Situational Judgement Questions and Answers

This is a question about knowing and working with your employees’ individual needs. Different people have different preferences and needs in their work conditions. To make the best use of your employees’ skills (resource management), and to allow them to develop, you should learn your employees’ strengths, weaknesses, and needs, and provide them the conditions they need to fulfil their potential (encouraging employees’ development).

Response A lacks social intelligence. You know that she will most likely be unhappy with your request, yet you don’t show any concern for her feelings or appreciation for her effort. This is not a good response.

Response B approaches the problem directly and demonstrates social intelligence as you have an open conversation with your employee, showing appreciation for her feelings and efforts. This response shows persuasion, motivation, and negotiation skills as it is likely to influence her to cooperate. This is an effective response.

Response C demonstrates persuasion, motivation, and negotiation skills as you offer to give Victoria something in return for her efforts. Offering to bring in assistance to help Victoria suggests that you understand the pressure she is under and respect the conditions she needs to be effective in her work.

Response D lacks respect for employees as you show no consideration of your employee’s feelings and individual needs. This response is cold and hurtful, and it is more likely to create antagonism than cooperation.

Comparing responses A and D, the latter seems more aggressive in its nature. While response A seems cold and might offend your employee, response D is harsh and very likely to be offensive. Therefore, this is the worst response to the situation.

In this scenario, your team is having trouble with the current changes taking place. As a supervisor, you have your team’s interests in mind, as well as a wider perspective of the company’s goals.

Response A is quite an emotional response. Here you seem offended and fail to listen to your employees’ complaints seriously enough. Whether or not the new regulations were designed to assist them, your employees are trying to tell you something about the effectiveness of their result.

In response B, you encourage your team to tell you about the problems and show a willingness to address them. Notice that you didn't say that any changes would necessarily take place, but you do exhibit an openness to criticism and a sense of responsibility towards your subordinates. You let them voice their concerns, take their concerns seriously, and function as a mediator between your team and higher management. Notice that this is not a perfect response. A better response would be to listen to the employees’ briefing before deciding whether or not you should bring it up with your manager.

In response C, you show respect and care for the team’s feelings, but you take a very passive approach. Your team is asking for your help, not just sympathy. You may decide not to take any further action regarding their complaints, but this decision should be based on professional considerations, after hearing the details of the problem. In general, you should refrain from statements like 'nothing can be done' as they may discourage your employees from approaching you in the future.

Suggesting that the employees write to your manager (response D) shows a lack of responsibility for subordinates as you fail to function as a mediator between your team and higher management. Instead, you choose to remain passive.

This question assesses your understanding of your position as a manager in terms of the chain of command. Be aware that different workplaces prefer different levels of managerial involvement versus keeping of the chain of command; we recommend that you read about your potential workplace and position before taking the test.

Response A is a “do nothing” response. This kind of response is passive and is rarely the best course of action. Although it may be likely that the supervisor is aware of the situation, you can’t assume it. This response fails to supervise employees’ performance.
Talking to the employee yourself (response B) ignores the supervisor’s authority and responsibility (chain of command). You want to take action, but not to undermine the supervisor.

In response C you take action which is appropriate for someone in your position – you bring the situation to the supervisor’s awareness and allow her to handle it as she sees fit. This is the best response in this situation.

In response D you reprimand your supervisor for the employee’s actions. You don’t trust the supervisor’s skills and judgment, and don’t provide her the authority to handle the situation her way, and don’t provide her a chance to explain her point of view – you don’t know if she is aware of the situation or if there are any special reasons for it (effective communication).

Familiarising yourself with the product by trying it out yourself (answer choice D) is the most important response. As a sales representative you should be able to demonstrate to the customer how to use the product, and to be as well acquainted with it as possible.

Making sure the presentation is organized appropriately (answer choice A) is important but not the most critical.

Reading about the popularity of the product (answer choice B) is relevant and could help you in your sales, but it’s not critical.

Checking what a competitor is doing (answer choice C) could be helpful, but again, not necessary.

In this question, the answer choices are in the form of direct speech. This means we need to pay special attention to the way we communicate with the customer and demonstrate effective communication, in addition to the response itself.

Answer choice A begins with an apology. The scenario presents a customer with a problem caused by the company. In this situation, more than any other, an apology is in order. The response presented in this answer choice adds an offer to call the customer, thus giving extra service and showing proactivity and service orientation.

Answer choice B includes an apology and an optimistic tone but lacks an active effort to help.

Answer choice C acknowledges the customer’s complaint but lacks any active effort (“There isn’t much I can do”), which gives the impression that you are not taking responsibility for the problem.

Answer choice D includes an apology but again sounds passive and even condescending (telling the customer they will have to be patient).

Option D is the best response as here you are looking for the source of Roger’s problem in order to achieve results. You are demonstrating effective communication skills by asking Roger exactly what it is he finds difficult. You are also demonstrating adaptability by trying to change your approach to address the problem. You are being a team player by being supportive and offering to answer any queries to advance your colleague's understanding.

A. This response shows a lack of sensitivity towards your colleague and a poor understanding of social situations—an indication of poor social intelligence. This response is offensive. Not only are you pointing out his lack of success, but you are also belittling him by comparing his failure to other's success. This negative response could prevent him from effectively learning how to operate the system. Furthermore, you are demonstrating poor teamwork and communication skills, as you are not trying to establish a positive relationship with Roger. Finally, it is your responsibility to teach Roger, and blaming him for not understanding means you are not taking any responsibility for this learning process. This is a very poor response.

