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In our last blog '5 Tips for Interview Preparation' we promised you more on this topic!  As an experienced interviewer and HR professional, I've always been disappointed when candidates wind up an interview with "no, I've no questions for you - thank you for your time" - I'm left feeling disappointed and still without a deep understanding of whether the person is a good fit for the role.  Candidates who are connected with the role and demonstrate that they have done their homework in pre interview research always score better in my books!

Below are 8 key questions that I recommend for asking at interview!  I've explained my rationale for each in the right hand column below.  If you like it, please leave a comment and forward a link on to your friends!

We cover this and much more in our Interview Skills & Preparation course - contact us for more information!

 

1.  “Do we have some time for some questions I have prepared, to help me get a better understanding of this role?”

Asking permission to ask question is a polite way of asserting yourself and ensures that the interviewer remains in ‘perceived control’ which is all important from a positive influencing perspective.

Asking this question shows that you have researched and thought about this particular role and that you are already connected and tuned into the organisation and role.

 

2.  “What is the size and structure of the team I would be working on?”

Asking questions about the team structure and size shows that you’ve thought about it and that you’re taking a considered approach to finding the right role for you.  It also demonstrates your broad outlook to the interviewer and gets them imagining where YOU would fit into the team – soliciting a response to this question helps create an image of you being part of the team for the interviewer – very useful if your interviewer is a visual type.

From your perspective, this will help you understand if it is a team of 10 or 50 and where you would fit into the overall structure – you should have a good idea about which size and structure type you like to work in and which is best suited to your working style.

 

3.  “What would this role typically look like ‘on the ground’ – could you give me the typical objectives that might be set for this person?”

Although you may be interviewing for a role that has the same title as your previous/current job, duties and responsibilities can vary greatly from organisation to organisation. 

Asking this question demonstrates a balanced and intuitive approach and shows the interviewer that you are genuinely keen and interested to know more about the role – positive!

From your perspective, the answer to this question will help you validate that this is the right role (level and scope) that you are seeking.

 

4.  “It seems like a really great place to work and everybody seems very friendly! What’s the feeling like in the group?”

Asking a question about group morale is useful – for you it helps you get a better sense of what the team’s like – for the interviewer it is another example of how keen and eager you are to get to know the job and team better!

Answers to this question can shed a lot of light on dynamic and morale within an org / team – watch out for body language of the interviewer here – is this the team from hell?!?

Some people follow on this question with a question about turnover – “Is there much turnover in the team” – this is useful in ascertaining if people are leaving regularly, if they are, why is that???

 

5.  “How has [recent political event] affected this organisation? Do you think there is any future impact for the business?”

If there has been a topical event which you feel is an obvious event to comment on, bring up a question on it!  However, avoid scandals and tabloid stories here.
Types of events to comment on would include;

• Recession

• Recent rationalisations (redundancies etc.)

• Industry legislation changes

• Nationalisation of banks (if Financial Services)

 

6.  “I enjoy [autonomy/independence/clear guidelines] in my role, do you feel that this role could afford me that?”

Asking this question highlights your working style and preference directly and demonstrates to the interviewer that you are sensible about finding a role that you will flourish in.  This will also give you clear indicators about whether the environment is the right one for you to succeed in.

 

7.  “Are there opportunities to develop further with training and promotion here?”

This question is asked often but will give you a sense of whether you can grow and commit to a long term role if successful at interview.  It also demonstrates ambition and balanced approach to the interviewer and minimises the risks for them of hiring a candidate who leaves 12 months down the line – remember there are costs in hiring staff so interviewers want to find a candidate that will fit the organisation at least for the medium term.

Obviously if you are interviewing for a temp/contract role this question probably won’t be relevant although asking about the potential of opportunities that are full time / permanent if you deliver excellence might be interesting for you.  A word of warning in this instance though – don’t ask more than 1 question on this topic if it is a contract/temp role as this may deter interviewers from hiring you – if they believe you’re really seeking full-time & permanent positions.

 

8.  “When are you hoping for this person to come on board?  Will there be another stage or round to the hiring process?”

This question shows determinism and eagerness to begin working with the organisation.  It also helps you prepare for a 2nd round of interviews if necessary and/or a 2 week wait before you know whether you’ve been successful.

