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82 COMPETENCY-BASED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

and although his philosophy had merit, unfortunately in practice this hardly
ever worked in his favor.

Action: In an effort to increase productivity, I started to e-mail him the

talking points I wanted to broach during the meeting, and I asked for his in-
put on these. After a few weeks, he began to request that all team members
e-mail him their agendas for the meetings.

Result: As a result, the meetings were structured, and we were able

to get more done in less time; regular meetings were reduced to two per
month, as well.

Question 32. Describe a time when you were on the verge of com-

pleting a task and were asked to abandon the project for another project.

Situation: This is a common occurrence in the conference-catering

business. There are a lot of activities to manage, from preparing standardized
recipes to communicating with the general manager. One particular time, the
kitchen equipment at Nickel and Wood Country Club failed one hour before
guests were set to arrive. I was in the meeting hall supervising the layout of
the room when I received notice of the breakdown.

Action: Since I could not be in two places at the same time, I walked

my assistant through the arrangement requirements and asked her to mon-
itor the execution of the plans while I went to find a technician to come fix the
equipment on short notice.

Result: I made several phone calls and requested a favor to get a

qualified technician onsite, who agreed to keep the cost down while com-
pleting the work quickly. By the time the guests arrived, everything was in
place and no one had a clue of the mishap that had occurred right before
their arrival.

Question 33. Give an example of a situation in which you worked for

a company where your flexibility skills were important.

Situation: As a management trainee for Zenith Enterprise, I was re-

quired to learn every aspect of the company, from customer service to busi-
ness administration initiatives.

Action: Regardless of the position I was in, I took the responsibilities

seriously. I learned the inner workings of the different departments and the
varying personalities who made up a division.

American Management Association
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