How to answer difficult job interview questions: A Question of Motivation

The division you’d be managing has its head right down at the moment: how will you set about re-motivating them?

A fair and difficult question. Answer with a process to fix the immediate problems, and a plan for boosting motivation in the long term.

Remember that the members of the team at the coalface are the best people to ask for ideas to improve matters.

This is not an uncommon situation. The team needs a new leader perhaps because the old one didn’t get them to perform to their best or achieve their objectives. The new leader faces more than the normal problems of taking on a new team – wariness about a stranger and so on.

THE FIRST FEW WEEKS

Start your answer with an assurance that you’ll put a lot of effort into this crucial part of your role: ‘I’d recognise the importance of spending a huge amount of time with the team, talking to them and getting to know them. I’d use that time to analyse thoroughly what the problems are as the team see them; why they’re not feeling good about their work.’

You may then get the question, ‘What do you think are the likely causes of poor team morale?’ You might reply, ‘In my experience it frequently starts from a communications problem. The team doesn’t feel that management are keeping them informed. This often happens if a manager is trying not to worry a team with some problems the organisation has. This never works. They’re not fools and they know something’s going on; so they worry, even though they don’t know the details. I’d make sure as quickly as I can that they hear the full story of the organisation’s position and theirs in it.

‘The other main cause of team demotivation is lack of involvement in the decisionmaking process. If their views are not taken into account when plans are made they’re going to feel unhappy. I find that the best people to find a way round problems or improve a difficult situation are usually the people at the coalface. If you want to know how to sell more product and services ask the salespeople. If you need to reduce direct costs ask the people in production. I use a structured but simple team planning process that makes certain that everyone contributes to planning the way ahead.’ Be prepared for a supplementary question on planning processes.

AND THEN FOREVER

‘How do you keep your team wanting to come to work in the morning?’ One possible answer: ‘I find that resolving issues quickly is best done by assigning teams of, say, two people to find solutions. This is stronger than an individual working on their own with occasional input from their leader. I also know how important to a team is a wide perspective of what’s going on in the organisation. I make sure they know how important they and their work are to the whole organisation – that’s a huge motivator. I believe that bonuses and rewards are part of motivating a team but by no means the whole of it. I understand the crucial importance of appreciating their efforts – they need regular praise and thanks. Sometimes it’s good to set monthly goals so that the team can get together more frequently to celebrate their achievements. I also find that people need to get involved in new activities and new challenges.’

The interviewers are unlikely to go into the specifics of what went wrong with the team, unless you’re going for an internal job. In the latter case you need to research carefully what’s caused the demoralisation.

For more information visit: http://www.infideas.com/self-development/interviews/