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Unfortunately our current environment sees a rise in numbers on the live register, the knock on effect being that many of us are back in the job seeking world again.  For some it is a time of excitement and possibly even familiar territory if not long out of college.  For many others however it is a vastly different territory to the job search world they knew before.  It may be the case that recruitment agencies and online job seeking is new or indeed, the move advanced and savvy interview techniques can often throw many of us.

As an experienced panel interviewer and general HR professional and skills coach, I have taken my broad experience and laid out my top 5 tips for interview preparation below.  Hopefully you'll find this useful and if you do, please leave your comment / thoughts / suggestions for other reasons here on the blog!

1. STUDY the Role Specification

You'd be amazed at the number of people who turn up for interview and are speechless with blank expression when asked a question directly linked to a responsibility of acronym which was clearly outlined on the role description!

• Read the role description and highlight each task / duty / responsibility expected for the job
• Identify trends / commonalities (if they use word 'lead' etc. a lot)
• If you are unclear about an acronym / term / responsibility area then do your research
• Don't be afraid to contact the HR department in the organisation to ask more about the role before you apply or are interviewed
• Find out if you know somebody currently doing this job and arrange to speak with them in order to find out more about a)the role and b)the characteristics of people who do well at it

2. RESEARCH the Company and the Market

There is now so much information available online and easily accessible to us all, the level of research you conduct on the company is essential in order to show your commitment, eagerness and serious approach to the job application.

• Where is the company based? one or multi locations?
• Is the company part of a wider group?
• Is the organisation local, national, international or global?
• How many people are employed by the organisation?
• Have they won any awards recently (this is great to be able to refer to)
• What industry / market do they operate in?
• Who are their main competitors?
• What does the company do? (You'd be amazed how many people turn up for interview not fully knowing WHAT the company actually do!)
• What products / services does the company offer?

3. Think 'COMPETENCY BASED ANSWERS'

'Competency based interviewing' is a technique used by most good HR professionals now in order to ensure objectivity and better fit selection.  This means they they ask questions which are specifically searching for proof / evidence of your competency (ability) in answers.  Some examples of competency based questions would be;

- "tell me about a time when ..."

- "can you give me an example of a situation wehre you did X..."

- "have you ever done X? If so, tell me how you did it"

The key point when answering competency based questions is to prepare answers that show your ability based on past track record and not what you 'think you can do' or 'feel you can do' or even 'know you can do' - it's all about WHEN & WHAT you DID !

We cover this in a lof of detail on our Interview Skills & Techniques training programme.

4. Get Passionate and Ask Questions!

Personally I find it a bit of a turnoff when I ask people - as I always do at the end of an interview - if they have any questions for me/the panel.  The purpose of my doing this is to allow the candidate to show their depth of research or eagerness or even that they are clued into things!  So when I get a response "no questions thanks" I'm frustrated.  This is your time to show the interview panel that you've thought about the role, that you're eager to get going, that you are already thinking of yourself in that position!  Below are a few examples but next week's blog is specifically about this topic!

- "Will there be any training provided for this role"

- "How soon will you be ready to hire this person and move on this?"

- "How many candidates are you looking for?"

- "Are there any particular traits / characteristics that you're looking for in a hire for this role?"

5. One Chance to Make a First Impression!

As the only saying goes "you only get one chance to make a first impression so make sure it's a good one!  In my book, you can't overdo the grooming or presentation preparation for an interview which is important to you.  We cover this in a lot more detail on our Interview Skills & Techniques training programme

• Men - preferably wear a suit but at the least trousers, shirt and tie
• Women - preferably wear a suit but at the least a well tailored shirt and trousers / skirt
• Women - skirts should be no shorter than knee length and cleavage should be kept to the minimum
• Sleeveless tops / blouses are not recommended (many corporates do not allow these in their dress code)
• Clothes should be clean and pressed
• Hair and nails should be clean and well groomed
• A firm handshake (press the flesh - web contact!!) is important but remember its not an arm wrestle
• Friendly eye contact is a must - don't stare them down
• Remember to smile at each person interviewing you!
• Be early - at least 15 minutes before the scheduled time
• Smell nice - aftershave / perfume - not cigarettes!
• Fresh breath (you can get great little bottles of mouth drops which really work well and fit in tiny pockets)
• Thank the panel for their time and for meeting with you
• Be enthusiastic about the role - don't forget to tell them that you want the job!

Hopefully you have found these hints and tips useful - please share your thoughts and ideas in the comment space below!

