Personnel Selection: Interview Questions: Time Management
Avoids Wasting Time
Do you encourage coworkers to work productively?
How do you make the most of limited time available?
Have you ever had to spend time on non-work related activities while at work? Explain.
What do you do to avoid distractions from personal phone or other personal devices?
How do you encourage colleagues to spend more time on work related activities?
Describe how you efficiently use the available time.
Have you eliminated tasks that were unimportant for the job? If so, describe.
Give an example of when you stopped doing things that have suddenly become unnecessary or irrelevant.
What steps do you take to ensure that you stay undistracted by personal devices while on the clock?
What do you do to avoid distractions from personal phone or other personal devices?
Describe how you use limited time efficiently.
Maximizes Value
Describe an instance in which you remained dedicated to completing high priority work.
Describe how you allocate time at work? To the highest priority items?
How do you ensure timely completion of critical assignments?
How do you manage time effectively? Do you focus efforts on high value tasks?
What do you do to ensure timely completion of vital work?
What work do you do first? Do you perform high-impact work first? Give an example.
Explain how you would stay focused on the most important tasks that need completed.
Describe a project in which you were committed to finishing the most important tasks first.
Describe how you would persist in completing crucial assignments. Give examples.
Give an example of when you focused time on the tasks that yielded the highest value.
Give an example of when you continued working on the most important tasks until they are completed?.
Tackles Issues
Describe how you would tackles major issues head on to reduce the amount of time spent on them.
Do you tackle the biggest problems at the start of the day? Give examples.
Do you manage your inbox items promptly?
Do you take the initiative to tackle critical issues earlier rather than later?
Do you confront significant problems directly to reduce their impact on the schedule? Explain.
Give an example of when you tackled major tasks or problems first before addressing minor issues.
When do you address the most pressing needs? At the beginning of the shift?
How do you proactively address crucial matters?
Give an example of when you had to prioritize major tasks over smaller ones.
How do you anticipate problems and resolve them before they negatively impact the schedule.
When do you focus on high priority items?
Was there an instance in which items in your inbox accumulated? What was the reason for that?
Productive
Do you deliver results on-time?
How often do you work through lunches instead of going out for lunches?
Are you able to get the important jobs done on time?
Do you consistently meet production deadlines?
How do you achieve more through effective time management?
Do you outperform others in productivity through effective time management? Explain.
Do you successfully complete critical tasks within deadlines?
Do you regularly deliver results on-time?
Who do you think, besides yourself, is the most productive worker in the department?
Describe how you rarely miss deadlines; often producing results before expected.
Describe how you sustain high productivity levels throughout the day.
Do you consistently achieve production targets on time?
Are you productive for the majority of time spent during the day?
Prompt
Describe how you would emphasize punctuality in the department and make sure employees know they are expected to be on time.
Do you understand the importance of being on time? Explain.
Do you arrive to (attend) meetings on time?
Are you prompt and diligent in your work?
Do you complete tasks ahead of schedule? If so, give examples.
How frequently do you start meetings on time?
Give examples of how you start projects without delay.
Were you ever late for work?
Describe a situation in which you acted promptly without delay.
Do you frequently arrive early to start the day?
Are you always on time for meetings?
How often do you arrive at work early to get the day started?
Fast Pace
How do you stay undistracted by slower coworkers?
How do you use time efficiently to achieve higher productivity?
Describe how you would work on critical tasks as quickly as possible. Examples?
Do you respond immediately to requests rather than waiting to respond?
Do you usually work with a sense of urgency? Explain.
Explain how you work quickly to keep on schedule.
How do you avoid being distracted by people who are working at a slower pace?
Do you usually work at a fast pace to get more done? Explain.
Give examples of how you work at a quick pace to avoid getting behind in work.
Do you react promptly to inquiries from customers/clients?
Give examples of how you avoided delays by working quickly.
Do you approach work with a sense of urgency?
Bias for Action
Are you proactive in completing work?
How are you proactive in addressing important issues?
How do you get more accomplished than others in the same amount of time?
How do you achieve high output to meet deadlines?
Explain how you would achieve more work within the limited time constraints.
Describe how you get a high volume of work done to avoid missing deadlines.
How can you accomplish more despite limitations in time constraints?
