Question: Describe a time when you sped up completion of a project at the expense of quality.

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Tell us about a time when you had to sacrifice quality in order to speed up a project.

Follow-up questions:

What were the consequences?
Do you think you could have avoided doing this? How?
What important skills have you developed that is going to help you in future to deal with similar scenarios?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Behavioral

Skills:

Basic – Active Learning,Basic – Critical Thinking,Management of Time,Systems Evaluation

Abilities:

Cognitive – Perceptual Speed,Cognitive – Problem Sensitivity (Problem Recognition),Cognitive – Speed of Closure (Thinking Speed)

Other Factors:

Personal Improvement (Growth),Self-Awareness

Work Activity (Task):

Information Input – Estimating Characteristics of Objects, Events, or Information,Mental Processes – Judging the Value of Things, Services, or People,Mental Processes – Making Decisions and Solving Problems,Work Output – Quality Improvement

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

Interpersonal Relationships – Responsibility for Outcomes and Results of Others,Job Structure – Consequence of Error,Job Structure – Handling Time Pressure

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Achievement/Effort (Action/Result Orientation),Risk Tolerance,Self Control,Stress Tolerance

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

Everyone with a significant amount of experience does make such decisions, so it is okay if the candidate too has such experience but have they repeated it is something you should look for.
If the candidate understands it is never worthwhile to compromise on quality unless in rare scenarios it is the demand of the client to deliver quantity and not bother about quality.

Red Flags to Watch For:

If the candidate made this decision on a critical project.
If the candidate sounds too easy and finds okay to make such mistakes again.

Sample Answer:

N/A

Question Source: Unknown