 

Being a manager can be tough at times.  In the current climate, managers are often stretched to perform at their best - minimising costs, reducing headcount, maximising revenue... while increasing productivity and building team morale!

At BrightSkills, we work with managers from all industries and of all sizes - from small business right through to global enterprises and corporations.  We're continuously curious and passionate about management skills and styles - 'What are they doing to achieve those results?'

In this blog, we've outlined our Top 5 Tips for Better Management - based on our experiences and observations working with management teams over the last 10 years;

1. Lead -v- Manage

It's important to understand the difference between leading and managing.  There are hundreds if not thousands of definitions of the two.  In our book;

• "leadership is the skill of moving forward towards a vision, communicating that vision to others and inspiring others to move forwards alongside you" - Eve Bulman
• "management is the combined skill of understanding the strategy and organisational goals while implementing the operational measures necessary to achieve these goals" - Eve Bulman

In the current climate, there is a need for strong management skills on the ground to keep operations moving as efficiently as possible.

2. Listen & Ask

Some managers become masters at assigning work and/or delegating tasks.  Great managers devote time on a daily basis to Listening to their team members.  They Ask questions to gain more insight into operations on the ground and they devote time and energy to understanding the challenges, frustrations and general feelings of their team.  Managers who Listen and Ask don't get surprises and are always best positioned to communicate messages to the team because they understand the team's personality and mood at any given time.

3. Adapt Your Style

Every manager has a preferred management style - whether that is Directing, Collaborative, Democratic or Coaching , great people management depends on the individual's ability to adapt their style to the needs of the employee - not their preferred style.  Remember, people, don't want to be treated equally, they want to be treated individually!

Adapting your style to the preferences and needs of others will enable you as a manager, to get the most out of every team member.  We work on this skill and knowledge in depth on our Insights for Leaders programme.  Contact us for more details.

4. All Feedback is Good Feedback

Running a tight ship means keeping people operating at their optimum levels.  Great managers know that acknowledging both good and poor performance is key in achieving this.

Strong people managers don't shy away from dealing with difficult situations and delivering hard feedback to team members.  They do so in a caring but professional way.  Great people managers also recognise the importance of positive feedback and always recognise a job well done.

At BrightSkills we use the AID model for delivering feedback to individuals and teams - this is a tried and tested model for successful feedback delivery.

5. Smart Capacity Planning

Our job as managers is to empower our teams to do the best job possible.  To do this, we must ensure that our teams are operating in an environment where they CAN perform well.  Smart capacity planning and team time management is essential here.

We recommend that managers develop weekly and monthly capacity plans for their teams.  This will allow them to assign and monitor workload realistically and will also create an objective foundation on which they can negotiate with stakeholders and senior management.  We cover smar capacity planning in detail on our 'Team Time' and 'New Manager' training programmes.

If you found this blog useful, please leave a comment / thought below!

Are you a trainer or facilitator looking for inspiration?  If so, then you may find our 'Trainer Zone' a useful resource.

On this page, you will find:

• Free energisers and icebreakers
• Inspirational & motivational quotes
• Free teambuilding activities & games
• Free games for training
• Recommended links to other free resources

Please let us know your thoughts and feedback on whether you find this page useful !

 

http://www.brightskills.ie/trainers_zone

A lot of the work that we engage in at BrightSkills is facilitating, empowering and enabling Productivity Improvement in individuals and teams.  We do this through many training and coaching programmes like influencing skills, time & priority management and leadership.   Many people ask us, “What are they key tips you would give to people who want to be more efficient in general”.  It’s a tough question because of course it depends on the context so much.  However, we know that there are certain things which will pretty much guarantee an improvement in efficiency and productivity if applied consistently. 

Take the BrightSkills Challenge – implement these for 1 week and let us know what you think?

10 Things to do on a Friday to Boost Your Productivity

1.   Make a weekly plan that’s connected to your higher level goals – check out our blog ‘Prioritising Your Work - 5 Golden Rules’ for more on that

2.   Review the past week’s activities under the headings

• Things I got done that I’d planned to do this week
• Things I planned to do but didn’t get done & why
• Activities I engaged in which didn’t serve me well this week / bring me closer to my goals

3.   Make a plan for the week ahead that includes
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• Important work goals
• Time for ‘unexpected’ activities (the unforeseen!)
• You time / personal goals

<!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]--><!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->4.   Check your Capacity for the week ahead – on review of next week’s plan, assess the time you expect to spend on the planned tasks –v- the time you have available in your week (work / outside work time).  Are you working to capacity? Are you planning over your capacity? Are you under capacity?

