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IGNITE
Founding Partners
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Holmstrom & Kennedy, P.C.
KMK Media Group
Williams McCarthy, LLP
Coyle-Varland Insurance Co., INC
RSM McGladrey
Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
GrahamSpencer
Rockford Area Realtors
Rockford Area Economic Development Council
Williams-Manny, INC
Rock River Valley Blood Center
Rockford Park District
Rockford Chamber of Commerce
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The Ignition Switch
| July 15, 2010
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 Nominations Due Tomorrow!!
40 Leaders Under 40 honors the region's best and brightest YPs who make a difference in their community and are seen as tomorrow's leaders.
To be named one of the 40 Leaders Under 40 really is an honor.
Those chosen will be honored in a special 40 Leaders Under 40 article in the October issue of The Voice as well as at the reception on September 30 at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Questions? Let Caitlin know!
Start nominating!! Nominations are due by 5:00p.m. on July 16th!
Nomination forms available HERE!
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Watch Your Email!!
IGNITE is gearing up to launch its very own member directory! Each IGNITE member will be emailed a short questionnaire in the next few weeks. Please complete the questionnaire and return it to be included in our member directory! This is a great way to match faces with names, connect with new YPs or patronize businesses who's employees are IGNITE members! The directory will be available online in a PDF format. This great idea is brought to you by the ENGAGE Team!
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A Great Article For the "Seasoned" YP in a Hiring Role!
How to Conduct a Quality In-Depth Interview
By Margaret Leaf, Next Generation Consulting
The last time you sat down with an employee or a member of your
organization to discuss how engaged they are or how they view the
organization, you probably experienced at least one of the following:
- Diversions or tangential discussions that led nowhere.
- Stuttering, stammering, or foot-in-mouth moments.
- A foggy sense of what to ask and how to ask it.
- A foggy sense of what you discovered.
1. Remember that the glass is half full.
Before you sit down to conduct your interview, you'll need to come up
with some smart questions. Appreciative
Inquiry (AI) is a great approach that will help you frame your
questions in the positive. AI is a form of action research that focuses
on what gives life to human systems when they function at their best
(Watkins and Mohr). Rather than identify the root cause of failure, AI
turns full attention to the root cause of success. David Cooperrider
developed AI in the early 1980s as a new approach to traditional
organizational development of problem diagnosis and feedback (Watkins
and Mohr). AI uses the art of questioning to engage people in building
the kinds of organizations and world they want to live in. For example,
rather than asking, "What problems have you faced?" instead try, "What
has been your best experience?"
2. Use Cheese and Cracker Questions.
Cheese and crackers are easier for most people to digest than foie
gras. In other words, while it's tempting to ask fancy 3-part
questions that pack it all in at once, it's best to keep your questions
simple. Ask "How" and "What" questions geared toward people's
experiences. For example, "What is one wish you have for your
organization?" or "How would you describe your role within your
organization?" Avoid close-ended or yes/no questions, like "Do you have
opportunities to learn and grow?" Also, be careful of "why" questions
because they ask your interviewees to theorize and are less rooted in
experience, and can put people on the defensive.
3. Privacy, please.
Imagine your boss and coworkers standing over your shoulder as you
answer an interviewer's questions about employee engagement. How candid
and honest would your responses be? When setting up an interview in
person, it's best to meet in a quiet, neutral territory. For example,
your local library likely has some quiet, private rooms that would be
perfect for an interview. Another option is a coffee shop, but beware
of noisy espresso machines if you're recording. For phone interviews,
make sure your interviewee has access to a private space where he/she
will be comfortable talking with you without others overhearing.
4. Silence is golden.
Is your interviewee tight-lipped? Sometimes the best way to get a
response is to simply wait for it. People need time to process and
reflect. If the silence is killing you, wait 10 more seconds and then
ask if they would like some more time to think, or if you can phrase the
question differently.
5. Put on your curious pants.
Don't take for granted that you know exactly what someone is talking
about. Imagine you are a Martian or outsider who has never heard
anything about your organization. Taking this stance will help you dig
deeper when someone provides you with a surface-level or cookie-cutter
response. Some good follow-up questions are:
- Can you give me a specific example?
- Can you recall a time when you experienced that
feeling/sensation/thought?
- What does that mean to you?
- What does it look like at your organization when X happens?
6. Reign them in.
So, your curious pants are on tight, and you're doing a great job with
follow-up questions. What should you do if your interviewee starts
gabbing endlessly about their pet turtle or other unrelated topics? Don't be afraid to reign in your interviewees when they stray off
topic. A polite way to steer them back on course is to refer back to
something on-topic they said earlier in the interview, e.g. "I'm sorry
to interrupt, but you said something really interesting earlier about
communicating with your boss. Can you tell me more about that?"
7. The long and winding road.
How long is too long for an interview? How short is too short? Unfortunately, there are no quick-and-dirty answers to these questions. On the one hand, an interview is done when the interviewee says. Be
sensitive to their time, and make sure to allot extra time for the
interview in case you need it. You can also schedule an additional
follow-up interview if need be. Also, be sensitive to your own time and
workload: a two-hour interview will take at least 6 hours to
transcribe, but could provide a lot of insight. If you're only
conducting 5-10 interviews, then longer interviews will be more
manageable. A rich in-depth interview will likely be more than 30
minutes, and possibly as long as a few hours. If you're asking the
right questions (see point 2) and great follow-up questions (point 5),
then 5-10 questions should take at least 30 minutes. If you find that
you're asking 50+ questions in 30 minutes, then you're better off giving
a survey rather than conducting an interview. For tips on how to build
a killer survey, check out the NGC survey guide here.
8. Keep it under lock & key.
It's a great idea to record interviews so that you can reference them
later to transcribe verbatim, pull quotes, etc. If you choose to record
your interview, you must get consent from your interviewee, preferably
written consent or recorded verbal consent. Even if you do not record
your interview, it's important to assure them that their responses are
confidential and will not be shared. Or, if they will be shared, it is
your responsibility to explain exactly whom they will be shared with,
what will be shared, and under what circumstances. If possible, keep
recordings and transcripts under lock and key so that interviewees
cannot be identified. All of these measures help establish trust and
rapport between interviewer and interviewee.
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Face-to-face meetings used to be the only way to get things done. Now
the best way to save money, time and travel is to collaborate over the
Web with Dimdim. Push button simplicity lets everyone host or attend
live meetings, demos and webinars using just a web browser instantly
increasing your productivity. Give
presentations,
share web
pages, whiteboards,
voice,
video
- even record
your events - with no
software to install and with no hassles.
Membership starts at $25 per month but there is also a free version available that does a great job with small meetings!
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Rockford Rocks!!
At Ignite, we know that Rockford Rocks but we want to share what we know! Submit events, happenings, cool things to do, things you love about Rockford and we'll share with our members. Let us know what you think makes Rockford Rock!
 Greek Fest - July 24-25th - Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church - The tradition of offering a delicious and distinctive variety of Greek foods and pastries continues! A marketplace offers music CDs, books, jewelry, art and imported gift items. Church tours will be scheduled throughout the weekend. There will be Grecian dancers and music as well as other activities. A raffle will be held with a portion of proceeds benefiting local charities. Car Show - Ju ly 25th - U of I College of Medicine - 8a.m.-3p.m. - The University of
Illinois College
of Medicine at Rockford hosts its second annual College
Classics Car Show. There will be dash plaques for the first 100 cars,
trophies for best of show and
best in class, music, food and raffles. Proceeds from the car show will
go to the U of I Rockford Healthy Community Fund which will
help ensure quality patient care for everyone, including those who are uninsured
or underinsured. |
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