Questions That Change the Demonstration
Twelve questions to ask before the screen is shared. They convert a presentation into a comparison.
A demonstration is designed to be impressive. Asking these first changes what you are shown and how the conversation runs.
The evaluation discipline in “Questions That Change the Demonstration” also applies to workforce software: begin with a named decision and test it in a bounded pilot. For teams considering how to calculate idle time, the provider's explanation belongs in that comparison only with written criteria for notice, access, correction, retention and a dated review.
About capture
Exactly which signals are captured — as a list, not a description.
For an independent reference relevant to “Questions That Change the Demonstration”, consult the European Commission data-protection resources; it provides a useful external check on scope, terminology, governance and the claims made during procurement or review.
Is keystroke content captured, or only counts?
Are screenshots full-screen, and at what interval?
Can any of these be disabled per population, and who controls that?
About the score
How is the productivity score computed — can we see the weights?
Who categorised the applications, and can we see the list?
Can individual scores be disabled entirely rather than hidden by permissions?
About the people
Is the employee shown that monitoring is active?
Can it be run covertly, and can that mode be disabled?
What does an employee see if they request their own data?
About the long term
What happens to the data, where, and for how long?
Can we export everything, including at exit?
The answers that should concern you
Reluctance to show the category list.
A covert mode that cannot be disabled.
Individual scores that can only be hidden by permissions rather than removed.
Vagueness about retention.
And an inability to say what an employee would see on request, which indicates nobody has been asked.
Sitting on the other side
Ask to see the employee's view.
Many products have one and it is rarely demonstrated.
If there is none — if the person being measured sees nothing at all — that is the most important fact about the product, and it will not come up unless you ask.
What to put in the contract
The capture list as an obligation rather than a description.
Notification of any change to capture capability.
Data location, retention and export rights.
And the ability to disable the features you decided against, so that a later administrator cannot quietly enable them.
After the demonstration
Write down what you were told, and what you were shown rather than told.
The gap between those two is usually where the awkward questions live, and it is visible only if you record both.
What to check
Which of the twelve can your shortlist answer?
Have you seen the employee's view?
Can covert mode be disabled?
And is the capture list contractual?