5.   Delegate or Negotiate activities which bring you ‘Above capacity’ with your boss / team / client wherever possible

6.   Complete any follow ups you need to do for the week – review all the meetings and commitments you made during the week.  Are there any follow ups (emails / calls / letters / conversations) that you need to do before the week is out?

7.   Invest in at least 3 relationships - make 3 calls / visits (desk visits?) to three important relationships – for example, important stakeholders in projects you’re working on, important clients, important friends and/or family etc.

8.   Remember your Purpose – take some time to remind yourself of your purpose and goals.  You may find it useful to write yourself some positive affirmations for the week ahead

 

9.   Plan at least 1 thing for the weekend which will make you incredibly happy

10.   ‘Thank Crunchie it’s Friday’ – treat yourself to one activity today that is purely for you and a reward for all your hard work during the week (a walk in the park, a massage, a lunch with a friend, an ice cream etc.)

• Do you use daily 'To Do' lists at work / at home?
• Do you regularly / always work from these 'To Do' lists?
• Do you sometimes find yourself working on tasks which don't reap rewards / go unnoticed?
• Do you ever look back on a day and think 'I feel like I got nothing done!'?
• Do you often have great intentions to work on important stuff with lots of lead in time but find yourself suckered into other stuff so end up doing the big things 'last minute' ?

If you've answered YES to any of the above questions, you may need some help prioritising your workload and home life in order to achieve more.  Below, I've outined my 5 Golden Rules for Prioritisation, hopefully you'll find them useful - please share your thoughts, ideas, experience and feedback with us!!

 

5 Golden Rules for Prioritisation

 

1.   Understand what IMPORTANT tasks are for you - as opposed to URGENT tasks....

Things which are important are of higher value and meaning for you, in your roles and in your life.  Important tasks and activities contribute towards bringing you closer to your goal.

Things which are urgent are time sensitive and need to be done NOW.  Not everything which is urgent is important - so avoid treating it that way!

2.   Don't work from To-Do Lists....

People who work from to do lists are often super busy and active but at the same time, often find themselves constantly engaged in last minute, 'urgent' activity.  To do lists that are created daily are guided by other people's 'important things'...... their boss' priorities, their partner's immediate needs, their colleagues need for help etc.  The problem with daily to do lists is that they prioritise all activities as being equal, they begin with the assumption that everything needs to be done in equal or pretty equal timeframes.  Unless a to-do list is inspired firstly by a higher thinking model such as the 4 Quadrants model which incorporates the essential concept of 'Important' -v- 'Urgent' .You can see examples of the 4 Quadrants here

3.     Practice saying NO.....

It's not as easy as you imagine but saying YES can get you into trouble at times - overworked, stressed, frustrated...

Here are some ways to say no without saying no!

• I'm happy to help you with that but I firstly need to prioritise this piece of work, could you come back to me later?
• Would it work for you if we asked X to do this as I am under pressure today to get this done and it's really important for me and the business?
• I'm busy with this priority right now so can I ask you how urgent this is and what's driving that urgency?  Can it wait?
• I'm actually wondering about the importance of this task for me, I'm considering not doing it and wonder what impact that would have for us?

4.   Get Feedback from your Boss / Team / Friend / Spouse...

Get feedback from others about what they consider to be the highest priorities for you and/or your team/family.  It can be interesting to hear another person's perspective and can sometimes help you to see the wood for the trees!

5.   Review your priorities regularly...

Every week or month, check back in with your goals and how they translate into actions and priorities on a weekly / monthly / daily basis. 

Remember - everything that's worth doing brings you closer to your goals whether on a personal, interpersonal or professional level !

Good luck prioritising and congratulations on choosing to invest in yourself by reading my blog !

 

Please comment :)

As a trainer and coach, a lot of my work is about helping people to become more successful whether that's in setting goals, achieving these goals, managing their stress, developing their skills...... the list is endless.  A topic that comes up again and again is the whole area of Time Management, Planning and Prioritisation.

As a trained time management coach and facilitator, I use the 4 Quadrants Model with my clients as I believe that a higher level model like this - based upon strategic visioning, goal alignment and meaningful planning gets the best results.   I tend to take a 'big to small' systematic approach to time management. 

