Enquire Within®
An Outline of a Repertory Grid Session Using Enquire Within
Here we outline how a typical Enquire Within® Repertory Grid interview would proceed by using, as an example, Enquire Within as human resources software to assess a salesperson's skills for training needs analysis or as part of a selection interview.
The outline details the stages in the interview process, the purpose of each stage and provides examples of the implementation of the stage using, as an example, an interviewer assessing a salesperson's skills for training needs analysis or as part of a selection interview. The outline includes examples of the use of laddering and how dendritic analysis is used to produce more constructs and elements rather than just being an end in itself. It introduces `the ideal element' and suggests various ways the session could be analysed depending on the purpose.
| Stage | Purpose of This Stage and Comments | Example Using a Real Interview |
|---|---|---|
| DECIDE PURPOSE | Purposes range from extractive, e.g.: training needs analysis and evaluation selection interviewing designing person-specifications competency analysis market research to reflective, eg.: self-directed learning team-building conflict identification and resolution counselling and therapy personal exploration |
In this example, an interviewer is assessing a salesperson's skills (for training needs analysis, or as a selection interviewing process, for example). The salesperson is in the personal financial planning (PFO) industry. |
| CHOOSE ELEMENT CLASS | Elements. are concrete examples representing the area you want to explore. They are suggested by, and related to, your purpose. Elements can be people, objects, places, etc., or events, activities, etc. |
For example: the salesperson's current or recent prospects. |
| CHOOSE ELEMENTS | Name nine of your current or recent prospects | |
| CHOOSE QUALIFIERS | Qualifiers are the in terms of ... questions which direct the interviewee to consider the elements in terms of the particular purpose. Enquire Within lets you choose between up to three qualifiers, and to change the prompt question, in order to get the clearest possible focus on the purpose. |
in terms of their circumstances? in terms of how they behaved in your sales call? in terms of how you behaved in your sales call? |
| PRODUCE CONSTRUCTS Enquire Within selects groups of three elements and asks the question: In what way or ways are any two of these similar to each other and different from the third? |
Constructs represent bipolar dimensions on which the person views or judges the elements. Enquire Within does not suggest any of the constructs: they all come from the interviewee. Hence Enquire Within's freedom from interviewer bias or suggestion. |
Construct Eliciting Question: Considering (elements) Chris, Robin, and Richard: in what way are any two of them similar to each other and different from the third? |
| Continue entering constructs until you are ready to move on to a further stage. (You can always come back later) |
Enquire Within lets you change the order of the elements; choose your own triads; or take those it presents randomly. | Examples of resulting constructs: high net worth individuals - salary totally committed they initiated the call - I initiated the call we had plenty of time - we were pressed for time they'd already seen the competition - I was their first contact with PFP |
| LADDER THE CONSTRUCTS UP with one of two questions: Why is that an important distinction to make about prospects? or Do you prefer prospects who are X or Y? |
Laddering up gets you closer to core constructs: the interviewee's most important values, beliefs and preferences. | For example: Considering the distinction 'high net worth Individuals - salary totally committed': why is that an important distinction to make about prospects? or: Do you prefer prospects where: 'they initiated the call' or: 'I initiated the call?' |
| Whatever the answer, Enquire Within then goes on to ask: Why is (your answer) important, or: Why do you prefer X (or Y?) |
Enquire Within will do this for three levels (no more), getting closer and closer to core constructs. Laddering up, even from the most unremarkable constructs, get in very close very quickly. |
For example: Why do you prefer prospects who initiated the call? (ans: I don't have to sell them the idea of PFP first) Why do you prefer prospects where you don't have to sell them the idea of PFP first? (ans: there's less risk of wasting time on unsuitable prospects) Why do you prefer prospects where there's less risk of wasting time on unsuitable prospects? (ans: Can I have time to think about that?) |
| LADDER DOWN with a series of questions asking for more information about how elements who are X differ from elements who are Y. | Laddering down moves towards the periphery of the construct system. It elicits the behavioural, observable components of each construct. |
For example: Tell me more about how prospects who initiated the call are different from prospects where you initiated the call, in terms of ... their circumstances? how they behaved in the interview? how you behaved in the interview? |
| RECYCLE IF YOU WISH: | ||
| Construct elicitation, laddering up, and laddering down can be mixed as you please until you're ready to move on | Enquire Within stores the laddering Information related to each construct in a permanent archive. | |
| RATE ELEMENTS: | ||
| The next step is to take each construct and turn it into a scale (up to seven points). Each element is then presented for rating on each construct. | Enquire Within is beginning to develop its cognitive map. Constructs which were developed In the context of just three elements are now applied to all the elements. Constructs can be refined and re-written, or deleted, so as to get the best possible fit. |
For example: Rate each prospect on the construct high net worth individual - salary totally committed they initiated the call - I initiated the call etc., until all constructs have been used. |
