It’s often the most common interview questions that can turn out to be the hardest. One of the most behavioural interview questions is focused on dealing with conflict at work. This question can come in any form, from the competency-based question of: ‘Tell us about a time you had to deal with conflict at work’ to the vaguer version: ‘How would you deal with a difficult colleague?’
After all, even in the nicest workplaces, conflict, difficult situations and issues can arise and you have to be able to deal with them. No matter what way this question is asked, it’s best to bring it back to the STAR method of answering: Situation, Task, Action, Result.
First, think of your situation. Candidates often panic that in order to answer this question, the conflict situations they discuss have to be full-blown arguments with colleagues, but this is not the case. In fact, the more situations you have that show how you avoided such an argument, the better.
Any time you’ve had a difference of opinion with a colleague or manager can be considered conflict at work in job interviews. This type of question is not looking for a magic formula within the actual situation, nor is it looking for you to rant about a fight you had with your team members. The hiring manager simply wants to find out how you address the situation.
Other examples you can consider using include personality clashes, communication breakdowns, or scarce resources, all of which can lead to conflict and give you the opportunity to handle it professionally and show off your skills in conflict resolution.
When preparing to answer this question, its important that your examples can be described using the STAR method and ideally, you will be able to explain how you reached a positive outcome. At RECRUITERS, we like to add an ‘L’ at the end of the STAR method for ‘learning’. Was there something you could have done differently to get a better outcome?
You should think of three different scenarios that can demonstrate how you handle conflict at work. If you can vary them, all the better – you might be able to use all three. So, think of a time you had a disagreement with a colleague, a time you had to deal with conflict with someone external, such as a customer and a time where you had to deal with conflict you were not directly involved with, for example, if you ever had to act as mediator or you were the manager of two other colleagues who had a disagreement. With each of these potential scenarios, you will be able to showcase your customer service skills, your conflict resolution abilities as a manager and your ability to resolve the issue when you’re directly involved.
Ultimately, hiring managers want to hear examples that will show them that you’re able to handle any conflict or difficult situations a workplace might throw at you. When explaining your situations, you only need to stick to the details that are contextually relevant. If there was a disagreement over the design of a brochure for example, you can simply say that. You don’t need to get into the nitty-gritty of what colour the other person wanted or the reasons why your point of view was better. Interviewers only want to hear how you resolved the disagreement.
How have you managed conflict at work in the past?
In my previous role, our sales team was in charge of converting leads into sales, while the support team, which I was part of, was in charge of supporting customers who were already on our books, giving them technical support and answering any other queries they may have. However, there was a middle step between making a sale and giving them support, and this was essentially onboarding the new customer. Both sales and support were equipped to do this, but the only rule in place was, ‘if sales people don’t have time, they can offload it to the support team.’ This gradually resulted in all onboarding being sent to support, and the team’s customer service suffered as a result. It also created a hostile dynamic between both teams.
In order to tackle this, I created a roster for onboarding calls. I ensured there was a fair balance between sales and support and rostered them in such a way so that the sales team knew to block book time each week to complete the onboarding process for new customers. There was also some built-in leeway in which a team member could request the next person on the list to take one or two if they were busy, but it had to be agreed to before they could simply offload the task. The fairness of the system got the sales team back onboard and alleviated the stress felt by the support team. It also created a much more collaborative and friendly dynamic between both teams.
Want more interview advice? Check out the RECRUITERS interview guide here.
Fighting rams photo by jean wimmerlin on Unsplash
