Interview Questions: Decision Making
Definition: Competence in decision making is the ability to confidently and decisively decide on a course of action after critically analyzing information, parameters and constraints. Informed decisions come from gathering information and viewing the choice from different perspectives. High quality decision making requires flexibility and openness as well as a careful evaluation of the costs and benefits.
The statements below may be used in your job interview as measures of your "Decision Making" skills. There are steps you can take to measure or improve your Decision Making.
Confident
- Give an example of how you supported, encouraged or helped others to be sure about the decisions they made.
- Describe a time when you remained calm when making important or difficult decisions.
- Are you firm in your decision and not easily influenced by the whims of others?
- Would others describe you as confident, decisive, and resilient? Why so?
- Are you confident in your actions?
- Are you confident in the decisions you make?
- Are you very intent in your decisions?
- How do you remain decisive after discovering a mistake?
Decisiveness
- How do you make decisions independently (without having to be told what or how)?
- Give an example of how you take decisive action to address problems, following up with relevant team members and coaching them on how to improve?
- How do you make effective decisions autonomously?
- Were you assigned the difficult decisions that needed to be made?
- Are you able to make decisions quickly?
- Do you focus attention on treating the causes of problems rather than simply addressing the symptoms?
- Would others consider you not afraid to take risks that may yield significant results?
- How do you respond quickly to tough "people issues" when dealing with internal or external customers?
- Describe how you take charge when in charge?
- Do you act in the absence of guidance?
Analytical
- How do you carefully evaluate information before making an important decision?
- Give an example where you determined actual results differed from desired results and made necessary corrections.
- Describe how you make logical assumptions in the absence of facts.
- How do you evaluate information before making a final decision?
- How do you assess the Pros- and Cons- before making a decision?
- Describe how you would break complex issues into manageable parts and organize them in a systematic way before making a decision.
- Do you regularly evaluate information before making important decisions? How?
- How do you balance analysis with decisiveness in order to meet deadlines?
Critical Thinking
- Do you make effective, practical decisions based on knowledge, experience, and judgment?
- Do you defer decisions upwards only when necessary and appropriate? Can you describe an example when this happened?
- How do you use reasonable assumptions and logic to decide between alternate courses of action?
- How do you effectively choose appropriate courses of action?
- Describe a time when you were able to decline a bad idea to avoid making a poor decision?
- Give an example of how you examine relevant factors needed to make a decision.
- How do you improvise within your supervisor's intent; handle a fluid environment?
- Give an example of when you uncovered critical issues to use as a guide in both making decisions and taking advantage of opportunities?
- How do you relate and compare information from different sources to identify possible cause-and-effect relationships?
Decision Quality
- Do you exercise good judgment by making sound and informed decisions? Describe.
- Describe how you make sound and timely decisions.
- Have you made good decisions for the department? Elaborate.
- Do you usually make sound and timely decisions under pressure? Explain.
- Describe how you employ sound judgment and logical reasoning in your decision making?
- How do you make decisions that positively impact team/departmental performance.
- Describe how you make good decisions even under conditions of uncertainty.
Goals and Objectives
- How do you decides which long-term goals should be met?
- Did you make decisions that supported the department's goals and objectives?
- Explain how you maintain focus on the "big picture" when making decisions.
- Describe how you decide which short- and long-term goals should be created.
- How do you remain focused on the immediate goal when making decisions?
- Give an example of how you stayed focused on the main objective when making decisions?
Informed Decisions
- Can you explain how you gathered and analyzed relevant information about changing situations to recognize and define an emerging problem?
- Are you well-versed in Company's reports and uses them to make effective business decisions?
- Would others describe you as someone who understands the issues, problems, and potential solutions? Explain why?
- Do you systematically gather, analyze, and interpret information from a variety of sources? Explain.
- Explain how you make decisions that are based on available facts, existing constraints, and probable outcomes.
- Do you ask for additional information when making critical decisions? Describe when that happened.
- Explain how you help the Supervisor/team make effective business decisions by ensuring the correctness of Company's reports/resources.