How do you avoid procrastination?
Do you complete work on a timely basis?
Do you efficiently complete tasks? Explain.
Monitors Time
Describe how you leverage calendars to help keep better track of events.
How do you accurately capture time across various tasks?
Are you good at keeping track of time and avoiding getting behind schedule? Explain.
Do you diligently records billable hours?
How do you record time spent on work and non-work related items?
Explain how you would maintain precise time logs for billing.
Explain how you are able to keep to the project schedule.
How do you keep accurate records of time spent on projects for proper billing?
Do you use a calendar effectively to keep track of when events or milestones are supposed to occur? Explain.
Do you uses a journal, log, or schedule to keep track of how much time is spent doing each task?
Describe how you adheres to project timelines.
Are you excellent at keeping track of time?
Automation / Batch Processing
Did you integrate automation into your processes? Describe.
Have you implemented automation to save time? Explain.
Did you use scripts or software tools to automate computer centered processes?
Have you used batch processing to accomplish many similar tasks simultaneously?
Do you utilize batch workflows to reduce time spent on certain tasks?
Do you implement automation wherever possible? Give some examples.
Do you maximize time management by multitasking? Explain.
How would you optimize time management through automation?
Give an example of how you would combine tasks to save time.
What can you do to utilize automate workflows?
Did you ever bundle different tasks together if they can be done at the same time? Explain.
When did you automate tedious or repetitive tasks? Explain.
To Do List and Timelines
Do you prepare to-do lists for the project tasks?
Do you keep and maintain a To-Do list?
Explain how you would prioritize new tasks according to their relative importance.
Do you leave time in the schedule for unplanned contingencies?
Do you make time for developing plans and schedules?
How do you assess how long each part of a task will take?
Give examples of how you used agendas when chairing or facilitating meetings.
Prioritization
Have you prioritized completion of high-impact assignments? When? Explain.
Explain how you effectively prioritize and organize yourself and your workload.
Explain how you might adjust priorities as appropriate. Give examples.
Do you prioritize critical tasks for the beginning of the shift?
Do you prioritize work to complete the most important tasks first?
How do you prioritize tasks and responsibilities?
How do you determine which tasks need to be completed first?
How do you order tasks? Based on impact and urgency?
How would you organize work responsibilities for maximum efficiency?
Do you regularly complete high-priority work within required timelines?
Schedules
How concerned are you about adhering to the schedule?
Do you povide accurate estimates for the amount of time needed to accomplish certain tasks? Explain.
Do you use the project schedule to stay on track?
How do you consistently meet the project schedule?
Explain how you would allow for time buffers between tasks. Would you do this so that the schedule does not become delayed due to unforeseen circumstances?
Have you had to set time limits on how much time is spent on particular tasks so that one task does not dominate the schedule? Explain.
How do you manage the workload effectively in order to stay on schedule?
Delegates
Have you delegated repetitive tasks to maximize the amount of work being done? Explain.
Explain how you delegated tasks to free up time to focus on more important issues.
Have you delegated simple tasks to employees so that you could focus on more complex tasks?
Explain how you would use a team and delegate tasks to specialists to help get more work done.
How would you use subordinates to help get more work done by the department?
Have you delegated routine tasks to team members, allowing yourself to concentrate on more strategic or complex responsibilities? Explain.
How would you delegate tasks to maximize the use of time?
Do you leverage teams and assign specialized tasks to maximize productivity?
Focused
Describe how you gave undivided attention to tasks currently being worked on.
How do you avoid distractions in the workplace?
Explain how you would stay focused on the job.
How do you deal effectively with interruptions?
How do you focus time on the important tasks that add significant value?
Explain how you would focus on tasks that have high priority.
Did you ever become flustered by deadlines and timelines? Explain.
How do you prevent irrelevant distractions from affecting the completion of tasks?
Do you allocate full attention to completing critical tasks? Give examples.
Goals
How do you set clearly defined goals?
Do you set goals to complete specific parts of the project by certain times to keep on schedule? Give examples.
Explain how you would set target due dates or times for tasks to be completed by.
Healthy Worklife Balance
How do you manage to bring both work time and family life into balance?
Are you able to set a good balance between work and family life?