Planning some interview coaching is a great way to work out how to interview...

First thing Monday morning, I had an email from my slightly unhinged HR Manager: 'Can we talk about interviewing?' it said.

Naturally, I assumed she wanted to tell me off about something. As I may have mentioned, she's a bit of a stickler when it comes to rules and procedures and stuff, so it's almost impossible to do anything formal without her getting upset about something. Put it this way, I tend to get plenty of emails from her along the lines of: 'just wanted to flag this' or 'just wanted to clarify our position on that' or 'just as an FYI' or some other such mealy-mouthed nonsense - all of which basically translate to: 'are you absolutely insane, you heartless law-breaking harridan?' (I don't always - or even often - take much notice, but I guess it's a useful check and balance)

Since it was only a few days after my interview with my first potential COO, I immediately started racking my brains to try and work out my latest HR faux pas. Obviously the pregnancy thing was the prime suspect, but although it was clearly the elephant in the room as far as I was concerned, I don't think I asked any leading questions. Then again, I suspect her idea of 'leading' is probably rather different to mine.

However, it turns out I was doing her a disservice. What she actually wanted was to suggest that I spend some time teaching other people in the business about how to interview. So instead of getting a kicking about my myriad failings, I actually got an unexpected ego boost instead (and it shouldn't be underestimated how much business owners need that every so often). Just goes to show that you shouldn't waste time worrying about things that may never happen.

So this week I've run the first of a series of interviewing workshops with some of the junior members of my team. It's not actually directly relevant for all of their jobs, but I think the skills involved are useful whatever role you're in (and if they're not now, they certainly will be at some point).

But it's also had a major benefit for me, reinforcing something I've always thought: teaching stuff to other people really helps you understand it better. When I was preparing the workshop, I had to sit down and think about all the things I try to do in an interview, and why, and how. To a large extent it’s just stuff I do instinctively - but then there are various other bits and pieces that I've picked up from people over time and factored in to my own approach. So as a result of doing this - if only because it's forced me to spend some time thinking hard about it - I now feel like I have a much better understanding of what makes a good interview.

One of my best friends is a teacher, and I've always thought that I can't imagine a worse job. It's funny: the thought of speaking to a room full of adults doesn't faze me at all; yet standing up in front of a class of leery teenagers would be my idea of hell. However, doing this gave me some insight into why she enjoys it so much.

Then again, I suppose my lot listen to me because I pay their wages. If teachers could fire pupils who played up in class, schools would be much more harmonious places.