- Do you know how to obtain accurate and up-to-date information about the situation or problem?
- How do you gather information before making a decision?
- Do you keep informed about developments and policy changes inside and outside the organization? How?
- Describe how you make effective, practical decisions based on factual information.
Includes Others
- Do you coach team members individually when "incorrect" decisions are made? Explain how you help them see what could have been done differently.
- Explain how you would include stakeholders in the decision-making process as necessary.
- Have you coached team members individually when "poor" decisions were made? Did you help them see what could have been done differently?
- How would you seek input from key people who should be involved in, or will be affected by, decisions?
- Did you coach the team on decision-making; especially from a multiple-site-management perspective?
- Describe how you facilitated meetings with others to try to consider alternative courses of action.
- How do you develop and share effective decision-making practices and tools to further develop the team?
- Do you ever solicit feedback from others on the quality of your decision-making?
- Have you involved others in decisions and kept them informed of consequences that affect them?
- Do you train/coach others on how to make effective decisions?
- Have you encouraged the team to provide input on branch decisions when appropriate?
Forward Thinking
- Do you examine for patterns in data to help predict future possibilities?
- How do you anticipate when an action is needed?
- Explain how you consider contingencies and their consequences.
- How do you evaluate short and long term consequences when making decisions?
- Do you consider the impact and implications of decisions on others and on situations? Give an example.
- How do you prepare for potential problems and opportunities in working toward desired goals?
- Describe how you evaluate the effectiveness of decisions and then use this information to guide future decisions?
Self-Awareness
- How effectively do you prioritize and organize yourself and your workload?
- How do you learn from previous bad decisions so that you rarely repeat them?
- Explain how you learned from the consequences of decisions made?
- Are you able to learn from mistakes? Give an example where this happened.
- Do you accept the consequences of decisions made?
- How well are you aware of your own skills and abilities in this field?
Different Perspectives
- How do you use data from different sources to confirm information?
- Can you view the issues from multiple perspectives before making a decision? Give an example.
- Do you understand how different perspectives can help make better informed decisions? Explain.
- Describe how you might view the long and short-term impact of decisions?
- Do you consider the ethical implications of decisions?
Creativity
- Are you creative about the decisions you make?
- Have you ever made decisions based on novel interpretations of the facts? Explain.
- How do you apply creative reasoning in making decisions?
- How do you recognize and generate innovative solutions?
- Explain how you formulate imaginative decisions?
- Describe what makes creative decisions.
Parameters and Constraints
- Give an example of how you would determine (or define) what constraints must be met for the decision making process?
- Are you able to identify parameters impacting the decision? Explain.
- What factors determine if the constraints that may impact decisions are acceptable?
- How do you define the parameters that will impact a decision making process?
- Give an example of an important decision and outline the parameters that may influence that decision making process?
Flexibility and Openness
- Describe how you are willing to change your strategy if new information arises? Example?
- Are you receptive to new ideas from others when making decisions?
- Would your employees consider you to be open to the suggestions from subordinates?
- Are you open to listening to others who may have different ideas? Examples?
- Are you willing to consider information from other sources? Which sources?
Costs and Benefits
- How would you perform a cost/benefit analysis before making a decision?
- How do you determine the costs and potential benefits of decisions?
- How do you assess the risks, benefits, and potential impact of a number of options when deciding a course of action?
- What factors are important for deciding if a decision is "worth it"?
- Do you regularly develop alternative courses of action and choose the best course of action based on analysis of their relative costs and benefits? Explain.
- Explain how you weigh the pros and cons of decisions.
Emotional Intelligence
- Do you understand how your decisions will affect others? Can you elaborate?
- When have you had to take into account the impact decisions would have on others? Please explain.
- Do you understand the importance of decisions you are going to be making? Please explain.
- Do you have enough self-control to avoid making impulsive decisions? Give an example.
- Explain how you have a good rapport other people; which is helpful in making decisions on the team.
- Are you aware of the impact of decisions and inform others about potential outcomes?