ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I will share my personal experiences of establishing interview relations, conducting interviews, and processing these interviews into something meaningful in relation to my area of study. The types of interviews that I will primarily focus on are related to my interest in understanding in depth how individuals experience life and work. At times, such interviews have also been carried out as a preparation for an intervention — such as when as consultant I have tried to help an organization deal with a combination of productivity problems, emotional stress and employee conflicts. However, it is important to remember that an interview is always an intervention to some extent, if not directly in the organizational processes then by its nature as a moment of reflection and verbalization of this reflection. The intervention may be the motive for the interview, such as when, as a consultant, I did an interview with a manager primarily because I wanted to add IT and work competence issues to his agenda. But mostly, the intended purpose of the interview is to obtain descriptions of actions, processes, attitudes, etc. and test my understanding of these by comparing my understanding with the understanding as described by the person interviewed.
