Investigation Skills
Course Description
Why the course is needed:
You want to give some practical training to members of staff who need to investigate possible instances of poor performance or poor conduct. In situations where your investigation needs to get at the truth, you want a level of consistency so that all your managers are operating according to proper principles.
You want the training so your employees can work to a definite standard; as opposed to everyone doing their “own thing”. In addition, some of your managers have never had any formal training in the art of asking probing questions, so you need something that will help them in their role as an investigator.
Your training aims are:
To develop the leader-managers’ ability to investigate possible instances of
- Misconduct
- Disciplinary issues
- Grievance issues
- Poor performance issues
Who should attend?
Any Staff member of varying ages and abilities. Those who are new to management and not new, but have not yet received any training in investigation skills.
- Police Officers
- Investigators
- Legal Officers
- para-Legal
- Recruitment manager
- Human Resource Department Staff
- Staff dealing with investigations
- Business Entrepreneurs
- Bank Executives
- Financial Executives
- Financial Institutions and those in Statutory Authorities.
Investigation interview skills
Investigation techniques are important skills for investigation officers. Delegates need to investigate:
- Formal complaints.
- Possible bullying.
- Harassment.
- Disciplinary issues.
- Grievance issues.
- Misconduct.
The training is designed to be:
- Highly structured and organised, and then:
- Whilst being consistent with the plan, flexible and responsive to the needs of the individual delegate group.
- Delivered in an enthusiastic and interesting way that will involve the delegates.
The method of training is as follows:
The trainer gives a clear explanation of the point in question. Then demonstrates the specific principle or method or idea and gives specific examples.
The delegates then practice by doing an exercise with each other and/or they do a practical exercise with the trainer.
Then, the delegates are asked to write down an associated action, for each point made. All the points are therefore tied to the delegate’s specific work context. At the end of the day, the delegates are asked to choose six which are the most personally meaningful from the many points that are made throughout the day.
All points are supported with full printed and hand written (by them) notes to take away.
DAY ONE
Investigative questioning is a specialized form of communication
Investigative questioning is a form of conversation that does not follow the normal social conventions, but must still be done with a high degree of professionalism and respect whilst being effective as a tool to get to the truth.
To conduct a professional, respectful and effective interview, this Investigation skills training is designed to help delegates make the switch in conversational technique.
“The switch” includes learning how to:
- Get to the truth of the matter.
- Uncover any outright lies – by identifying contradictions and errors in the others account.
- Uncover evasion. Evasion is the art of NOT telling the whole truth, (i.e. missing important bits out); in order to distort the truth without actually lying.
- Distinguish error from malice or laziness.
- Take proper “contemporaneous written notes” so that you can use the information gleaned during the interview.
Introduction
The differences between normal conversation and an investigation interview.
Investigation interview is a special context that requires that you make a conscious shift in your normal conversational method.
Distinguish between answers and responses to your questions
- Some people RESPOND to questions but don’t answer them.
- The questioner must notice when his-her question has not been answered.
Distinguish between
- First-hand evidence- admissible.
- Second hand evidence- hearsay evidence – non-admissible.
Best Evidence Rule
The best evidence rule is a legal principle that holds an original document is superior evidence to any copy. The rule specifies that a copy cannot be used if the original exists. The implication is to: Keep all your original documents and evidence safe.
Major Communication Skill 1: Facts v Opinions
You need to distinguish between two kinds of statement:
Objective facts and Subjective opinions.
- Objective facts – the evidence provided by the five senses.
- Subjective opinions – personal interpretation of facts.
Major Communication Skill 2: Specific and Vague
You need to distinguish between two kinds of statement:
Specific and vague.
- Specific statements denote only one possible interpretation.
- Vague statements denote multiple possible interpretations.
Your skill as an investigator is to take their vague statements and by questioning, reduce it down to a specific statement.
Major Communication Skill 3: Truth, Error, Lies, and Evasion
Identifying four types of response to a question:
- Truth – the statement corresponds to the facts and is self-consistent.
- Error – The statement is NOT TRUE but is believed to be true by the speaker. The speaker is in error.
- Lie – The statement is NOT TRUE and the speaker knows that it is not true. It is a lie.
- Evasion – The statement does not answer the original question. The speaker is not actually lying but is evading the truth by not giving full answers. He -she keeps “ducking the question”.
Warning: Evasions are more common than lies. Because lies contradict reality, they are more dangerous to the speaker. If a person has done something wrong, he-she will be more likely to EVADE the question rather than LIE, because NOT answering a question is safer than lying.
Ways people use to EVADE questions.
- Forcibly challenge the questioner. (The Donald Trump Technique).
- Change the subject. (The Tony Blair technique).
- Give the answer to a different question.
- Have an emotional outburst, (usually an outburst of anger or tears).
DAY TWO
Probing questions techniques
- Key questioning skills. How to ask probing questions.
- Getting to the facts, not opinions or guesses. Separate facts from opinions, interpretations and guesswork.
- Notice when a person says one thing, then later contradicts the statement. Contradictions should be noted and investigated.
- Gaps in the narrative. Find out what bits they have failed to mention.
- Take things in chronological order (time order). Structure their statements into a time-sequenced order/
Role play number 1
Taking the witness statement
Take the initial complaint with the right amount of detail.
Separating facts from opinions. Feedback on your performance, in order that you learn more, by analyzing any errors or omissions.
Methods of recording interviews
Taking contemporaneous notes.
Taking hand written notes: Accurate, complete and legible. The art of asking questions and taking notes at the same time. The rules on recording.
Role play number 2.
Questioning the person being accused of doing something wrong. Practice questioning the trainer who will try to evade your questions.
Feedback on your performance, in order that you learn more, by analysing any errors or omissions.
CERTIFICATION
Successful participants will receive Peganix’s Certificate of Completion.
All attendees to a Peganix accredited course receive a Certificate of Accreditation acknowledging their training and their journey to New Skills, New Thinking. Independent research has verified that this recognition is highly valued by your employees.
In-person / On Location
Our team and, your health and safety are our top priority. We have limited our registration numbers to 25 people per meeting to provide enough distance per person, hand sanitizers with face masks will be provided for all attending delegates and a temperature scanner will be available at the venue.
Our team and the venue are fully prepared to assist you.
Live Online / Virtual
Registered delegates can log in and join the live meeting. The online platform will not limit your participation, as you can engage on the platform via live chat text, audio, or video. All live meetings will be recorded and made available to all participants.
At any point, you’re not feeling too well to attend the in-person meeting you can simply log in at home and join live online.
- 6th & 7th May 2021
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- In-Person
- Virtual
-
ZAR3, 999.00 (Virtual)
ZAR7, 999.00 (In-Person)
Contact Us
- registration@peganix.com
- +2711 041 0181
- +2768 053 6221
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