Five Good Interview Questions for Team Leaders and Coaches

Toil to make yourself remarkable by some talent or other - Seneca

Team Leaders

1. Describe a recent incident where you took initiative?


2. How do you get the best out of other people?


3. What would you do with a team member who is persistently late?


4. How would you encourage your team to meet new (higher) targets?


5. What aspect of your current role to you like least?

Questions one and two are really settling in questions. What you are looking for here is candidates not shooting themselves in the foot - mumbling, delays, lack of confidence, etc. Good answers talk about understanding situations and people, consulting with people, developing ideas, communicating clearly, etc.

Question three and four are about their approach to people and teams and do they activate the trigger finger too quickly (bad). Correct answers talk about contributing to the team, understanding the root cause, roles and responsibilities, opportunities for personal development, empathising with customers for reduced service levels, rewards for growth, etc.

Question five is as close to a trick question as you should get. Answers like, "my boss", "the workload", "the environment", etc. are signals that this is not the right person. Good answers include: "seeking more autonomy", "limited opportunities to contribute", "not able to develop my skills fast enough", etc.

The role of team leader is critical in a contact centre and you want people who are fun, responsible, supportive, focused, good communicators, comfortable with their confidence but not arrogant. It's a role that deserves time and care in recruitment (as do all roles) but this is the role that can make or break contact centre performance.

Coaches

1. What do you enjoy most about your current role?


2. What's the best thing about working in a contact centre?


3. How would you encourage an advisor who is falling behind team performance


4. How would you support staff undergoing change, say a new IT system?


5. What would you change in the contact centre if you could?

Question one should result in some positive statements about learning, sharing, supporting. Answers that feature "I" and "me" indicate a candidate unsuited to coaching. You don't want Mimi in your coaching organisation.

Question two is about loving people - being gregarious, interested in meeting new people, comfortable initiating dialogue, happy with diversity, etc. Not someone who is closed or negative - bear in mind the role they will occupy.

Questions three and four about their people skills - dealing with real situations to coach and develop advisors. This is the core of the role and you are looking for
people who can spot training needs, personal issues, diversion and obfuscation in the face of new challenges, etc. It is about happily taking people through a development cycle and getting a real buzz out of helping people contribute to the team and grow into new situations and challenges.

Again, question five is close to a trick question and answers that relate to more soap in the toilets, too far to walk to the shops, don't like my seat, etc. are obvious indicators of someone unsuited to coaching. Answers like more training for advisors, better information about customer communications, more flexible shifts to accommodate people with family committments, etc. Look for specific and positive contributions rather than general and neutral (or even negative). Whilst honesty is to be applauded, what you are seeking is someone who can see the positive in a situation - limited training? that's an opportunity to maximise the quality of the training we do give, poor briefings? that's an opportunity for advisors to make suggestions on improvement. The perfect working environment does not exist and coaches should be the people in your organisation who can always find the silver lining, always look on the bright side. Remember the vital role they provide on the floor and recruit accordingly.

Copyright 2007, Robert A Innes