How did you persuade your team to stick with your decision when the team opposed it?
Interviewing is stressful. And you know what is the most agonizing part of the process? The hardest question you'll get asked in the face of the interviewers - is STAR questions.
It is challenging to come up with real-life examples out of thin air while feeling the pressure and stress of being under a pair of gazeful eyes.
The best way to prepare for STAR questions is to practice them over and over again until they become second nature to you. This way, when you are in front of an interviewer, you will not feel nervous. Here are examples to prepare for STAR questions.
My team was split between two different colors: blue and yellow.
S - The situation was that we were trying to decide which color scheme would be best for our new website. My team was split between two different colors: blue and yellow.
T - We needed to find a way to come to a consensus.
A - I took the task of finding out which color would be most popular among our target audience. I conducted surveys, ran focus groups, and even interviewed people in person! I found that the majority of people liked the blue color scheme better than yellow, so I voted for blue.
R - It turned out that my choice was correct: after we launched our website with the blue color scheme, we saw an increase in sales as well as higher engagement rates on social media channels like Facebook and Instagram.
We were deciding on which of two products to develop first.
S - One time when I was working with a team and we had opposing views on an issue was when we were deciding on which of two products to develop first.
T - I was the head of product development, so it was my job to ensure that we developed the best product possible. The other team members felt that we should develop the second product first because it would make more money for the company in the long run.
A - I wanted to make sure that we were making the right decision, so I went through our financials and found out how much money each product would make if it was released immediately after launch. After doing this analysis, I presented my findings to the team and explained why they should go with my decision.
R - As a result, they agreed with me and we chose to develop the first product first instead of the second one.
I was tasked with helping manage a team of salespeople who were not performing up to par.
S - The company had been struggling with meeting its quarterly goals, and we needed to make some changes.
T - I was tasked with helping manage a team of salespeople who were not performing up to par.
A - I started by working closely with each member of our sales staff and learning about what they did best, how they were already contributing to the team's success, and what areas they needed to improve in order to meet our goals.
I then took this information back to my manager and suggested that we give them more time for training and coaching on those areas where they could improve. This would allow them to grow within their position at the company while also helping us get closer to meeting our quarterly goals.
R - My manager agreed that this was a good idea, so we implemented it immediately; since then, we have seen an increase in revenue across all areas of the business!
We had opposing views about timelines and goals for a project to develop new features.
S - One example of a time when I had opposing views on an issue with my team was when I was working as a project manager for a software development company.
We had just finished setting up a project to develop new features for one of our products, and we were all in agreement about the timeline and goals for this project. However, once we started working on the project, some of our employees began to feel that it would take too long to complete the entire project within our allotted timeframe.
T - I tried to explain that this was not possible because we needed to stick with our original plan and budget in order to meet our deadlines and achieve success. However, they insisted that we should extend our deadline or reduce our scope so that we can finish quicker than expected.
A - After some back-and-forth discussions with my team members, I realized that they were right: extending our deadline would allow us to deliver more features than originally planned while reducing scope would help us complete it faster than anticipated—both of which would lead to better customer satisfaction and improved customer loyalty over time.
R - In conclusion, I think it's important for all leaders in any organization (big or small) to listen carefully to their employees' ideas before making decisions about future projects.
We had different views about how to solve a problem when I was working on a team.
S - One time, when I was working on a team, we had different views about how to solve a problem. The task was to come up with a new way of managing the company's customer service calls.
T - My role in this situation was to lead the team by taking charge of the discussion and guiding us through it. I knew that my team members were passionate about their ideas and wanted to share them but they were not very good at expressing themselves clearly or persuading others.
A - Therefore, my actions were based on being empathetic towards them and helping them find ways of expressing themselves more effectively so that we could reach a consensus.
R - As a result, we came up with an idea that worked well for all parties involved.
