It might be time to launch a workplace investigation whenever an issue arises. You might have received a complaint from one of your employees. Similarly, you might suspect something wrong is happening and that you must uncover the truth and resolve the situation.

You may decide to conduct the workplace investigation internally. However, many organizations ask corporate investigation services to take care of the process. These third-party professionals ensure the neutrality of investigation. Either way, the goal of a workplace investigation is to gather evidence and work towards reaching an unbiased conclusion.

You may be wondering what questions to ask in a workplace investigation, Since each situation that has to be investigated is unique, you will need to ask questions that will serve the needs of your investigation. Here are ten questions to ask in a workplace investigation:

1. What happened?

You should start each investigation by thanking the person being interviewed for their participation and time. Then, you should ask them to tell you what happened in their own words.

Ask them to describe the incident and to tell you everything they remember about it. As each witness will give you their point of view on the event being investigated, it will help you develop a better understanding of the situation.

2. Where and when did this happen?

You also need to know where the incident took place and when. To the best of their knowledge, the person being interviewed should tell you the date, the time and the duration of the event.

This will help you construct a timeline of the events.

3. Has this happened again, and if so, how many times?

It’s also helpful to know if the incident occurred only once or if it is still ongoing. If the incident being investigated happened more than once, can the person tell you how many times it happened?

4. What did you personally witness?

Ask the interviewee to tell you what they have personally witnessed about the event. Did they see something happen and perceive it a certain way? Did they simply hear other people talking about the incident?

If they did not directly witness much, you should ask them to tell you if they know who fully witnessed the event, so you can interview them as well.

5. Who else was present?

If the interviewee witnessed the event, ask them to tell you who else was present at that moment.

A testimony that many witnesses can corroborate will be more valuable to your workplace investigation than a testimony that stands on its own.

The different witnesses might not have perceived the incident the same way, but allowing everyone involved to tell their version of the story is crucial if you want your investigation to be unbiased.

6. How did you react?

Ask the interviewee to tell you how they reacted to the incident. What did they do? What did they say?

Did they react spontaneously to defend themselves or someone else? Did they let others know they disagreed with the situation or were offended? Have they taken a few steps to try to prevent another incident?

7. How did others react?

You should also ask them how those involved in the incident or witnessed it reacted to it. What did they say? What did they do?

The different answers you receive to this question will help you understand the events and their repercussions on your workplace and your employees.

You could realize that the incident might not have been as bad as some were claiming, or, on the contrary, the situation has escalated and truly taken a toll on employee morale.

8. Did you report this to management?

You will need to know if the interviewee has already reported the incident to management. When did they do it, and who did they speak to?

You should also ask them if they spoke about the incident to someone else.

9. Is there any physical evidence about what happened?

You might already have some notes and documentation about the event. You should still ask the person being interviewed if they know of any physical evidence regarding the incident.

Did someone take notes or photos? Do they think someone might have recorded the event on their phone? Can any documentation help explain what truly happened?

10. Do you have anything to add?

When you are done asking the questions you planned to ask, you can ask each interviewee if there is anything they would like to add to what has already been saying. You could be able to gain some valuable insight that way.

Remember that you have to remain consistent throughout your investigation. You should ask the same questions to each interviewee and listen to everything they have to say. If someone’s answer leads you to ask them additional questions, you can also reach out to previous witnesses to ask them these follow-up questions.