Q+A Flashcards
Interview Q+A
Can you give me an example of a time where you have used effective communication to defuse a difficult situation?
S. A few months back had been followed into the store by another two men. I could tell they were adjitated about something but nothing had been said or done at this point. It was important that i noticed this early on as it meant I could keep an eye on the situation. The two men were standing about two meters from the first guy, aggressively stairing at him while he ordered. Even I felt intimidated by them.
T. At this point the men started to shout and swear at the customer and this was my cue to get them out.
A. I had to approach them and ask them to leave in a proffesional and firm manner, but they started hurlng abuse at me and other staff members. I was called every name under the sun and they continued to “batter” the first customer. I continued to ask them to leave and told them I would phone the police if they
didn’t.
R. They eventually left and someone came to collect the threatened individual. This was a threatening positin to be in but I knew I had to stand my ground and be confident in my abilities to manage the situation.
Can you give me a tie where you have provided a great level of service?
S. In McDonald’s my focus is customer service, and I alwasy try to exceed the expectations of our customers. A time that stands out in my mind would have to be when the schools went back after the summer holidays. A young boy had been left behind by his group who had visited the store after school. He appeared upset as he was talking to one of the crew members about how to get to the local high school the member of staff asked me to talk to him to calm the boy downand he later explained he wasn’t from the area and didn’t know his way home. He said there was a bus from the school but he didn’t know how to get there, I asked if he had a phone to give him directions but it was out of battery. I then explained the directions as simply as I could and reluctently left the boy to walk. I was uncomfortable letting him do this as he was still visibly upset. So I made the decision to run after him and give him a lift to the school.
The boy got home safe and the following day him and his mum came to the store to thank me. This made me feel that I did the right thing and gave me motivation to go above and beyond for other customers.
Can you give me an example of a tim when you have improved the way you work due to feedback?
S When I first became a manager i recieved an annual performance review from my business manager.
Overall, my feedback was good but my main area of improvement was to delegate more efficiently to make the most use out of my team. I spoke to my more superior shift managers to get some ideas on delegating tasks successfully without being patronising or bossy. After getting feedback from them, I came up with my own ideas and found that planning in advance and having set tasks for the cming week, I could get more out of my team.
After delegating specific tasks, I would check their progress and also give them feedback to help motivate them. On my net performance review, my manager complimented my organisation and the productivity on my shifts.
Tell me about a time where you hav worked as part of a team to achieve a common goal.
As a manager in Mcdonalds, we have various goals to acheive with regards to labour, waste and sales. In July, our business manager set us a food cost target to reach and set us all a food item to control and monitor.
As a management team, we came up with the idea to focus on an item a day which helped break down the tasks which made it more managable for everyone. My area was to control fries which is the most challenging due to waste not being recorded correctly and complaints which means more fries must be given out.
Although my area was to monitor fries, we all kept an eye on each of the areas which kept the information that the staff was recieving consistent.
This worked so well that we have continued to have a daily focus on a seperate food item.
Tell me about a time where you have used effective communication to achieve a common goal.
In McDonalds, we aim to beat sales targets and records regularly. On September weekend, I set the challenge of beating our sales which currently stood at £1200. I made the target + £100 which insured it was achievable. to make sure the team could execute the challenge, I had to communicate my expectations of them. I did this by talking to all of the area leads and asked them to reiterate to the crew working in their stations. I made sure I was feeding thir progress back to them which motivated them to push themselves and each other. Due to effectivly communicating exactly what the expectations were, we managed to break the target by £167.
Can you give me an example of when you have utilised your communication skills to deliver bad news?
Yes, unfortunately I can. I will never forget the first time I had to tell someone they failed they probationary period.
I knew I had to deliver this professionally and with empathy and be prepared for the questions she may have.
We sat down in the office and I explained to her why she had failed and she understod that she had broken the terms f her employement but understandably, she was still upset.
Through me being empathetic and willing to help her with future references, we managed to turn a negative situation around into a more positive outlook.
Since then, I have continued to use this technique of turning a bad situation into a positive.
Tell me about a time when you have demonstrated your personal effectiveness.
In my current position, it is not all that often where I have to use my first aid training but in June, a customer had accidentally spilled a coffee onto her grandchild. they were both visably upset, and a member of our dining staff pointed this out to me. The lady was trying to rinse her granddaughters arm in the sink in the customer toilets. At first the customer did not want help and she was very dismissive. I knew I had to stay confident and explain how I would help her. I calmed the girl down by saying I was taking her on a tour of the shop and this technique worked in my favour as I managed to cool her arm down in the kitchen cld water sink. I then got the girl an ice cream and a balloon and replaced the coffee wh was very grateful for me not just walking away when she dismissed me the first time. By me maintaining confidence in myself af in my first aid skills, I managed to take control of the sitation and follow the correct procedures.
