The Power of Pre-Briefing and Debriefing

This article addresses a common pain point in engineering hiring: inconsistent decision-making. It provides practical, actionable advice to improve the consistency and quality of your technical hiring process.

The Problem: Inconsistent Hiring

Engineering teams often struggle with making consistent hiring decisions. This can lead to suboptimal hires, wasted time, and frustration for everyone involved. Common contributing factors include:

• Differing Priorities: Interviewers may prioritize different criteria when evaluating candidates.
• Repetitive Questions: Candidates are often asked similar questions by multiple interviewers, leading to inefficient use of time.
• Unconscious Bias: Subjective interpretations can creep into the evaluation process, potentially leading to unfair or suboptimal decisions.
• Lack of Shared Understanding: A lack of clear expectations and shared understanding of the ideal candidate profile.

The Solution: Pre-Briefing & Debriefing

The key to addressing these challenges lies in establishing a structured approach to interviewing, centered around pre-briefing and debriefing sessions.

What are Pre-Briefing and Debriefing?

Pre-Briefing: A short meeting before the interviews to ensure all interviewers are aligned on the role, the ideal candidate profile, and evaluation criteria.

Debriefing: A meeting after the interviews to discuss each candidate's performance, share observations, and reach a consensus decision.

Pre-Briefing: Setting the Stage for Success

The pre-briefing session should cover the following:

• Role Overview: Briefly revisit the role's responsibilities, key challenges, and the team's goals.
• Ideal Candidate Profile: Clearly define the skills, experience, and qualities of the ideal candidate. What must they have? What's nice to have?
• Evaluation Criteria: Establish clear and objective criteria for evaluating candidates. Focus on behaviors and observable skills, not just subjective impressions.
• Interview Plan: Review the interview schedule, the topics each interviewer will cover, and the overall flow.
• Mitigating Bias: Discuss potential unconscious biases and how to avoid them. Establishing objective criteria before reviewing any candidate information is crucial.

Example Pre-Brief Document (Shared Online):

Section	Details
Role:	Senior Backend Engineer
Team:	Payments
Must-Have Skills:	Proficiency in Java, experience with microservices architecture, strong database skills (PostgreSQL).
Nice-to-Have:	Experience with Kafka, AWS experience.
Key Evaluation Areas:	Problem-solving ability, system design skills, communication skills.

Debriefing: Analyzing and Deciding

The debriefing session is where the real work happens. Here’s how to make it effective:

• Structured Discussion: Go through each candidate one by one.
• Behavioral Evidence: Focus on specific examples of the candidate’s behavior during the interview. Avoid generalizations. (e.g., "The candidate described a time when they successfully debugged a complex production issue," instead of "The candidate is a strong problem solver.")
• Scorecard Utilization: Use a standardized scorecard to evaluate each candidate against the pre-defined criteria.
• Open & Honest Feedback: Encourage open and honest feedback from all interviewers.
• Consensus Building: Work towards a consensus decision based on the evidence presented.
• Document Decisions: Record the rationale behind the hiring decision, including both positive and negative feedback.

Example Scorecard:

Skill	Rating (1-5)	Behavioral Indicators	Notes
Problem Solving	4	Proactively identifies issues, Offers creative solutions, Analyzes data before making decisions	Candidate walked us through a complex debugging scenario with clear steps.
System Design	3	Understands scalability concepts, Can articulate tradeoffs between different architectural approaches, Considers security implications.	Candidate’s design lacked detail regarding fault tolerance.
Communication	5	Clearly articulates technical concepts, Active listener, Adapts communication style to the audience.	Excellent communication skills – explained complex ideas clearly and concisely.

Rating Scale:

• 1 - Unsatisfactory: Demonstrates little to no understanding or proficiency in the skill.
• 2 - Needs Improvement: Demonstrates limited understanding or proficiency in the skill and requires significant development.
• 3 - Meets Expectations: Demonstrates a satisfactory level of understanding and proficiency in the skill.
• 4 - Exceeds Expectations: Demonstrates a strong understanding and proficiency in the skill and consistently delivers high-quality work.
• 5 - Exceptional: Demonstrates mastery of the skill and is a recognized expert in the field.

Handling Disagreements: When interviewers disagree, focus on the evidence. Review the interview notes and specific examples of the candidate’s behavior to try to reach a consensus. If a consensus cannot be reached, involve a neutral third party to help mediate the discussion.

Real-World Implementation & Addressing Challenges

While these processes are straightforward, consistent implementation requires effort. Here are a few tips:

• Dedicated Time: Schedule pre-briefing and debriefing sessions well in advance.
• Facilitator: Designate a facilitator to keep the meetings on track.
• Documentation: Encourage thorough documentation of interview notes and feedback.
• Remote Teams: For remote teams, leverage video conferencing and shared documents to facilitate collaboration.

The Benefits: Improved Hiring Outcomes

By implementing a consistent pre-briefing and debriefing process, you can:

• Reduce Bias: Ensure that hiring decisions are based on objective criteria.
• Improve Consistency: Ensure that all interviewers are evaluating candidates against the same standards.
• Increase Hiring Accuracy: Make more informed and accurate hiring decisions.
• Enhance Candidate Experience: Provide a more consistent and professional experience for all candidates.
• Save Time & Resources: Reduce the number of bad hires and the associated costs of turnover.