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Describe a time when you collaborated with others to make a decision.
Why ask about this? Responses to this inquiry may help identify candidates who believe in the power of collaborative decision making; decisions based on the input of others are better decisions.
Possible Followup Questions:
- What was the decision that needed to be made?
- Why did you feel it was appropriate to involve others?
- Who did you ask to be involved?
- Why did you select those individuals to participate?
- How was their input used?
- How do you decide when to involve others in decisions and when to make a decision yourself?
How candidates may respond and how to score those responses:
Unsatisfactory response (worth a score of 1) – These candidates provide little evidence of having involved others in decision making. “I was the boss. It was my job to make decisions. I understood the issues better than anyone else did.”
Acceptable response (score as 3) – These candidates describe how others were involved in decisions, but this involvement was limited in terms of frequency, the importance of the decisions to be made and the impact of the input on the final decision.
Outstanding “top-performer” response (worth a 5) – These candidates demonstrate a belief in the wisdom of those on their team. They also understand that not all decisions need to be made collaboratively, such as those that relate to trivial matters, or those that require information to which staff members do not have access to information that cannot be shared with them. When collaborative decisions are appropriate, the candidate carefully defines the parameters of involvement and how their input will be used (e.g., consensus building, majority decision, or as an “administrative” decision after considering the input received and other factors).
Reference Check Question: Describe a time when [candidate’s name) involved others when making a decision.
Caution: Each workplace and every manager is unique. Workplace cultures and values are different. There is no such thing as a perfect interview question. Questions that work for one manager may not work for another. Before choosing to use this, or any question, consider whether it fits your unique set of circumstances. Is the question right for you and your work environment? The same is true for the suggested rating scale, which may or may not reflect the culture of your organization or your observations of how your top performers respond to circumstances similar to those described. You should adapt both the question and rating guide to fit your circumstances and leadership style.
During my Interview Right to Hire Right workshops, participants learn to write behaviour description interview (BDI) questions based on their understanding of what makes top performers successful.
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