However, I've recently noticed a lack of diary management with my clients.  I've observed the following practices - all of which lead to higher stress levels, forgetfulness, inaccurate sense of time planning and of course poor performance or outputs due to in many cases, not enough time to get things done!

Over the last few years, I've observed that one of the most common root causes of poor time management and planning is something that can be improved almost immediately..... Keeping a Diary and Managing that Diary Well.  Below I have outlined my Top 5 Tips for Diary Management, I really hope that you find these useful and easy to implement.  Please do share your thoughts and feedback on the matter!

Top 5 Tips for Diary Management

1  Keep a Diary

It's important that you keep a diary whether it is online or in paper.  If you're just starting out, I recommend keeping a small paper diary which provides 1/2 pages for each day.

"I don't keep a diary, I've a great memory" - OK that's cool, you don't need to always keep a diary but answer these questions for me;

• Do you ever forget commitments or appointments?
• Do you ever remember things last minute, even if you started out with lots of time to get things done?
• Do you often feel like you're 'firefighting' - waiting on the next urgent thing to come along?
• Do you prioritise activities which have long term value but no immediate impact for you?
• Do you do this every week?

If you're answering 'Yes' or 'Sometimes' to the above questions, then I believe keeping a diary (paper or online) will help you to really plan and measure your capacity daily, weekly and monthly.

2  Weekly Diary Plan

Once a week (Friday afternoon or Monday mornings are best), take some time out to plan all of the activities for the week ahead in the following way;

• Commitments / Appointments / Meetings already made
• Lunch / Break times (always put these into your diary - this is planned & important time!)
• Planned Activities (outside of commitments / meetings)
• Personal Tasks / Time

3  Daily Diary Update

Update your diary at the beginning or the end of each day but treat the activities planned in your 'weekly planning time' as if they were your best customers - don't sacrifice these for the sake of unimportant or urgent activities - get better at knowing what an emergency is for you.

4 Plan for Emergencies

Always plan some time in every day for 'unforseen activities' and 'emergencies'.  The amount of time you need for this will depend on your role but I find that about 1 hour a day 'contingency time' is useful - I usually plan this for 30 mins in the morning and 30 mins in the evening.  This way, I can put the unforseen things that come up during the day to one side and deal with them all at once (batch processing)- being more effective and getting things done smarter!

5  Diarise 'Non Committed' Time

Diaries are not only for meetings and appointments with other people.  If you plan to spend 2 hours doing a report on Thursday morning then that should be shown in your diary - OWN YOUR TIME or somebody else will !

I've always been interested in the area of management development and leadership but particulary since January of this year, I've been thinking about this area a lot, in light of current market conditions and responses of industry to these.

Typically, the word on the street seems to be that companies are cutting back on medium to long term development activities - cutting budgets and activities there in a bid to stay afloat.  I really do understand why this is happening - from both an economic and CSR perspective, but I'm still not really getting it - surely organisations (especially the large corporates!) realise that letting go of medium - long term focus now and thinking, resonding and leading out of just the 'here and now' will put them in anything but good stead over the long term.

• What will happen when the economy begins to recover?
• What will happen when the focus shifts from survival to growth?
• Where will these organisations be then?

I'm guessing that these organisations will lack fundamental management (not even leadership!) skills that will enable them to move forward quickly and respond to the changed conditions. 

I'm a real believer and supporter in the concept of Recession + Opportunity.  I'm currently observing lots of business leaders from various sectors and size organisations who are all taking advantage of the current climate to build, regroup, learn and redevelop.  I believe that these leaders will soar forward when conditions pick up again because they will be the innovators - they will be the knowledge leaders.

In my article Why Line Managers are so Critical to Success in the Current Climate (a long title I know - sorry!) I've pointed out why we need to be developing our line management and leadership talent right now - NOT pushing the pause button.

I'm interested to hear the thoughts and ideas from others out there too?

 

The BrightSkills Blog has been created by BrightSkills Development & Coaching as a free resource for trainers, coaches and our clients. Our aim is to share thoughts, ideas and best practices with as wide an audience as possible and to support the learning our trainees and coaching clients experience when working with us!

The blog is updated at least weekly by Eve Bulman. Please share your thoughts, ideas and knowledge here with us to create a long lasting, reliable resource!!!