Methods of Information Gathering

Keeping in mind my the original caveat about analysis paralysis, you still would like to gather as much information as you can in order to define the most important objectives for your project management training. You ‚ ve by now assembled quite a list of project management ‚“angels ‚½ as well as a few individuals who can provide some candid advice about what you need to avoid. In some cases, you ‚ ll have specific people in mind; in others, you may simply want a representative sample of certain types of individuals (such as past participants , potential new trainees, and a cross-section of current project team members ). In obtaining input from such a wide variety of individuals, you may want to expedite matters through a few frequently used surveying techniques:

In-person one-on-one interviews. These sessions are invaluable for getting certain types of information and may be almost mandatory for some of your key stakeholders (your project sponsor or members of the project office, for example). All of the people in this category are likely to be very pressed for time. Start early to identify those you need to visit in person, begin inventorying the questions you need answered , and schedule your appointments as soon as you can.
Focus groups or other facilitated group meetings. These meetings allow you to obtain feedback from as many as a dozen or so individuals at once. By having standardized questions and someone to record the proceedings , you can quickly gather a great deal of information in a short time. Some focus groups leaders videotape the meeting to capture facial expressions, gestures, and full-length spoken responses. Reviewing these can be extremely time-consuming ; so you may prefer the technique whereby a designated recorder writes on flipcharts key points made during the proceedings so that all participants can see what is recorded. This helps keep people (literally) ‚“on the same page ‚½ and may be the most efficient technique for requirements gathering you are doing.
Email or Internet surveys. These instruments have the advantage of allowing you to compile statistics based on responses to a relatively small number of questions. They usually take much less participant time and may even be submitted anonymously. On the other hand, because they tend to be fairly ‚“low-touch ‚½ you are not as likely to get the same kinds of insights that face-to-face meetings usually elicit.
Telephone interviews. Phone interviews give you much greater flexibility in covering major issues surrounding the training than using questionnaires and surveys. Even though you don ‚ t have the advantage of reading body language over the phone, you can pick up a great deal of information from voice inflection and other cues from your interviewee.
Conference calls. These can sometimes substitute for group sessions but have the disadvantage of having only an audio element. Whereas one-on-one telephone conversations can still provide considerable nonverbal feedback, as mentioned above, conference calls often lose momentum (and participants) due in part to the ‚“ sensory deprivation ‚½ of having only disembodied voices to sustain interest. If you decide to use conference calls as a means of gathering information, be sure to provide each participant with a written agenda, handouts, and other materials to keep the discussion focused.
Online chat. These are the online equivalent of conference calls and have many of the same pitfalls. They too require that participants be available at the same time to interact.
Online real-time group meetings. These meetings combine the advantages of the focus group with some of the convenience of telephone conference calls. Here however, participants usually focus on materials presented online and can interact in chat, Q&A, and other methods while the meeting is in progress.
Online newsgroups or threaded discussions. Because these forums use online bulletin boards for posting and responding to questions, viewing handouts and other resources, and are accessible from anywhere there is Web access, they offer several advantages:
- Participants do not have to be available at the same time.
- The meeting interactions are self-documenting .
- The discussion can include numerous subtopics, allowing meeting participants to involve themselves in as many or as few of the subtopics as is appropriate.