How do you react when your team misses a deadline?
Missing deadlines should be avoided at all costs. However, when multiple deadlines are due at the same time when priorities change, or all hands are needed on deck, sometimes missed deadlines are inevitable. There is a time and place for everything. We're all human, and sometimes mistakes happen. Yet, being asked to share details about a professional setback is a question worth posing in an interview.
The interviewer would like to understand how you react to disappointment when things don't go according to plan. They are also curious about what you'll share and how you'll contextualize it. They're curious if you learn from your mistakes and hold yourself accountable. Your answer should speak to your EQ and your experience level.
Provide an example of your missed deadline and walk the interviewer through the direction you took. Be sure to include the impact it had on the business or project aside from how late it was. Present the situation where it was in the team's best interest to miss that deadline over another. Do not deflect blame or point fingers at others on your team. Do not offer excuses. Avoid examples resulting in disciplinary action.
"My team is highly efficient, and we rarely miss a deadline. When we do, it's surprising. Last year, we had a very challenging client who made significant changes throughout the project. These changes caused us to miss our deadline. I took action after that to ensure a better client onboarding process. We dug deeper with each client at the start, resulting in fewer mid-project changes."
"When my team misses a deadline, it is disappointing. On the odd occasion that this has happened, I first ask my team for feedback. I want to know what I could have done better as a leader to make sure we hit our goal. Then, I ask them to look internally and tell me what they honestly feel they could have done differently. I prefer a collaborative approach to these types of conversations."
