Situational based questions

Respect: Scenario 1

You are in a team meeting and a new idea is presented by a colleague for improving efficiency. You don’t believe it will work, as it directly negatively impacts on one of the key processes that is needed to ensure outcomes happen on time and to budget. You feel uncomfortable as they begin to explain all the great reasons why this new process should be implemented, and the rest of the team seem interested in learning more and seem to be on board with the idea. You want to tell them why you don’t think the idea will work. How do you share your views whilst demonstrating the value of Respect?

Answer

Listen to their idea fully to learn more about the benefits and to see if your concerns have been addressed. Ask them probing questions to help them identify where they may need to direct their efforts to ensure the benefits they intend to achieve are realized.

Rationale

Respect means trying to hear the other person out without enforcing your own view onto them. By having a biased mindset, it will distract you from completely taking in what your colleague is presenting and cause your ego to blind you from any good points they may be trying to make. Even if they may not have the experience or may not see any issues with their idea, by listening to them and trying to see their solution from their point of view, it is a demonstrating of respect.

Just this simple act of hearing them out without interrupting them and taking the spotlight away from them gives them a chance to add value. Furthermore, it could very well be that they know the subject matter closely and have thought of a workaround on the issue that you are seeing. Therefore it’s common courtesy to hear them out first and to not disrespect them.

Respect: Scenario 2

You are working in a small project group and are getting very frustrated with one of the team members as every idea you present, they counter it with something that is totally different. It’s getting harder to work with them as your ideas, thinking and personalities seem to be polar opposites. Other people in the team are starting to notice it and it is becoming a distraction and sense of tension among the team. You need to do something about it. What would you do that demonstrates the value of Respect?

Answer

Request a one-on-one meeting with them for the purposes of working together to build a better relationship.

Rationale

I would request a one-on-one meeting rather than call them out on the spot during the next meeting. While it is good that the team feels relieved of the pressure in the next meeting, the conflict is between you and the other team member, so it seems more respectful to resolve these matters privately.

On the other hand, with option C, by calling them out in front of the team, the individual may feel pressured (and see it as perhaps a threat) by being critiqued in front of the whole team without warning. Taking the matter behind closed doors seems more dignified where you can work out a solution together and address any underlying problems that might exist.

Moreover, creating a disturbance in the team dynamic by stirring up drama publicly over something that could just be one instance of personalities clashing seems a bit extreme. Therefore, in my opinion, seeking to find a point of understanding by getting each other’s input instead of criticizing them outright is the respectful decision.

Integrity: Scenario 1

Two of your colleagues were discussing another team member’s failure to perform. They talked critically about the team member’s lack of skill and imagination. They criticized his follow-through efforts and the quality of his work. They said that he was a nice guy but just wasn’t very good at his job. You enter the room in the midst of the gossip and discussion, listen for a minute, and then interrupt. What would you say that demonstrates the most integrity in this situation?

Answer

You ask your colleagues if they have specific examples of the issues they are concerned about and the impacts, and suggest they discuss these directly with the team member.

Rationale

In this instance, engaging in talking badly about another team member behind their back is neither respectful nor does it preserve any integrity. In this situation, I believe the right thing to do is to bring these concerns to light towards the team member in question and allow them to take their experiences as feedback for areas to improve on.

Instead of raising a seemingly small issue to HR directly or bringing it up to you manager who could fire the employee over such accusations – confronting them sincerely without any malice shows that you are demonstrating integrity by saying the truth and respecting them with care. Moreover, having your heart in the right place and redirecting these concerns expressed by your team members to a positive opportunity to change and grow aligns with Microsoft’s values and culture of growth.

Integrity: Scenario 2

You are facing two very tight deadlines with work projects and are starting to feel quite stressed about being able to meet the deadlines. You don’t want to let anyone down, but you don’t see how this work can be done in time to your usual high standard. You are aware of some previous research that has been carried out by another organization in relation to one of your projects. You know that most people are not familiar with this research, so you could easily meet your deadline if you just included this research and submitted it as your own. What action would demonstrate Integrity?

Answer

You speak to your manager to explain the pressure you are under to meet both deadlines and what the options could be to manage this.

Rationale

Here I would say integrity and honesty go hand in hand. Firstly, taking work from someone else and dressing it as your own is extremely unethical for taking credit for their research and should violate some copyright laws.

Moreover, by not being truthful to your manager and silently working to produce something which you know is not of very high standard does not show integrity, but rather a lack of. As such, it would be more valuable to discuss the matter with your manager who is there to help you do your best work and come up with a solution that works for everyone.

Accountability: Scenario 2

You have submitted a piece of work to your senior manager that will be circulated among the leadership team. You have been working on it for a month and you were really pleased with what you produced. You are excited as this is the chance for you to get noticed by more senior people. You quickly re-read the work before going to a meeting about it with the leadership team and you find that there is a mistake in it, where you have referenced the wrong source which impacts one of your key arguments. You don’t know what to do about this, as you’ve already sent the work off. What would be the best action to demonstrate accountability?

Answer

Call the senior manager immediately and admit your error and tell them you can get an updated version to them straightaway and suggest that the updated version is distributed in the meeting with an apology from you.

Rationale

Being accountable in this situation is to be honest and responsible for your mistake. In this case, turning a blind eye to the error that you made is no better than running away from the problem and does not help resolve the situation at all. Since it affects your key argument, it is most certainly a vital point which could be misinterpreted if not fixed immediately.

Moreover, trying to avoid the problem and take attention away means takes away all the merit from the piece of work you spent so long on. Rather, to take initiative and try to make things right in the first contributes to the culture of trust and shows that you are a person who cares about their work.

Accountability: Scenario 2

You are really busy at work and one of your close colleagues comes to you with a work problem. You usually would stop to help them, but you are currently working to a really tight deadline and could do without the interruption. In fact, the interruption is starting to frustrate you. Which of the following responses most demonstrates accountability?

Answer

Explain politely that you are very busy with a tight deadline so can’t help them today but suggest someone who may be able to help instead or suggest an alternative time to meet tomorrow.

Rationale

Here option C is an okay solution but does not resolve your colleague’s current problems which they need help to overcome. Option B is considerate towards them but does not favour both parties as you have an urgent deadline and they may require more than a minute of your time for their situation. In fact, it is arguable that by promising them 1 minute, it may add to the problem and they will continually bother you and in that sense, you are neglecting your responsibility to your work.

Option D is also a nice solution but implies there is a greater problem with the employee asking you for help. The fact that your colleague is approaching you and asking you questions means that they value your input and trust you to ask you for help, so this solution may discourage them from doing so.

Instead, option A takes a stance of being upfront about your situation and means that you take responsibility to dedicate your time and focus on your upcoming deadline. Moreover, offering them an alternative by suggesting other colleagues or for them to schedule a time to cover their situation gives them closure on what is happening and prevents any misinterpretation when you seem frustrated. Additionally, this gives them a chance to collect their thoughts and questions on the matter – giving them time to think about it on their own and a chance for you to address all their concerns at once (rather than one every X minutes).