Question: Imagine this scenario: You are working on a project. You show the second draft of your work to your manager. They then ask you to do the work in a different way without explaining their reasoning. What do you do?

Alternative Question Phrasing:

How would you handle it if your manager asked you to implement a different way of working but didn’t explain why?

Follow-up questions:

Why handle things this way?
Would you ask your manager to explain why?
How would you handle the time pressure caused by this?
How would you prevent this from happening again in the future?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Situational

Skills:

Management of Time,Social – Coordination (Adjusting one’s own actions in relation to others),Social – Negotiation

Other Factors:

Big 5 – Agreeableness,Big 5 – Neuroticism (Emotion Regulation),Practical Intelligence (Street Smarts)

Work Activity (Task):

Interacting with Others – Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

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

Interpersonal Relationships – Relationship With Supervisor,Job Structure – Freedom to Make Decisions,Job Structure – Handling Time Pressure

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Handling Ambiguity,Self Control

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

You are looking to see if the interviewee will be emotionally stable in such a situation, and try to work towards a solution that works for both parties.

Red Flags to Watch For:

Getting extremely emotionally upset is a red flag. While not questioning the manager on the task or the revision is not necessarily a red flag, it may be a red flag if this is not the behavior you are looking for.

Sample Answer:

N/A

Question Source: https://resources.workable.com/interview-questions/