| ANALYSE TO PRODUCE FULL GRID: | ||
| The Grid of elements rated on constructs is then analysed | The analysis calculates the correlations between all the elements. It re-sorts the Grid so as to place the most closely correlated elements together in the picture, and draws 'trees' showing the elements in families of closely correlated elements. It then does the same with the constructs. |
|
| DIFFERENTIATE ELEMENTS TO PRODUCE MORE CONSTRUCTS: | ||
| Element differentiation: pairs of highly correlated elements are presented and Enquire Within asks for some constructs which will reduce their apparent similarity to each other, if desired. | The underlying premise behind this process is that meaning lies in function. Therefore, elements which are rated as very similar must mean the same thing - unless the interviewee can produce some more constructs on which one element is very different from the other. | For example: It seems that you see Bill and Mary as very similar. They are correlated at the 97% level. Are they really as similar as this? If not, please give a new construct on which Bill rates very differently from Mary. |
| DIFFERENTIATE CONSTRUCTS TO PRODUCE MORE ELEMENTS: | ||
| Construct differentiation: pairs of highly correlated constructs are presented and Enquire Within asks for some elements which will reduce their apparent similarity to each other, If desired. | Similarly, constructs which are used in the same way as each other must mean the same thing, even 1f they are not dictionary synonyms. The interviewee is asked to produce some more elements which are rated one way by one construct and the opposite way by the other construct. | For example: It seems that you use constructs easy to close - resisted closing and had not talked to our competitors - had talked to our competitors in very much the same way. They are correlated at the 95% level. Is this true? If not, please give an example of a prospect who had talked to our competitors but was easy to close, or one who had not talked to our competitors but resisted closing. |
| REFINING AND REWRITING: | ||
| Enquire Within also allows for poorly correlated elements, or constructs, to be discarded or re-written. | The objective Is to have a Grid In which all the elements significant to the purpose have been rated on all the available constructs appropriate to the purpose, with nothing redundant and nothing left out. | For example: We would have a Grid showing all or nearly all the salesperson's and all the dimensions of his cognitive map and how she judges the prospects on these dimensions. |
| INTRODUCING NEW ELEMENTS OR CONSTRUCTS: | ||
| Enquire Within also allows for the addition of new elements and new constructs at any stage. | These may be suggested by the interviewer or the interviewee, and can include 'ideal' elements. | For example: Now rate the element MY IDEAL PROSPECT or MY LEAST FAVOURITE PROSPECT on your constructs ... and see which of the real prospects is most similar, and why. Now use the construct I need better sales skills with - I feel my sales skills are adequate for and see which constructs it correlates most closely with. |
| WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? | ||
| Analysis of an Enquire Within session is a matter of human judgement; there is no computer model of an 'ideal' Enquire Within session and cannot be. | Analysis depends upon the purpose which the Enquire Within session is configured to serve. | |
| ANALYSIS INCLUDES ANY OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING: | ||
| Count the number of elements | The number of elements is a rough guide to the amount of exposure the interviewee has had to the subject matter. | Used primarily In Enquire Within applications which test knowledge and improvements in knowledge; and in market research. |
| Content analysis of the elements | Content analysis is a guide to the quality of the interviewee's exposure to the subject matter. | Used primarily In Enquire Within applications where there is an ipso facto interest in how the interviewee defines the elements: e.g. knowledge testing, market research, career counselling, etc. |
| Count the number of constructs. | The number of constructs is a rough guide to how much internal dialogue the interviewee has had about the subject matter. | Used primarily in Enquire Within applications which test knowledge and improvements In knowledge; and other applications where you want to know how much the interviewee has thought about the subject matter. |
| Content analysis of constructs. | Content analysis is a guide to the language the interviewee has developed about the subject matter. | Used primarily in Enquire Within applications where there is an ipso facto interest in the concepts the Interviewee has about the subject-matter, e.g. knowledge testing, developing person specifications, etc. Some very powerful applications for measuring organisational culture and developing management competences. |
| Analysis and differentiation of full Grid. | This shows how the elements and constructs are used by the interviewee | So many uses they are difficult to list. You may be interested in how just one or two elements (or constructs) are used, or in the whole pattern. You may be interested !n how the Grid compares with that of an expert (for knowledge testing) or that of a co-worker (for team-building or conflict management. You may be interested in how the Grid changes after training, or counselling. |
| THE PROCESS MAY BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANALYSING THE RESULTS: | The process of developing and refining the Grid Is itself revealing and educational, and many other applications use Enquire Within as a guide to a skilled conversation with an interviewee, or with oneself, where the journey - not the arrival - matters. |
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