Team Work Situations Questions & Answers

You are assigned to work on a project along with another co-worker. He has been working in the department longer than you. Since he has no great ambitions or aspirations to develop professionally, he does not put much effort into your mutual project.

What would you do? Choose the BEST option.

This is an inflexible situation as far as you are concerned, so you accept it and do your share of the work load to the best of your ability. The rest is up to your co-worker.

You are concerned that the quality of the project will reflect badly on you and the company, so you put in extra hours to complete the project by yourself to the best of your abilities.

You cannot accept this kind of attitude. You immediately contact your manager to discuss the situation. You request that your co-worker be replaced by another worker to complete the project.

You reach out to the co-worker, explain your difficulty and try to negotiate a fair distribution of the work load between you. You take into account that you might have to put in extra hours to complete whatever tasks he neglects to do.

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Correct answer is D

No explanation has been provided for this answer.

You work in a large audit firm as a consultant. There are five additional members in the team, all working under the supervision of a team manager and the department manager above him.

Matt, a co-worker in your staff with whom you share an office, needs your advice regarding a report he is about to present at this week's team meeting. These meetings are led by your team manager but the department manager is almost always present, too.

Although the part of the report that Matt shows you seems fine, you notice that the numerical analysis in another section of the report is missing important conclusions. You can tell that this section of the report does not adhere to the standards of your department's supervisors.

Matt seems to be confident about that part of the report and you get the impression that he is not interested in your opinion about it.

What would you do? Choose the BEST option.

If he is not interested in your opinion there is not much you can do about it, so you let it go and leave him to deal with the consequences of a poor presentation.

If he does not want to listen to you, notify management about it. Talk to your manager and ask him to explain to Matt the importance of the necessary changes.

You do your best to get him to listen. It may involve some discomfort but you try to explain the logic behind your criticism in the hope that he will understand.

It's best to stay out of it. If Matt does not want to hear your thoughts, that is his right and there is always the possibility that you are mistaken.

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Correct answer is C

No explanation has been provided for this answer.

A co-worker is undermining you. Currently, he is at a less senior position than you in the company and hasn't been working there for long. However, he is better educated than you and is also considered a fast learner. You know from a third party that he is interested in taking over some of your responsibilities.

What would you do? Choose the BEST option.

You wait to see how things develop; at the moment this information is merely hearsay.

You call your co-worker in for a talk. You explain that cooperation is an essential feature of any workplace and tell him you believe both of you can learn from one another. If he refuses to understand you take more serious steps.

You do not want to take any chances with such issues. You report the matter to your supervisor and advise him to consider replacing your co-worker.

Since you do not want to make a "big deal" out of the issue, you ask a third party to intimate to your co-worker that his behaviour is unacceptable.

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Correct answer is B

No explanation has been provided for this answer.

The company you work for is experiencing financial difficulties. You have thought of a creative solution that will enable it to recruit more clients. However, the downside is that the company will have to let go a stable, loyal but not-so-profitable client (due to a conflict of interest). Two out of three marketing people agree with you while your manager does not because she believes this is too risky.

What would you do? Choose the BEST option.

You trust your manager's judgement and withdraw your proposition. There's no point in going against her better judgement.

You present a document to your manager systematically detailing the advantages of your proposition and its contribution to the company. If she keeps insisting, you'll support her decision.

You implement your proposition despite the manager's resistance. Since you have a lot of faith in this proposition, you decide to trust your judgement and go behind her back this once for the benefit of the company.

You confront your manager on the issue and insist that she accept your proposal. You are positive that you are right. You have the marketing people to back you and will not give up until you convince your manager otherwise.

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Correct answer is B

No explanation has been provided for this answer.

You have been working as a salesperson for the past year and have consistently achieved great sales numbers. Due to personal reasons, you have recently been unfocused at work and as a result your work performance has declined. Additionally, due to changes in the market, the sales figures of your team have decreased as well.
Your director does not seem to be taking the changes in the market into account and is blaming your poor performance on poor leadership on your part.

What would you do? Choose the BEST option.

You explain your personal situation to the director and apologise for the decline in the performance of your team. You ask to take a few days off to recuperate.

You make a decision to put aside your personal situation and consult other sales directors regarding their ways of coping with a volatile market. You devote yourself entirely to your work.

You update the director on the changes in the market and explain that there is nothing that can be done at the moment to improve sales.

You scold your team members for their poor performance and set new, more attainable sales targets in line with the changes in the market.

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Correct answer is B

No explanation has been provided for this answer.