Can you give me a time when it was difficult to work in a team?
Yes, every year, along with the fundraising team, I host a charity night in aid of RMHC Glasgow. Very quickly, we could see who was motivated and who wasnt which caused some tension within the group. Due to this tension, tasks werent being completed. Some of these included the non reserved venue, the missing prizes and undecided entertainement. I knew I needed to get the team working together again in order to host a successful night. We had a team meeting and split the tasks which needed to be done and everyone chose a task they were interested in. Eg. ticket designs and raffle donations. Once everyone was back on board and excited about their individual roles, it motivated us to fulfil our roles to the best of our abilities. We then had a successful event raising over £1000 for the charity.
2nd example of struggles in a team
Another time it was difficult to work in a team was back in June when around 30 of us climbed Ben Nevis. The teamworking challenges came from the different levels of physical ability within the group. Originally, we had agreed to stay as one big group but some of the mosre physically capable got agetated at the pace of some of the team. The group had some tension and split up. Although this was the case, they waited on the remainder of the group to catch up so we could all do the last stretch together. The tension within the group was soon forgotten as we had all acheived something we never thought we would do.
What is your biggest weakness?
The feedback and improvement answer about delegation
Tell me about a time when you noticed a member of your team acting in an unacceptable manner.
Every few months, I take classes from the West College Scotland on tour around my store. The first time this was going to be happening, some members of staff were making fun of their disabilities which ranged from physical to behavioural needs. Initially, I was nervous to confront this as some of these people were my friends but I do not agree with any form of discrimination, so I decided to educate them by inviting them to help with the tour. They got to know the class and ended up enjoying themselves and made no further comments or judgements on their abilities. I felt proud that I stood up for what I believed in and dealt with the ignorance of my colleagues.
Tell us about a time when you have used your job knowledge to resolve a problem. (training)
In my current position, training is a daily task. Recently, we had a group of area leaders rushed through their course so they didnt quite have the desired skills or knowledge to run areas. They used incorrect procedures and didnt coach if others were using the wrong procedures too. i took it upon myself to organise a training class for the three area leads. I wanted to teach them things that others had taken the time to teach me such as delegating tasks and coaching crew. Through this, I passed on my knowledge and experiences and helped them develop into competant managers.
Tell us about a time when you have demonstrated your leadership skills.
as a manager in Mcdonalds, I have had to learn how to lead my team by being a role model and setting a good example. An example of a time where i used my leadership skills was when we had a group of new starts. In order for the team to ork effectively, everyone has to be confident and comfortable with each other Naturally, people are nervous when they start but there was one girl who was struggling to pick up the job. I noticed this so I took her off and had a quiet chat to find out what she was finding difficult and for us both to come up with a solution. She mentioned that this was her frst job and how she was anxious to speak infront of people and ask for help. I decided I would have her buddied up with a crew trainer who could be there to answer all of her questions and that i would catch up with her in a weeks time to see how she was getting on. I think that by me identifying that this girl needed some extra training and implimenting a change for her helped her to settle. She is now a crew trainer herself and has helped new staff through the same sitation.
Tell us about a time where you have demonstrated a strong level of personal awareness.
Recently, in work, our whole operating system changed from th kitchen layout to the way we served our customers. This was a huge adjustement and we all had to learn a new way of doing our jobs that used to come so naturally to us. I felt the training we were given was very breif and rushed and we were thrown in at the deep end. I noticed the crew were struggling with the new kitche procedurs and we werent getting th food out as fast as we used to. The problem was that i didnt know how to help or know how to teach them how to do things better. I knew their was training modules I could access so i utilies these and spent 30mins after each shift for a week studying these. I was then able to confidently able to put my new knowledge into practice on the floor. By me being proactive and able to self develop, I was able to enhance my own knowledge and pass it onto my crew which then benefitted the customers.
Tell me about a time when you have demonstrated your personal effectiveness 2
A time where i have displayed personal effectiveness was when one of our regular customers, Jack, came around the drive thru in an aggressive manner due to his coffee being incorrect. The customer proceded to shout and swear at the member of staff who was taking orders on the headset, making her upset and uncomfortable.
Lea managed to shout on me so I could replace her at the window so she could step away. Jack was enraged so i knew i had to keep my cool and be firm in telling him if he swore at a member of staff or myself again, I would not deal with his complaint and he would receive a refund instead of service. He continued to shout and act in an agressive manner so i warned him one more time that i would nt be dealing with him if this continued. He finally managed to see my point and I was able t resolve the issue. He asked me to apologise to lea as it was not her fault. By me maintaining confidence and speaking in a professional manner, I managed to resolve the issue.
