The feedforward interview

On the basis of Appreciative Inquiry (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987), we offer an interview protocol termed Feedforward Interview (FFI). FFI is designed to reveal new organizational knowledge both for managers and subordinates, which can lead to better alignment between employees’ needs and organizational practices, and to improved relationships by enabling both parties to feel more positive about themselves and about each other. Following a detailed description of the FFI protocol and its rationale, we demonstrate how FFI may be used as a complement, or even as a replacement, for performance appraisal reviews, job selection interviews, and customer satisfaction surveys. The benefits of FFI appear to include eliciting positive emotions, fostering bonding, building psychological safety for sharing information, and creating internal transformations of both interviewer and interviewee. We conclude with a call for research to evaluate FFIʹs effectiveness and the conditions under which it will be most useful.