Management

These questions are mostly reserved for manager positions to assess the manager’s experience and managerial competencies. Managerial skills are best exemplified by a few common challenges that every experienced managers have faced. From your answers, the interviewers can determine:

  • Your management philosophy and principles,
  • Experience with common managerial challenges,
  • Ability to drive the team to deliver strong results, and
  • Political savviness

Experience of Firing Someone

What is the interviewer looking for: Firing is one of the most challenging tasks that a manager faces. If done improperly, it could trigger various complications. From one’s behavior in a performance management or firing experience, one can tell how strong you are as a manager. In this question, the interviewer is looking for evidence to assess:

  • Your philosophy for performance management,
  • Hands-on experience with performance management,
  • Empathy with the involved employees, and
  • Partnership with HR to make and execute tough but necessary decisions

Best practice to answer: First of all, give a direct answer on your experience with firing and performance management. Then pick up one or two examples to go into detail. A typical performance management case involves the following steps:

  • The manager observed performance challenges, provide actionable feedback to help the individual to grow.
  • The manager and the individual dive deep to analyze the performance, assess whether the individual is set for success. If not, apply some adjustments if available.
  • When situation does not improve, the manager usually first encourages the employee to reflect if this is the right environment for his/her success. After that, the manager can trigger PEP and/or PIP process for larger companies. For smaller companies, this step is often skipped.
  • If the performance still does not improve after all the effort, it is time for the manager to make the hard decision, work with HR to execute the decision.

Since firing and performance management are very sensitive topics, it often requires close partnership with HR. Please make sure to mention about your collaboration with HR on this.

Common pitfalls:

  • Simply say the employee did not perform and move forward to fire. No indication that you have tried to hear the employee out and create opportunity for her to improve and succeed.
  • Do not take partnership from HR
  • Expect HR to do the job for you. Some managers delegate this to HR. The reality is that managers should own performance management no matter how hard it is. HR will only be there to support.

Question variations:

  • Have you put anyone on PIP? How did it play out?
  • Which one is harder? Hire or fire? Why?

Response to Escalations

Question: Two of your tech leads escalated to you that the other party is not collaborative. What would you do?

What is the interviewer looking for: As managers, part of your job is to handle escalations, step in when necessary, challenge the individuals to figure out solutions in other cases. In this question, the interviewer is looking for:

  • Your management style towards escalations, and
  • Your ability to help the team to resolve conflicts

Best practice to answer: If you are an experienced manager, you must have encountered this situation. While a general rule of thumb is to bring everyone together and talk it openly, it is also true that it is case by case and you have to use different tactics depending on the situation. A strong response will lay out some fundamental principles on how you typically handle escalations and conflicts within your team, and explain how you will handle differently for a few common scenarios.

A powerful example is how your intervention resulted into a stronger chemistry between the two individuals and how they became better leaders.

Common pitfalls:

  • Act as a messenger between the two parties. If you are entangled in the verbal exchanges it is almost certain you will have a hard time resolving the conflict. The likely outcome is that everyone will be disappointed.

  • Simply force the two members to solve the issue by themselves, without stepping in as needed.

  • Downplay the challenging nature and only suggest superficial solutions such as open communication.

Question variations:

  • How do you resolve conflicts within your team?
  • How do you handle escalations?
  • Tell me a time that you had to give tough feedback to someone.

Empowering and Driving Accountability

Question: How do you balance empowering your reports and demanding strong results?

What is the interviewer looking for: While micromanaging is the most commonly referenced example of poor management, over-delegating under the name of empowering is another common mistake made by managers, especially junior ones. Delegating without expecting strong results will often lead to weak performance. Strong leaders empower their reports, but also demand strong results and have framework to drive strong results. In this question, the interviewer is looking for

  • Your natural preference towards results
  • Your management philosophy about empowering
  • Management practice to drive strong results

Best practice to answer: First, share your management philosophy. How do you empower people? Refer to data or quote from your employees. Emphasize on how you push the team to deliver strong results. Again, refer to some data, especially quote from your manager or peers on your team’s performance will be very helpful.

Common pitfalls:

  • Show signs of micromanagement
  • Show signs of not pushing for strong performance
  • Unable to reference some facts or quotes to support your assertion

Question variations:

  • How do you manage your team/reportees?
  • How would your reports describe you as a manager?
  • Do you micromanage?
  • How do you make sure your team delivers strong results?