Process interview questions: what to ask the people who do the work

Good process interview questions are about one real, recent case, asked in the order the work happened: where it came from, what the person did, which systems they used, how long it took, and where it went next. Ask one question at a time, follow up on that case, and ask about the last exception too. Avoid questions that suggest an answer, ask for the ideal process, or judge the person.

How the conversation works

Every question below points at one case, such as the last order the person handled. John Flanagan’s 1954 paper on the critical incident technique recommends asking for the most recent case. Otherwise people report only the dramatic cases, or the ones that fit what they already think.

Flanagan also described the interviewer’s part. Remarks should be “neutral and permissive” and should show that the interviewer “accepts the observer as the expert.” When someone gives only part of the story, restate the essence of what they said. Flanagan found that this usually encourages people to go on.

The conversation has seven stages. Each question comes with why it works and a follow-up.

1. Opening and disclosure

Say what this is before the first question.

• Say: “We’re mapping how customer orders work today, so we can improve the process. It’s about the work, not about you. Nobody is ranked.”
• Say who will see what they said, and that they will see a summary and can correct it. If the interviewer is AI, say so.
• Ask: “What is your part in customer orders, in one sentence?” Why it works: an easy first answer, in their own words. Follow-up: “Who do you get the work from, and who do you pass it to?”

2. The last real case

• Ask: “Walk me through the last order you handled. Where did it start?” Why it works: a recent case is concrete, and the details are still fresh. Follow-up: “And then what did you do?”
• Ask: “What did it look like when it reached you?” Why it works: the form of the input, a PDF, a phone call or a paper slip, shapes the whole step. Follow-up: “Was anything missing?”
• When the answer drifts to “usually”: ask “And on this one?” It brings the person back to the case.

3. Before and after

• Ask: “Where was this order before it reached you?” Why it works: it finds the step before, and what starts this person’s part. Follow-up: “How did you know it was there?”
• Ask: “Where did it go after you?” Why it works: handoffs are where work waits. Follow-up: “How did they find out it was ready?”
• Ask: “Did anyone need to approve anything on this order?” Why it works: an approval waits for a person. Follow-up: “What happened while you waited?”

4. Systems, and copying between them

• Ask: “Which screens or files did you have open for this order?” Why it works: tied to one case, the answer is a concrete list, side files included. Follow-up: “Did you type anything that already existed somewhere else?”
• Ask: “Do you keep anything outside the system for this, like a notebook or your own spreadsheet?” Why it works: side files hold the rules nobody wrote down. Follow-up: “Who else uses it?”

5. Times and waits

• Ask: “How long were you actually working on this order?” Why it works: it separates work from waiting. Follow-up: “And on a slow day?”
• Ask: “Did it wait anywhere? For what, or for whom?” Why it works: nobody owns a wait, so few people mention one unless asked. Follow-up: “Hours, or days?”
• Ask: “How many of these do you handle in a day, or a week?” Why it works: the count turns minutes per order into a week of work. Follow-up: “Is there a busy time, like month end?”

Accept ranges, and write down the unit: per order or per day, working days or calendar days. A rough number marked as an estimate is more useful than a precise one nobody trusts.

6. Exceptions

• Ask: “When did an order last not go this way?” Why it works: the last exception is as concrete as the last case. Follow-up: “What did you do differently? Who got involved?”
• Ask: “What makes an order get stuck?” Why it works: it names the exceptions that keep coming back. Follow-up: “How often, roughly: every day, every week, every month?”
• Ask: “Who do you go to when you’re not sure?” Why it works: it finds the person the process quietly depends on. Follow-up: “What happens when they’re away?”

Flanagan also noted that recent cases alone can miss the rarer ones. That is why this stage asks about the last exception separately.

7. One thing you’d change

• Ask: “If you could change one thing about how this works, what would it be?” Why it works: the people who do the work often know the fix, and asking for one keeps it concrete. Follow-up: “What would it change on an order like the last one?”
• Close: “Is there anything I should have asked?” Then: “Who else should I talk to?”

