Question: Describe a time when you helped to improve the efficiency or productivity of your team.

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Discuss an example where you increased productivity in your team.

Follow-up questions:

What was your role?
What qualities in you do you think made this possible?
Were there challenges you faced while working within this team?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Behavioral

Skills:

Basic – Monitoring (Making observations of self and environment),Management of Financial Resources,Systems Analysis,Systems Evaluation

Abilities:

Cognitive – Originality,Cognitive – Perceptual Speed

Other Factors:

Personal Improvement (Growth),Personality-Job Fit,Personality-Organization Fit,Personality-Team Fit

Work Activity (Task):

Information Input – Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings,Interacting with Others – Assisting and Caring for Others,Interacting with Others – Coaching and Developing Others,Interacting with Others – Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates,Interacting with Others – Monitoring and Controlling Resources,Interacting with Others – Performance Management (Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates),Interacting with Others – Provide Consultation and Advice to Others,Mental Processes – Judging the Value of Things, Services, or People,Mental Processes – Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge,Work Output – Quality Improvement

Work Context (Person-Job/Team/Org Fit):

Interpersonal Relationships – Work With Work Group or Team (As a member, not a leader),Job Structure – Level of Responsibility (Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Organization Results)

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Achievement/Effort (Action/Result Orientation),Cooperation,Initiative,Social Orientation (Work Alone vs Group Work)

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

You are looking for the candidate’s prioritizing skills
You are looking for the candidate’s skillset in use that would help the team avoid distractions and value their time and money.
If the candidate knows the team well and how the tasks can be divided between them.

Red Flags to Watch For:

If the candidate shares an experience which tells about their individual improvement but not sure how that improvement contributed at team level.
If the candidate is self focused and doesn’t worry much on how the team is shaping in terms of performance.

Sample Answer:

N/A

Question Source: https://www.totaljobs.com/advice/most-common-competency-based-interview-questions