Knowledge-Transfer Interview Guide

He will not write documentation. He will answer questions all day. This guide uses that. You interview him, you write the draft, he corrects it. The method fits how he works: talking beats typing, correcting beats authoring.

Why he resists writing in the first place: Documentation Resistance.

Ground rules

One process per session. 45 minutes. Stop on time.
Record it, with his permission. “I don’t want to slow you down by taking notes” is a reason he accepts.
The draft exists within 48 hours, while you both remember.
His name goes on the page: “Owner: [name]. Last reviewed: [date].”
He corrects. He never authors. Do not send him an empty template.

The questions

Opening (5 minutes, do not skip)

“How did you end up owning this?”
“What did this look like when you took it over?”

He gets to be the authority before he shares the goods. That is the price of entry, and it produces context you need anyway.

The walkthrough

“Walk me through [the Monday check / month-end close / calibration], step by step.”
“What do you look at first? What does good look like?”
“What do you do that is not in any official process?”
“Where does the official version differ from what you actually do? Why?”

Failure knowledge (the most valuable 15 minutes)

“What breaks? What does it look like right before it breaks?”
“Tell me about the last three times this went wrong.”
“What did you try over the years that did not work? Why not?”
“What would a smart new person get wrong in the first month?”

Decisions and context

“Why supplier X and not the cheaper one?”
“Why is this threshold set to that number?”
“Which of these rules exist because of one specific incident? Which incident?”

The people map

“Who do you call when Y happens? What is the history there?”
“Who should be told before any change to this? Who gets angry if they hear it late?”

The danger list

“What should nobody touch without asking?”
“What is the one thing you check that nobody else knows to check?”

Closing

“What did I not ask?”

Ask it every session. The best material arrives after this question.

After the session

Write the draft. Plain steps, his phrasing where you can keep it.
Send it with: “Tell me where I got it wrong.” Experts correct. He will return it improved.
Publish with his name as owner. Book the next session before you leave the room.