The Investigative Flow

When you’re tasked with handling complaints in your organization, following a structured investigation process is essential. It helps an investigator stay tethered to a case, sort out what information is relevant to the scope, and remain focused throughout the investigation. Our team follows a systematic approach to our investigations to ensure thoroughness, fairness, and accuracy—the Investigative Flow.

This consists of five phases: receiving the complaint, checking policies, defining the scope, fact-finding, and compiling the final report. Each step is critical to helping you reach a fair conclusion and create a detailed, unbiased report.

Step 1: Receive The Complaint

The first step in any investigation is receiving a complaint. A complaint could come from a staff member, client or customer, or community stakeholder, so it’s imperative to have a process in place. But once you have a complaint, what do you do?

Document, document, document! It's crucial to document the details of the complaint, because this helps build the foundation for your investigation and sets the stage for subsequent phases. In the early part of the investigation, you want to determine who is involved, what happened, where, and when the alleged incident occurred.

Step 2: Check Policies

Once you have started documenting, it’s time to review your organization’s policies and regulations. Organizations often have specific guidelines governing employee conduct, ethical standards, and compliance requirements. When you’re investigating a complaint, you must cross-check the allegations against these policies to determine whether a violation has potentially occurred.

This phase of the process helps ensure that your investigation is aligned with company policies and regulations, providing a clear benchmark for assessing the complaint.

Step 3: Define Scope

Defining the scope is a crucial step in managing resources and expectations. Investigators must pinpoint the key allegations, determine the possible parties involved, and outline the areas that require further examination. This phase helps prevent scope creep, where an investigation expands beyond its original intent. Defining your scope also helps you determine which information is relevant to your case. A well-defined scope helps an investigation remain focused and objective and can keep an investigator from traveling down paths which may be irrelevant.

Step 4: Fact-Finding

The fact-finding phase is where the bulk of investigative work takes place. This involves collecting evidence such as documents, emails, video footage, cell phone records, and any other relevant materials. Investigators also conduct interviews with witnesses and other parties to gather accounts of the incident.

When you are conducting the interviews, remain neutral. This can help create a rapport with the interviewee and help them feel more at ease. For example, when you’re investigating an incident in an organization, you might be talking to a complainant, respondent, or witnesses who are nervous, scared, or hostile, which could impact your fact-finding mission.

As you near the end of the investigative flow, the goal in this phase is to build a clear and well-supported narrative of events.

Step 5: Final Report

The last step of the investigative process is compiling your findings into a report. This document should provide a summary of the complaint, an overview of the policies reviewed, a breakdown of the fact-finding process, and a conclusion based on the evidence. Your report should be clear, concise, and objective, providing decision-makers with the necessary information to take appropriate action. A well-crafted report ensures that all aspects of the investigation are transparent and defensible.

Is It Time To Hire A Third-Party Investigator?

Sometimes it’s necessary to hire a third-party investigator if a complaint is about a high-level staff member or issue, or if there’s a possible conflict of interest which might impact the investigation, among other reasons.

Hiring a third-party investigator can provide an unbiased perspective and ensure compliance with legal and ethical standards. Whatever the type of investigation you are faced with, professional investigators follow a structured approach that results in an accurate and unbiased investigation.

If your organization requires expert investigative services, visit www.prisminvestigate.com to learn more about how an experienced team can assist with your case.