Before you get them in the room: The value of pre-interviews

I’ve worked with enough groups to know that what’s happening in the room is rarely the full story. The real insight (and often the real tension) tends to show up before people ever sit down together. It turns out people bring more than just their opinions into a room. They bring history, assumptions, and in some cases, very strong views on what makes a proper pickle.

It always sounds simpler than it is

For the sake of illustration (and fun) let’s say you’ve been tasked to facilitate a session about the future of pickling for a group of… let’s call them artisan pickle producers.

They’re passionate. They’re experienced. They all agree the future of pickling matters deeply.

And they absolutely do not agree on how to get there.

One person is convinced the answer is scaling production. Another believes that would ruin the integrity of the pickle entirely. Someone else is still holding onto frustration from a decision made years ago (and has been marinating in it ever since). And at least one participant is going to log in late (possibly in their housecoat) and immediately ask, “Sorry, what did I miss?”

From the outside, the brief sounds simple: help the group align on a path forward.

From the inside, it’s layered, nuanced, and shaped by perspectives and experiences that aren’t immediately visible. It’s also just a little bit unpredictable.

And if the first time you’re really hearing from this group is when they’re all sitting around the same table, you’re not just starting from scratch… you’re already a few steps behind.

Rethinking pre-event interviews

There was a time when I avoided pre-event interviews altogether.

I worried that speaking with individuals ahead of time might bias me, or that I would somehow compromise my neutrality by hearing too many perspectives before the group came together. It felt important to walk into the room without preconceived ideas, ready to respond in the moment.

         “But what if Greg convinces me that only hand-packed, heritage cucumbers deserve to be called pickles?”

Over time, I’ve come to see this differently.

Those early conversations don’t create bias or force you to pick a side. They create understanding, giving you the context you need to ask better, more thoughtful questions when everyone is in the room together.

You may walk in knowing the group is “struggling,” but it doesn’t tell you what kind of struggle you’re walking into.

• Struggling how?
• Where are the fault lines?
• What’s underneath it all?
• Is it a difference in priorities, a lack of trust, competing interests, fatigue, miscommunication… or all of the above?
• Who’s ready to talk?
• Who’s already tired of talking?

Pre-event interviews begin to fill in those gaps.

They help you understand how people are thinking about the issues, what language they use, and where there may be tension beneath the surface. You’re not trying to draw conclusions too early, but you are starting to form thoughtful “hunches” about what might be getting in the way — and what the group may need from the conversation.

The unexpected bonus: people are… people

Of course, the interviews themselves are rarely straightforward. But this is what makes them so useful (and at times, entertaining).

Every group has its own quirks, and those tend to show up quickly in one-on-one conversations.

• The one who gives you their full curriculum vitae before answering your first question.
• The one who challenges your credentials before you’ve finished introducing yourself.
• The one who reschedules three times and then becomes your most thoughtful contributor.
• The one who says very little, but when they do speak, they drop the most insightful and useful reflection in a six word sentence.
• The one who starts with, “Why are we even doing this?”
• The one who challenges your process. 

All of it is data.

Not to judge, but because you’re beginning to understand how they may show up in a group setting - and how you can best support the conversation when everyone is together.

The questions that unlock the real conversation

One of the most valuable parts of these early conversations is asking the right questions — not to interrogate, but to understand how people see the situation and where they’re coming from.

I tend to keep it simple and let the conversation flow, but there are a few areas I always explore:

• Who are you, and what’s your relationship to this group? You learn a lot here, including whether you’re about to get a two-minute answer or a full career retrospective.
• What’s going well? Not just what they say, but how they say it, and how quickly they move on.
• What could be going better? Where are things getting stuck?
• What risks or challenges do you see ahead?
• What opportunities are there if things go well?
• What happens if nothing changes? This is usually where things get a bit more real.

 It often turns into a kind of informal “mini-SWOT,” just without the flipchart and acronyms, and with much more honest insight.

And then, I always end with one final question:

         “What advice would you give me going into this session?”

The answers are consistently thoughtful and often sound a lot like advice the group could take themselves.

The most important move

Once you’ve done the interviews, there’s one step you can’t skip. You need to show the group what they’ve said about themselves.

 Not individually. Not attributing comments. But thematically.

• “Some of you said…”
• “A few people raised…”
• “One perspective we heard…”

And occasionally, using a direct quote (the kind that captures something perfectly) without naming who said it.

         “We say we’re open to new ideas, but the minute someone touches the brine recipe, it’s a problem.”

When done well, this reflection allows the group to see itself more clearly. It surfaces what is already there, but in a way that feels organized, balanced, and safe to engage with.

And often, that’s when the conversation starts to move.

When you finally get them in the room

When you finally bring them together, the conversation still won’t be simple. There will still be disagreements about brine integrity and scaling strategies and what a “proper pickle” even is. That doesn’t magically go away.

But now? You’re not walking in cold.

• You understand the dynamics.
• You recognize the language people use, and what they mean when they say it.
• You have a sense of where the tension sits.
• You can see where people are aligned (even if they don’t realize it yet).
• You know where a well-placed question might unlock something.
• You know when to probe, and when to let something sit.
• You’re able to connect the dots in real time, because you’ve already seen pieces of the puzzle.

It doesn’t mean everything runs smoothly. It doesn’t mean everyone agrees.

But it does mean the conversation has a better chance of getting past the surface-level debate and into something more useful.

Which, more often than not, is what makes the difference between a conversation that stalls…and one that actually goes somewhere - no matter the topic.

Photo by Mockup Graphics on Unsplash