Yes.
>> I get that or I get you.
>> Yeah, for sure.
>> So that was something I had to keep reining in.
>> Yeah, what's funny is, it makes me think about because content strategy can be so deeply rooted in forging relationships between different roles.

[00:04:39]
One thing that I sometimes think about is and one of the things they tell you when you're communicating with a partner or a spouse in that sometimes they just need you to listen, right? They don't need you to jump in and solve the problem where they're just like, I just want you to hear me and know that I've been heard.

[00:04:56]
So that can be sort of a shared principle when you are working to get information that's gonna help you do your job better.