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March 6, 2024

When are you done?

“When are you done?”

This question often comes up both when I’m training and investigating. And yes, this question sometimes rattles around in my mind as I consider a case.

My latest technique to help answer this question involves starting with the final report. When concluding interviews and finalizing statements, I like to start building the Evidence Compilation. The Evidence Compilation helps me visualize the data collected to date. With this data, I can start seeing holes. The earlier, the better, because a hole seen is a hole repaired – at least it should be!

As you near the end of your interviews, you should have a nearly complete Evidence Compilation. At this point, go ahead and start the report. Make potential conclusions as you go. If something is obviously a breach, go ahead. If something is irrelevant or not in scope, label it.

Now, when reading through a section, you may have questions that pop up in your mind. Or, you may sense that you’re going out on a limb or stretching to find the proper conclusive wording.

When this comes up, I’d suggest a couple of strategies:

Take a break, grab a coffee and come back to it later. Maybe it’s just brain fatigue.
If a break does not work, look for opportunities to double or triple-check what individuals have shared. Look for the essence paragraph – is the essence covered? Are there holes? Is someone’s name mentioned and you didn’t interview them? Is there a hole in what the complainant or respondent said?

In my experience, if I’m having trouble writing a conclusion, what’s usually required is a redirect question aimed at one of the parties. Redirect questions will help fill holes and lead you toward a firm conclusion.

Dylan

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December 4, 2023

What’s the difference?

I was out to dinner with a lovely group of friends who have attended my training, both years ago and as recently as this week and I was asked, “What’s the difference between level 1, 2, and 3?”

The person who asked had not attended any of the training and the rest of the table had various levels completed. I have been asked this question before and usually provide some details that I think people will find relevant as an easy way to differentiate. I have also thought about the question and how to answer it better for people. Here is my attempt today.

Level One of our Harassment Investigation course begins an introduction into a methodology and a mindset. I have structured the class (and all the other levels) to begin with a base of theory. We then transition into the practice of doing, something I feel provides the strongest insights and learnings. In our classes, you will be greeted (confronted?) by a variety of professional actors, playing various types of personalities common in investigation work. The cases we train on are the cases we have worked on, no make believe here. Once we have “done”, we analyze, discuss and learn best practices. Templates and ideas abound as I draw the three-day level one to a close.

Level Two comes only for those who have attended Level One. My workshops are fast-paced, and this two-day program does not have time to introduce the methodology and mindset. We jump into another true case, this time in the middle. We prepare tools we introduced in Level One, including an essence paragraph (my personal fave), and a detailed list of “Things we want to know”. Note this is not a list of verbatim questions. I challenge the group to interview professional actors with a conversational approach, with an eye to the subtleties of witness reactions, and discussion on how to develop multiple interview strategies. Yes, there’s homework, you’re welcome! Day two of this class brings us to the business of a re-direct interview. You will see the complainant and respondent at the end of the case, and we expand on the principles and strategies for the end of the investigation.

Level Three is our latest offering, and we have yet another case – this time reflecting some of the current trends we see emerging. Again, you are asked to prepare for interviews. This time, I have also prepared and we will compare lists and talk about refining preparation. Like Sarge always said: “Proper Preparation and Planning Prevent Poor Performance”. We interview multiple parties and have access to evidence. The final day is spent preparing a final report, and defending your reasoning and decision-making to yet another professional actor, this time playing your supervisor.

That’s the bones of it. As I was formulating my answer last night it struck me that we move down levels of complexity, and subtlety both with ourselves and the people we interview. In my opinion, almost anyone can interview someone they understand and “vibe” with, it is entirely another level to interview someone who does not share your sensibilities, successfully, so that they feel heard and know that the process was a fair one. This is what I’m trying to get at.

Hope to see you around the way,

Dylan

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February 21, 2022

The Importance of a Thorough Investigation

An incomplete investigation can cause havoc to a corporation not to mention the primary parties involved in the dispute.

Let’s consider a few facts that can colour your investigation work:

You don’t have enough time in your day to do all the work in front of you now – to do what’s expected of you.

Your boss doesn’t understand the time demands of a thorough investigation and so expects on-going job responsibilities be met, while you’re attempting to investigate.

You wish someone else could handle this investigation work, for it makes you uncomfortable.

You don’t know if the complaint of harassment fits under your corporate policy definition.

There’s a complaint – that represents a problem that has to be dealt with right now before things get worse so let’s get in there and get the job done now.

Do any of these statements resonate with you? So often a corporation will rush through an investigation for a variety of reasons, reasons they believe are valid, reasons that compete with conducting a thorough investigation.

Time after time we see investigation work that is incomplete, rushed or simply incomplete because the investigator has not followed through on a line of questioning; has not interviewed all the pertinent witnesses or has not traced all the evidentiary material.

An incomplete investigation can cause havoc to a corporation not to mention the primary parties involved in the dispute. Let’s take a look at what can happen as a result:

one or both of the primary parties resigns from the corporation – thereby losing a trained, valuable resource, one that requires replacing and retraining
the conclusions of the investigation are erroneous – and one of the parties moves the complaint outward into another jurisdiction and the organization loses control of the process.
the investigation is non-conclusive – leaving both primary parties unhappy, stressed and angry – usually directed at the investigator and the organization.
the wrong party is found to be at fault – opening the door for legal action or again, action taken outside the organization’s jurisdiction

There are many negative outcomes to pursuing an investigation and then not thoroughly completing it, dotting all those i’s – crossing all those t’s. People’s lives can be impacted in a major way. In conducting training across the country we have learned that preparation for interviews and gathering evidence is an area where most harassment investigations need work. If the evidence is presented in an incomplete way in the final report that can lead to being unable to reach analyzed, considered conclusions based on evidence.