Management Skills Interview Questions

Checkout Vskills Interview questions with answers in Management Skills to prepare for your next job role. The questions are submitted by professionals to help you to prepare for the Interview.    

Q.1 How you communicate your decisions to your team?
Communication is crucial for any process or team to be successful. I am managing a team of 40 professional with 5 in leadership positions. We have weekly meeting with all team members to share their progress and any issues being faced. Daily meetings are held with my leadership team and any sensitive decision depending upon the nature of decision is shared in the daily meeting. Monthly meeting are also held for review and progress status with all the team. Further, e-mail, chat, etc are also used to address any tactical decisions with the team members keeping requisite members of the team in loop.
Q.2 Which factors you consider while developing a plan?
While developing a plan, we identify and consider the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) for goal’s success. We focus to maximize opportunities to advance our revenue and sales as we engaged a popular celebrity famous for physical fitness, to advertise our health drinks and which has seen tremendous sales. The opportunity helped us in marketing and develop trust in our products.
Q.3 How you will measure effectiveness of a strategy?
The effectiveness of a strategy is dependent upon the goals for the strategy or what we want to achieve. If sales are the motto then effectiveness of the strategy is measured as the percentage increase in sales or new sales numbers being added for the product. But we need to identify the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) as applicable to the strategy before focusing our resources and energy this helps in defining the KPIs (key performance indicators) to achieve at a granular level.
Q.4 How will you describe your management style?
Management style is difficult to point out as different management style is applied as per the demands of the situation. But, mostly it involves delegation of tasks and a hands-off approach to let the subordinate perform with an open channel of communication and guidance to avoid any problems. That’s how I will describe my management style. I remember a project with tight deadlines, was discussed with my eight team members and we brainstormed together to list out tasks and responsibilities with specific timelines. I was available to them for any issues which many of them faced but each was independent to accomplish the task and we achieved the result in specified budget and time.
Q.5 How you make important decisions?
Any decision depends upon the data or input available. For important decisions we need to be more particular and gather as much relevant information which affects the decision, as much as possible. After data gathering all the alternatives are assessed for feasibility and weighed against the KPIs (key performance indicators) and organizational goals after which the best one is chosen and appropriate decision is made and action taken.
Q.6 How you handled a situation where your advice was not well received?
Yes, there had been a situation where my advice was not well received and it was in a project to be delivered with specific quality criteria. We were short on the budget and time and senior management took the decision to finish the project within the budget and timelines but with low quality benchmarks. I advised of delaying the project submission so as to maintaining quality levels but was not well received. I conveyed my advice to all senior management so as to make them aware of the issues that might crop up later on. But later I got to know that the requisite approvals were taken from the client with financial penalty.
Q.7 How you set long term goals for the team?
Setting long term goals for the team involves a thorough process to be followed as it involves the organizational goals to be of focus and according to which the long term goals for the team are set. S the team is not an independent entity and other units or teams of the company are needed to realize the long term goals of the team hence, this factor is also of prime importance while deciding on the long term goals of the team. A constant feedback loop is also utilized to update the plan as per changed realities in the external and internal environment. All team members are also involved in finalizing the plan as they are the ones who will help achieve it and should have same vision.
Q.8 What do you think of most important role of a manager?
The most important role of a manager is to develop teams for implementing organizational goals and strategies by considering the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats though achieving the specified KPIs (key performance indicators).
Q.9 How do you see yourself in next five year as manager?
I want use my skills and knowledge for effective management to add value to the business and as well as gain more knowledge and skills for maintaining it. I want to design and develop KPIs (key performance indicators) for achieving the organizational goals while taking into consideration, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organization.
Q.10 What is the impact of management on the goals of a company?
Effective management helps create a conducive environment for employees to perform better as well as maintain the allocated budgets and achieve the mandated KPIs (key performance indicators). Effective management impacts across the business in all aspects of functioning as all departments as it provides a specific direction, goals to achieve and KPIs which will lead to it.
Q.11 How you manage your subordinates?
I supervise subordinates as per their role and function in achieving the specified KPIs (key performance indicators) as per the strengths and weaknesses of the member. Task delegation, workload and schedule are done as per SOP to achieve the KPIs.
Q.12 How you maintained discipline in your team?
Discipline is a company is maintained as per the legal framework and HR rules and regulations for employee discipline. Disciplinary actions are taken as appropriate after explaining to the employee in private, about their wrongs, so as to provide a chance to the employee for correcting oneself and prevent development of hostile work environment.
Q.13 What tasks are performed by a Manager?
Effective management is the primary role of a manager. Designing and developing effective plans as per SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) of the team, process and company is the main task for the manager. A well designed plan and its implementation helps in achieving organizational goals as per mandated KPIs (key performance indicators).
