As with each chapter on techniques, the expert interview technique is assessed using selection criteria relating to resource requirements, appli- cations, and outputs for the technique. To compare expert interviews with other techniques, review Table 6.
Resource Requirements
What resources a technique requires is often the dominant consideration in the selection process. Interviewing experts requires three specific resources.
The first is time. Although interviewing is one of the most common techniques for risk identification, qualification, and quantification, it is frequently misapplied because of time limitations. Planned interviews are sometimes shortened or skipped altogether. Methodically examining an entire project requires the time of several experts from both the project organization and the customer organization.
The second key resource requirement is the interviewer. Frequently, experts provide information that is not readily usable for a watch list or quantitative analysis. To encourage the expert to divulge information in the right format and at the right level of depth, some modest interviewing skill is required. If an interviewer lacks this skill, the techniques can still yield some valuable information if enough time is taken.
The third key resource is the interviewee or expert. It is vital to remember that the expertise required of this individual is project-specific.
He or she need not have a keen awareness of risk management practice or of interviewing strategy and techniques. The only requisite traits that this individual should possess are a willingness to share information and the ability to translate his or her technical expertise into a language that other parties in the organization can interpret and understand. Whereas some experts will have information specific to an extremely limited subject matter area, others will have the ability to provide information that spans the breadth of the project. Both have value, depending on the information needs of the organization and the project.
Cost for expert interviews may range from minimal (1 to 2 days) to extended (2 to 3 months), depending on the needs of the project. The more skilled the interviewer is, the less time required to accomplish the same level of depth in expert interviewing. Thus, it often behooves the project manager to pay a little more for a qualified interviewer for a shorter period of time.
w Proper facilities and equipment for expert interviews are generally minimal unless the interviews must be formally maintained. For a normal expert interview, the equipment will require no more than a few
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chairs, a notepad, pencil or pen, and a tape recorder. However, in an extreme case, an expert interview may feature a bank of television cameras and a recording studio. If a panel of experts is brought together for the interviews, a stenographer or court recorder may be used to generate a verbatim transcript of the information shared. But for the most part, expert interviews tend to be relatively easy to manage in terms of equipment and facilities.
The implementation time for an expert interview is a crucial
consideration. However, if resources and facilities are available, the time should not be extensive. In this case, because there are normally only one or two expert interviewers, the time to implement is reflected in the time required under "Cost."
w Ease of use is one of the most attractive features of expert interviews because virtually anyone with minimal training can conduct a passable interview. The key, however, is in developing interviewers who are truly skilled enough to draw out deeper and more meaningful responses from the interviewees. The most effective interviewers are those who can put together a relatively open-ended question and get back a clear and specific response. One way to achieve this is by listening carefully to the interviewee's answers and providing feedback to clarify any outstanding issues.
The project manager's time commitment is sometimes based o n the skill levels of the project manager as an expert interviewer. The time required of the project manager, assessed on a gradient of slight to moderate to heavy, is slight as long as he or she is not personally required to conduct the interviews or train the interviewers.
Applications
As stated earlier, the expert interview has the advantage of being applicable in a wide variety of situations. The applicability of the interviews is assessed on a scale of high, medium, and low.
Project status reporting refers to monitoring plans, costs, and schedules.
Although the monitoring process is not a primary application of the expert interview, gathering the information essential to status reports is often a function of the interviews. From that perspective, project status reports would be difficult (if not impossible) to develop without some interviewing skills.
Major planning decisions often hinge on the opinions of a few key individuals associated with the project. As such, the expert interview may expedite the process and ensure full participation with the individuals involved.
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w Contract strategy selection does not rely as heavily on expert interviews as it does on other techniques, but the interviews can play a valuable role in building the support data to feed those other techniques.
w Applying expert interviews in milestone preparation is direct and important. Because the objectives are to ensure that planning has been comprehensive and the system is ready to move forward into its next phase, in-depth consultation with both internal and external customers is vital.
w Design guidance is frequently a function of expert interviewing. The interviews are useful for making decisions ranging from considering technology alternatives for major systems to choosing components. To understand how uncertainties relate to one another and how the alternatives compare, expert interviews are often used in the data gathering stage.
w Source selection is a prime application for expert interviews. In many cases, interviews determine which candidates to eliminate for a sub- contract or consulting position. In addition, if the expert interview is conducted properly during source selection, it can open new avenues for later negotiation with the source.
Budget submittal is a crucial step in project management, but it is not well supported by expert interviews because budgets work almost exclusively from purely quantifiable data.
Expert interviews also serve other applications. They can be used to establish the organization's risk tolerances and thresholds, as well as the general culture for risk responses. The interviews can be used to explore specific risk events or general risk strategies. As a tool, interviews have perhaps the greatest breadth of any of the basic risk management tools.
Outputs
Outputs of the expert interview are most often a collection of notes or an individual's evaluation and documentation of those notes, which have been organized in a comprehensible fashion. Outputs can include both qualita- tive data and individual perspectives on quantitative data.
Accuracy deals with the basic theoretical soundness of expert interviewing. Because many consider expert interviewing to be extremely easy with a limited time commitment, its accuracy is often called into question. The bottom line remains that its accuracy is only as good as the blend of interviewer and interviewee. If they are both well versed in their respective skill areas, the interview can have high accuracy. If, on the other hand, they have limited skill levels, the
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interview may have low accuracy. In general, the expert interview must be considered less than purely quantitative because of the inevitable existence of individual bias.
rn Level of detail is not the greatest strength of the expert interview, but interviews may provide incredible depth that is not achievable through other techniques. Interviews may also be so superfluous that the information is useless. Once again, the talents of the human resources drive the ultimate level of detail.
w Utility is a subjective factor that takes into account both the effort involved and the value of the information. For most expert interviews, the documentation developed after completing the interviews becomes a crucial element in the project's records.
Summary
In determining the effectiveness of expert interviews, it is vital to evaluate the skills of both the interviewer and the interviewee. That information provides the best sense of how well (and how accurately) the insights required will be developed. Although team members with limited skills sets can reasonably handle expert interviews, those who understand the critical nature of the expert interview and the numerous applications for the technique will achieve the best results in the end.
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