Example: three minutes with customer service

Example. Example Supply Co. is invented: a 40-person distributor of cleaning supplies to offices and hotels. Nothing here comes from a real interview.

Interviewer: Walk me through the last order you handled. Where did it start?

Sam: Orders usually come in by email.

Interviewer: And this one?

Sam: This one too. A PDF from a hotel, about forty lines.

Interviewer: What did you do with it?

Sam: Typed it into the order system. Ten, fifteen minutes. It was a big one.

Interviewer: Did you type anything that already existed somewhere else?

Sam: All of it, really. It’s all in the PDF.

Interviewer: Where did it go after you?

Sam: I messaged the warehouse.

Interviewer: How did you know they had it?

Sam: I didn’t, until it showed up on the afternoon pick list.

What the interviewer did:

• Pulled “usually” back to “this one,” and learned the size of the case, forty lines, which explains the time.
• Kept the time as Sam said it: 10 to 15 minutes for a 40-line order, an estimate.
• Asked the copying question, and found a step that is typed twice.
• Followed the handoff, and found a wait: the order sat until the afternoon pick list.

Copy this question list

Replace “order” with whatever your process handles: a request, a claim, a job.

1. What is your part in this process, in one sentence?
2. Walk me through the last order you handled. Where did it start?
3. What did it look like when it reached you? Was anything missing?
4. Where was it before it reached you? How did you know it was there?
5. Where did it go after you? How did they find out it was ready?
6. Did anyone need to approve anything? What happened while you waited?
7. Which screens or files did you have open for it?
8. Did you type anything that already existed somewhere else?
9. Do you keep anything outside the system for this?
10. How long were you actually working on it? And on a slow day?
11. Did it wait anywhere? For what, or for whom?
12. How many of these do you handle in a day, or a week?
13. When did one last not go this way? What did you do differently?
14. Who do you go to when you’re not sure?
15. If you could change one thing about how this works, what would it be?
16. Is there anything I should have asked? Who else should I talk to?

What not to ask

Don’t ask	Why not	Ask instead
“You check the stock before you confirm, right?”	It suggests the answer, and people tend to agree.	“What did you do before you confirmed?”
“How is the process supposed to work?”	You get the procedure, not the work.	“Walk me through the last one.”
“How efficient are you at this?”	It judges the person, so the answer protects them.	“How long did the last one take?”
“Why didn’t you follow the procedure?”	It sounds like blame.	“What happens when it’s done the official way?”
“Would you use a tool that did this for you?”	People guess about the future.	“What did you do the last time this came up?”
“Who is slow?”	It turns a process interview into an evaluation.	“Where does an order usually wait?”
“How long does it take, and who approves it?”	Two questions get one answer.	Ask them one at a time.

Wording carries more weight than it seems. Pew Research Center’s guidance on writing survey questions shows that “even small wording differences can substantially affect the answers people provide.” It describes two pulls that apply here. Some people tend to agree with a statement put to them, even more so when an interviewer is present. And people want to be accepted and liked, which can bend answers on sensitive subjects.

Hypothetical questions have their own problem. Nielsen Norman Group notes that people can “make up an opinion about anything,” and will do so if asked. Ask what happened, not what someone would do.

How to make people comfortable

• Make the case the subject. Every question is about the order, not about the person.
• Say what it is for: improving the work, not evaluating people. Nobody is ranked.
• Say who will see what they said. Promise only what is true. In a team of five, people can often tell who said what.
• Let them talk. Restate what they said, then wait. The next detail often comes after a pause.
• Show them the summary. Each person sees what was understood from them, and can correct it before anything is used.
• Tell them what happens next: who reads the map, and when they will hear back.

Bondi Discovery’s AI interviewer, which says it is AI, asks about one real, recent case in a voice conversation of up to 12 minutes, and each person can correct the summary of what was understood from them.