Q.14 How do you assign goals for your team?
I use the SMART (or Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic and Time-related) approach for goals design. The goal assignment and task delegation is used with consideration for the resource availability as per organizational objectives to achieve.
Q.15 Why you are suitable as manager?
As manager, I have requisite skills which include: management skills, conflict resolution, problem solving, communication and coping under pressure which are of importance for the management role.
Q.16 What are your strengths as a manager?
As a manager I have extensive experience in effective management of teams and meeting project deadlines in constrained resources. I am expert in developing plans considering the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats ) of the team and process or project while focusing on achieving the goals under the mandated KPIs (key performance indicators) . I have the requisite managerial and vision needed for the role.
Q.17 How you manage conflict?
Conflicts can arise at any instance when there is a disagreement. Conflicts are managed by focusing on the reason for conflict and disagreement. I apply conflict management technique like collaborating, forcing, accommodating or compromising as per the situation amongst the conflicting parties so as to maintain a constructive environment.
Q.18 How you manage under performance by your subordinates?
Under performance at any level or stage in a company has a basis due to which the underperformance is observed. We need to first analyze the basis for under performance and also take feedback from the subordinate so as to better understand the situation form their perspective.
Q.19 How do you prioritize management related tasks?
Prioritizing tasks involves understanding the characteristics of the task so as to sequence and place the task as per its priority. The various factors which influence the task priority are the tasks relevance, urgency, cost involved and resource availability.
Q.20 What steps you take to delegate tasks amongst subordinates?
Task delegation is a detailed process which is accomplished by knowing not only the subordinates strengths and weaknesses but also taking a review of the situation so as to know the availability of the subordinate. Other factor of consideration for task delegation is skill level of the subordinate and their past performance.
Q.21 How you organize data related to your decisions and work?
Organizing data and paper work related to decisions and managerial working is an exhaustive process but I simplify it by assigning weight age to the document or data, making suitable storage arrangements and making it accessible as per role or access level of the team member. I also follow a proper routine fir its management every day and apply prioritization to organize the information.
Q.22 How you manage your time as a manager?
Managing time as a manager is crucial and involves being aware of tasks to accomplish in specific timeframe and is best done by being organized and prioritizing tasks. Time management techniques helps in managing time and includes using to do lists, being aware of time wasters and optimizing work environment
Q.23 Did you fail to achieve goals as a manager?
Yes, there was an instance when I failed to achieve the goals. I had planned for an product launch of a new product line and was expecting a bumper sale. All arrangements were made and rollout plans across the retailers was planned and completed as per timeline we had planned. But, due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown was enforced all plans and arrangements were stalled. Though it resulted in financial loss to the company but we did a low key launch to recoup the losses and focused on gaining market share as envisaged. Our product got tremendous response and we succeeded later though initial failures were met and goals as planned were not achieved.
Q.24 Why do you want to work as manager at this company?
Working as manager at this company offers me more avenues of growth, enhance my management skills. The company has been in the domain of fast moving consumer goods and offers for opportunities for future growth. Also considering my education, skills and experience I see more suitable for the post. Further, I am also that excited from my interactions with employees so far.
Q.25 Why do you want the manager job?
I want the manager job as I am passionate about effective and efficient management of teams, process and projects for the company. I like to assist in growth of the team members and the organization by using my skills.
Q.26 What is your biggest weakness?
My biggest weakness is that I give too much attention to detail due to which I am sometimes not able to accomplish tasks in efficient and effective manner. Now I prioritize the time allocated for attention to detail as per the priority and the level of detail needed. This has helped me in saving time and better manage process and subordinates.
Q.27 What are your biggest strengths?
My biggest strength is that I am a great problem solver as well as an emotionally intelligent manager who has managed teams with irritating subordinates and handled troublesome stakeholders and still accomplish the defined goals as per the KPIs (key performance indicators) defined for the task. I applied my problem solving skills in various emergency situations to keep the wheel of the operations going without any interruptions blocking the same.
Q.28 What software programs are you familiar with, and do you prefer certain platforms?
I am having experience in software programs from Microsoft and also well versed in cloud applications from Google and Microsoft. I have learned both during my experience with different companies. As I am a quick learner, I will quickly learn any other software in use in your company.
Q.29 Did you ever eliminated wasteful spending on a particular project for your company?
As a manager I had multiple opportunities to apply my skills for efficient management of processes and removing wasteful spending. I had to make important and tough decisions in my department while implementing automation for various processes, and was able to save 15% by reducing redundancies.
Q.30 What software platforms do you have experience with to help eliminate errors in your work?
Error elimination is primary duty and I always manually check my work, and I use various software tools from Microsoft (MS-Word and Excel) to monitor errors. I also apply automated monitoring to double check for any anomalies in my work.
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