Notes on Taking Notes

Throughout this investigation, you (and the investigator, if this is a different person) will have to keep detailed notes. This is critical to proving that the investigation was conducted fairly and came to fair and valid conclusions.

This means that the investigator will have to take notes during interviews. This might be difficult when also attempting to establish a rapport with the complainant. The investigator should keep this in mind.

Remember that all notes must be factual. This means that you should not include your own feelings, emotions, or thoughts. Should someone (like a court of law) see these notes, this could be viewed as biased.

As you will later learn, one of the things you are looking for in interviews is establishing credibility. Therefore, while you should not take notes on your personal opinion, you should record observations, such as odd behavior you notice from a person you interview. You may ask about these behaviors and take notes about his or her response.

Make sure you can read your notes. Rewrite them after interviews if necessary. Do not share your notes with others and keep all notes from interviews separate. (For example, do not write notes on one side of the paper and then use the other side for another interview.)

To learn more about Sexual Harassment Prevention Training For Supervisors visit our Cal/OSHA Sexual Harassment Prevention Training For Supervisors Online Training web page.