Deciding whom to interview, and how many people to interview, involves a careful balancing of two competing objectives: the need to be thorough and the need to protect confidentiality, Speer says. Speer is founder and principal of Speer Associates/Workplace Counsel in San Francisco.

How you strike that balance in any given investigation will depend on numerous factors. These might include the nature, extent, and complexity of the factual questions at issue; the number of witnesses who are believed to have information relevant to those issues; the fruitfulness of interviews you have conducted as you proceed through the investigation; and so forth.

In determining the scope of interviewing:

• Continue your interviews until you have satisfied yourself that you have adequately explored the factual questions at issue. Ask yourself, do important gaps exist in information you have gathered? Have you reconciled competing witness accounts?  Have you adequately sought corroboration for the complainant's and accused's version of events?

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• Investigations typically will be faulted for being too narrow (not involving enough interviews), not for being too broad.  So, if a doubt exists in your mind, opt for a broader investigation, within reasonable limits, of course, Speer advises.

In choosing whom to interview, consider the following:

• Don't come up with a definitive witness list at the outset of the investigation.  Instead, decide whom you will interview as the investigation progresses.  Oftentimes, interviews with certain prospective witnesses become unnecessary as you successfully uncover information at earlier points in the investigation.

• In deciding on the most appropriate witnesses, ask: Who has been identified as having knowledge regarding a particular issue? Or, who is best-positioned to possess that knowledge? Be sure that you can articulate a clear rationale for selecting someone as a witness.

• You will need to ask the complainant and the accused, and other witnesses as well, whom they suggest that you interview. Be sure to ask the reasons they have suggested someone as a witness. Take that information into consideration as you decide whether or not an interview with a particular person is necessary or not.

Ultimately, no hard-and-fast rules exist for deciding the scope of an investigation; in the end, it all comes down to the exercise of good judgment, thoughtfulness, and caution, Speer says.

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