Relationship Management

Collaboration and Interpersonal Skills

Behavioral

• Give me an example of a time when you had to deal with a difficult co-worker. How did you handle the situation?
  
• Describe a difficult time you have had dealing with an employee or customer. Why was it difficult? How did you handle it? What was the outcome?
  
• Describe a time when you were instrumental in creating or improving a good relationship with another department within your company.
  
• Recall an occasion when you had to work with people from different divisions to accomplish a single goal.
  
• Recount an occasion when you were able to connect individuals from different backgrounds or cultures in a unified organizational effort.
  

Situational

• You are a committee member, and you disagree with a point or decision. How do you respond?
  
• If someone asked you for assistance with a matter that is outside the parameters of your job description, what would you do?
  
• If you had a problem with a team member's lack of contribution to a project, what would you do?
  
• There's a deadline to be met. The team members have an excellent grasp of their positions, but one member is absent from work, and no one can do her job well. What would you do?
  

General

• What would your last boss say about how you collaborate with others?
  
• What do you think of your last boss?
  
• Describe how you like to be managed.
  
• Describe the best relationship you've had with a previous boss.
  
• If I asked your previous or current co-workers about you, what would they say? 
  
• Tell me what type of relationship exists and should exist between your current department and the department it works most closely with.
  
• Each boss is a little different. My management philosophy or style is ______. In what way(s) do you think that your work style would complement mine [or other relevant person's work style]?
  
• Describe what you foresee to be as challenges or adjustments for us in this new role.
  
• In terms of communication (face-to-face, phone, e-mail, instant messaging, texting), which is your preference for collaboration? Why?
  

Customer/Client Focus

Behavioral

• Tell me about a time when you went out of your way to give great service to a customer.
  
• Tell me about a time when you asked for feedback on your customer service skills from your manager or co-worker and then used that response to improve your work.
  
• Describe a time when you had to deal with a difficult guest- or client-relations problem. What was the outcome? What did you learn?
  
• Tell me about a time when you knew that your customer might not get what he or she needed on time. How did you handle this?
  
• Tell me about a time when you had to say "no" to a customer because his or her request was against company policy.
  
• Tell me about a time when you had trouble working with a difficult or demanding customer. How did you handle this?
  
• Tell me about a situation in which you "lost it" or did not do your best with a customer. What did you do about this?
  
• Describe a time when you exceeded a customer's expectations.
  
• Describe a time when you lost a customer. What would you do differently?
  
• Share an example of a time when you developed rapport with a customer. What strategies did you use? How did you transfer the use of those strategies to other customers?
  

Situational

• "Yes" is the word clients, customers and guests like to hear. However, if you had to say "no," how would you do it?
  
• A customer's purchase is not what was promised. Do you explain to the customer why that happened?
  

General

• What do you find is the most difficult part about providing customer service? What is the best part?
  
• Describe a process or system that you improved so customers would be better served.
  
• When are policy exceptions to customers warranted? Not warranted?
  
• How do you go about deciding what strategy to employ when dealing with a difficult customer?
  
• We all have customers or clients. Who are your clients, and how do you identify them?
  
• What have you done to improve relations with your customers?
  
• How would you define guest or client satisfaction?
  
• What does the term "customer" mean to you?
  
• What does the phrase "servicing the sale" mean to you?
  
• Describe a time when someone failed to provide satisfactory service to you. How could that person have improved his or her performance in that particular situation?
  
• Give an example of one thing that is important in building repeat-customer business.
  
• What types of behaviors do you find most annoying or frustrating in a client or customer? How do you handle those behaviors?
  
• What specific process do you go through when a client or guest is dissatisfied?
  
• How do you think your clients, customers or guests would describe you and your work?
  
• Have you ever contacted a customer with the sole purpose of seeking feedback about a product or service you delivered? What did you learn? What did you change?
  

Teamwork Orientation

Behavioral

• Tell me about a time when a team project failed.
  
• Tell me about a time when you needed to work as part of a team to satisfy a client or resolve an issue.
  
• Tell me about a time you worked on a cross-functional team. Were there different challenges compared to a departmental-task team?
  
• When groups work together, conflict often erupts. Tell me about a time that conflict occurred in one of your workgroups and what you did about it.
  
• Tell me about a time you pitched in to help a team member finish a project even though it "wasn't your job." What was the result?
  
• Tell me about a situation in which political power plays affected team dynamics. How did you or the team overcome this situation, and how could the situation have been avoided?
  
• Tell me about a time when you were a part of a great team. What was your part in making the team effective?
  
• Tell me the role you play within workgroups and why.
  
• Tell me about the most effective contribution you have made as part of a task group or special project team.
  
• Have you ever worked on a virtual team? If so, tell me about this experience. What were the team dynamics? Was the team successful? If not, what do you perceive to be the advantages and disadvantages of this type of team? What would you do differently? How would you suggest creating team cohesiveness in a virtual setting?
  

Situational

• The project is brought to a lull (or worse, a halt) due to a co-worker's lack of productivity. What are your next steps?
  
• You're in a group where individual performance is highly rewarded and regarded. One teammate is not as productive as the rest. You could help him and reduce your own productivity or not help, and the team suffers. How do you handle this?
  

General

• What do you think are the best and worst parts of working in a team environment? How do you handle it?
  
• If I asked several of your co-workers about your greatest strength as a team member, what would they tell me?
  
• What do you think makes a team of people work well together? What makes them not work well together?
  
• How would people you work with describe you?
  
• What is essential for a team to be successful?
  
• Who is the most valuable "player" on any team?