B. Letting a different employee with more experience than you teach Roger could be more effective. However, your supervisor gave you this task and it is not for you to delegate it to someone else. Furthermore, the problem here may not be dependent on level of experience, but rather the teaching approach used. By letting Anna teach Roger, you are not demonstrating adaptability in your teaching method. You are also admitting that you either lack the communication skills required to teach Roger, or that you lack the persistence of continuing to try despite experiencing conflict.

C. This is a poor response. You are giving up on the task you have been given. You demonstrate a lack of responsibility for completing the task, which, in turn, indicates a lack of conscientiousness. You are not looking for an alternative way of teaching Roger (as in choice B), suggesting your own lack of adaptability.

Response (B) employs the practice of admitting mistakes and sharing responsibility. Although Bryan played a larger role in committing the mistake while gathering the data, by sharing the responsibility for the mistake, you are showing that you are a team player (teamwork). By telling the supervisor that both of you have made an error you are showing that you are responsible and have the integrity of admitting your mistakes – thus allowing your supervisor to take the possibility of being late for the deadline into account. By working together to amend the mistake – your team has the potential of solving the task effectively by the deadline.

This question tests for the ability to share responsibility in a team and the ability to admit mistakes while having the willingness to correct them. The trick for solving the question is to choose the response that employs both integrity and teamwork- while solving the problem effectively.

Response (A) may seem like the correct response as Bryan is certainly responsible for the problem. However, by dropping all the blame on Bryan and not offering to work together on solving the problem- you show that you are unwilling to share the responsibility- thus showing low teamwork competency. Also, by criticizing Bryan behind his back you might cause unnecessary damage to his relationship with the supervisor- as he should be given a chance to explain himself.

Response (C) lacks responsibility and problem-solving. Handing the supervisor notes is only a partial solution if the supervisor hasn't agreed to this solution- and is not prepared in advance for this solution. The quality of your work here is diminished – so you are also showing a lack of thoroughness and attention to detail.

It is difficult not to choose response (D), as willing to work together with Bryan in order to solve the problem on time shows a high level of teamwork. Since the intention communicated in this answer-choice is to “not bother” the supervisor- choosing this question reveals a low level of being responsible and a problem with working under supervision- as you are not allowing your supervisor access to valuable information which could affect his decision-making regarding the presentation and the deadline.

In this question, you are facing a professional disagreement with an employee. Notice that the question asks about your first response - in other words, you are asked what would be your initial reaction, not what would eventually be the best solution. This implies that the question aims to assess your approach to this situation (your supervisory style), more than your actual problem solving strategy.

Responses A and B present a polite decline of the employee’s stand. This approach emphasizes your authority as a supervisor – you respect your employees, yet your opinion is the final decision. Both responses emphasize hierarchy, but response B emphasizes it more. In response A you explain yourself to the employee (saying that you gave the matter serious thought) and the rationale for going with your comments is that you find it important. In response B the rationale for going with your comments is that you are the supervisor and that it is you make the final decision(persistence). Response A creates a more flexible impression (by explaining yourself you seem open to discussion) while response B shows more respect for the employee’s feelings. However, in both responses there is no actual discussion and the approach is hierarchical.

Response C presents an opposite approach. In this response you take no authoritative stand; your approach is that of a guide. You are flexible, yet in most workplaces and positions this approach could seem to lack resilience.

Response D is the only one in which there is an actual discussion. Instead of a simple exchange of opinions, this response enables you to get more information, hear another opinion and think together with your employee (decision making - taking staff input). This response shows that you have respect for your employee’s opinion, while maintaining respect for your own opinion and keeping your authority. This is the best way to start handling the situation (the best first response) as it allows you and your employee further deliberation, while your final decision is yet to be determined and is still in your hands. This response demonstrates an approach that is more thorough (decision making) and open-minded (flexibility).

Different workplaces will prefer different approaches regarding authority – in some positions you are required to be strict, while in others an educational supervision approach (being a guide) will be preferred. We chose response D as the best choice because it shows that you take your subordinates’ input into consideration in your decision making. However strict or allowing you are as a supervisor, this competency is valuable as it enables you to make decisions wisely and shows better use of human resource.

In this situation, your employees’ self-discipline is in decline and is affecting their productivity. You appreciate the atmosphere in your team and don’t want to harm it, but you are also worried about this trend. Notice that the question asks about your first response.

Response A is an appropriate action. However, since the good atmosphere did work well for the team in the past, you know that it’s possible, with these team members, to have a casual atmosphere while maintaining productivity. It’s better to try other approaches before choosing this one.

Having employees taking breaks one at a time (response B) is necessary in some positions due to their characteristics. However, you know here that this is not the case. It’s better not to use disciplinary action as a first response.

Since the team is cooperative and has shown high performance before, discussing the issue with them and asking for their cooperation (response C) is likely to provide results. This direct approach shows your ability to communicate effectively and respectfully, and it demonstrates your ability to use effective strategies to increase staff productivity. Thus, this an effective way to encourage employees' development.

Announcing deadlines (response D) could be an effective response. In general, this is an effective way of increasing productivity. However, this response also includes a disciplinary action which, again, is too early to take, as you have not tried to solve the problem in alternative ways first.