Interview Questions

Teamwork (Encouraging and Building)

Getting Groups/Individuals to Cooperate
1.  Describe a time you led a team of people who didn't always see eye to eye.  What did you do?

Why did you choose to do that?  How did it work out?

2.  Tell me about a time you were able to gain commitment from others to really work as a team.

3.  Provide an example of a time when it was critical that you establish an effective working

relationship with an individual or group outside your department to complete an assignment or

deliv er a service.

4.  Tell me about a time you needed to get two groups or people to work  together effectively, who

historically had never done so.

5.  Give me an example of a time that your leadership transformed a group of people into an

effective, healthy, productive team.

6.  Tell me about a time you led a team that had one or more unproductive/negative members.  How

did you find out about the unproductive member?  What did you do?  Why did you choos e to do

that?  How did it work  out?

7.  Describe a time when you had to have coworkers with different work styles or ideas work together

on a project.  What, specifically, did you do to pull them together?

Team/Team Member Strengths

8.  Tell me about a time you recognized a team member for having made a valuable c ontribution to

the team.

9.  Tell me about a time where, if it hadn't been for teamwork, your goal might not have been

achieved.

Miscellaneous

10.  Describe a time when you were able to build team spirit in an environment of low morale.

11.  Tell me about a time you needed to lead an intact, project, or ad hoc team toward a goal that you,

personally, did not completely support or believe in.

12.  Give me an example of a time you successfully built a project team from scratch.  What was  the

project?  How did you go about selecting team members?  How did you get these individuals to

work as a team?  What was the hardest part of getting them to work  as a team?  Was the team

successful on the project?

13.  Tell me about at time when you were able to provide your team with recognition for the work they

performed.

14.  Describe a s ituation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or help others to compromise.

What was your role?  What steps did you take?  What was the end result?

15.  Describe the types of teams you have been involved with.

16.  Describe your leadership style and give an example of a situation when you successfully led a

group.

17.  Some people work best as part of a group

–

others prefer the role of individual contributor.  How

would you describe yourself?  Give an example of a situation where you felt you were most

effective.

18.  Tell us about the most difficult challenge you faced in trying to work  cooperatively with someone

who did not share the same ideas.   What was your role in achieving the objective?

19.  What is the difficult part of being a member, not leader, of a team?  How did you handle this?


Teamwork (Working as a Team Player)

Problems Among/With Fellow Team Members

1.  Give me an example of a time when others with whom you were working on a project disagreed

with your idea.

2.  Describe a time when one of the members on you team did not complete (or wasn't doing) his fair

share of the work.

3.  Tell me about a time when you helped others compromise for the good of the team.  What was

your role?  What steps did you take?

4.  Tell me about a time when you were part of a team that did not get along or did not work  well

together.  What happened?

Positive Incidents

5.  Give me an example of when you worked cooperatively as a team member to accomplis h an

important goal.  What was the goal or objective?  What was your role in achieving this objective?

To what extent did you interact with others on this project?

6.  Give me an example of a time where you were willing to compromise on something relatively

important to you in order for the team you were a member of to proceed with a project.

7.  Tell me about a time you were rec ognized and rewarded for being a valuable team member.

Trust

1.  Tell me about a time you mistrusted another employee, resulting in tens ion between the two of

you.  What did you do to improve the relationship?  Were you successful?

2.  Give me an example of a time you failed to keep your boss informed of your actions or progress

on a task or project.

3.  Tell me about a time you had to give the benefit of the doubt to someone at work.

4.  Tell me about a time when your trustworthiness was challenged.  How did you react/respond?

5.  Tell me how you have developed trus t and loyalty between you and your direct reports.

Vision and Purpose

1.  Tell me about a time where your v ision of the future was so inspiring that you were able to

convert nay-sayers into followers.

2.  Tell me about a time you lost track of the vision/mission/purpose of your

team/department/organization and it turned out to have repercussions.

3.  Describe a time you established a vision for your department/unit.  What process was used?

Were others involved in setting the vision and, if s o, how?  How did the vision contribute to the

functioning of the department/unit?

4.  Tell me about the relationship of your goals in your c urrent position to the organization as a

whole.

5.  Tell me about a time when you anticipated the future and made changes to meet these future

needs.  Did the anticipated future occur?