Stakeholder Interview Guide.
Structured question bank for Phase 1 stakeholder interviews. Covers role, current workflow, pain points, decision authority, and success criteria.
Paired with the Workflow Audit. Run in Week 2; synthesized into the Discovery Report.
lighthouse-stakeholder-interview-guide.docx. For filling in a live engagement, open the DOCX file.
STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEW GUIDE
Lighthouse Sprint — Stage 1: Discovery
Conduct in-depth interviews with key stakeholders to understand workflow ownership, pain points, constraints, and success criteria. This guide provides structure while allowing flexibility for discovery conversation flow.
PRE-INTERVIEW PREPARATION CHECKLIST
| Preparation Item |
|---|
| Review stakeholder role in org chart |
| Study their team size, direct reports, and cross-functional connections |
| Gather any existing documentation on this workflow (SOPs, process docs) |
| Review current metrics (if available) on cycle time, throughput, errors |
| Identify their manager or escalation path (for context) |
| Test all recording equipment and ensure privacy/compliance is covered |
INTERVIEW STRUCTURE (90 minutes total)
Conduct as natural conversation. Skip questions that don't apply. Let them lead into adjacent topics.
1. ROLE & CONTEXT (15 min)
Goal: Understand who they are, what they own, how long they've been here, and team scope.
- What's your title and role here? What do you own day-to-day?
- How long have you been in this role? What was your path to it?
- How many people on your team? What are their core functions?
- Which other teams or departments do you collaborate with regularly on this workflow?
- Who else touches this workflow? Upstream/downstream handoffs?
2. CURRENT WORKFLOW (30 min)
Goal: Map the exact sequence of steps, timing, decision points, and exception handling.
- Walk me through a typical day. What's the first thing you do related to this workflow?
- From start to finish, what are the major steps? (Ask them to go slow and detail.)
- Where do you spend the most time? Where do things get stuck or slow down?
- What takes the longest — is it a single step, or context switching?
- How often do you get interrupted or context-switch while doing this workflow?
- What happens when things don't go according to plan? Exception handling?
- How frequently is this workflow? Daily? Per transaction? Weekly cycle?
- How has this workflow changed in the last 12 months? What pressures are driving change?
3. PAIN POINTS & FRICTION (20 min)
Goal: Identify the biggest bottlenecks, frustrations, and opportunities for automation.
- What frustrates you most about this workflow? What do you wish you didn't have to do?
- If you could automate one step, what would it be and why?
- What's the most error-prone part of this process?
- Where do approval delays happen? How long do those take?
- What data quality issues slow you down or create rework?
4. TOOLS & SYSTEMS (15 min)
Goal: Understand the technical ecosystem and integration points.
- What software do you use for this workflow? In what order?
- What's manual vs. automated today?
- What data gets moved between systems? How (copy-paste, export, API)?
- What integrations exist? Are any broken or unreliable?
- What compliance, audit, or security constraints affect this workflow?
5. SUCCESS CRITERIA (10 min)
Goal: Define what good looks like and how you'd measure improvement.
- What does success look like for this workflow?
- How do you measure performance today? What are your KPIs?
- If we cut the time in half, how would that change your day?
- What would it take for you to trust an agent to handle parts of this?
- What risks or constraints would we need to respect?
POST-INTERVIEW SYNTHESIS
Complete within 24 hours while memory is fresh.
| Section | Notes & Synthesis |
|---|---|
| Key Findings | [Summarize 2-3 biggest insights] |
| Key Quotes | [Exact quotes that reveal pain, constraints, or priorities] |
| Bottleneck Evidence | [Which steps mentioned multiple times? Where is friction real?] |
| Themes | [Cross-stakeholder patterns emerging] |
INTERVIEW CONSENT & RECORDING NOTICE
Use this before recording any interview:
"Thanks for making time. To help me capture everything accurately, I'd like to record this conversation. The recording will only be used internally by the Umbra Studio team for this project, to ensure we capture all the details. We won't share it externally. Is that okay?"
If yes: Start recording. Confirm with 'Recording now.'
If no: Take detailed notes instead. Confirm understanding by reading key points back at the end.