Field notes

Moderating interviews without losing the checklist thread

Facilitation habits that keep internal audit interviews tied to scripted checklist steps instead of drifting into open-ended process storytelling.

Process owners like to narrate how work “usually” happens. Useful context — until it eats the hour reserved for three checklist steps.

Open with the step, not the job title

Read the checklist question aloud, then ask for the document that answers it. Biography of the role can wait until after the tick mark is decided.

Parking lot for redesign ideas

Keep a visible parking list for improvement suggestions. Capture them, then return to the script. Redesign conversations belong after fieldwork, not inside it.

Two auditors, one mouth

When two facilitators attend, agree who asks and who records. Competing questions confuse owners and duplicate notes. Our Kaohsiung engagements assign the recorder the veto on moving to the next step until evidence is logged.