Give me an example of when you had to communicate with a difficult coworker. How did you affirm your communication was effective?
Communication is integral to any position and is more than getting everyone on the same page. It's about how a message is conveyed. Take care with your choice of words and what they might communicate. This is a test of your communication skills. They will evaluate your communication style. An effective coach successfully motivates a team to put their all in. How you motivate those you coach is as important as what you're teaching them.
Provide your definition of effective communication. Exemplify your ability for non-defensive communication, and how you helped enhance clear communication in this scenario. Talk about how you would find opportunities to clarify when communication was unclear. Provide specific examples of situations where you had to ask questions, mirror what was being communicated to you, and how a consensus was reached.
"I was dealing with an assistant manager who was underperforming at their location. They claimed their manager was disrespectful. So I discussed the matter with their store manager and they identified where the assistant was struggling and suggested they be transferred to work under another manager who has a strong success rate in coaching in this regard. So I considered it and discussed it with that other store manager and we all agreed on this course of action and that they were a more well-suited mentor for this assistant. So I transferred them. Right off the bat, these two managers were not seeing eye to eye, and I was asked to step in and intervene in the situation.
My approach to this situation was to first meet with each manager individually to get their perspective on the situation and, lo-and-behold, the assistant felt disrespected by me and their new mentor. With that in mind, my approach to coaching their relationship focused on empathy and the ability to see things from each other's side. I held an open forum where I invited the former manager, the new manager, and this assistant, and each was permitted to talk openly and I think it was really eye-opening.
At the end of that single conversation, the assistant was able to recognize their misinterpretation of the communication going around. We challenged the assistant to take a company-run course on non-defensive communication. They did, and with further coaching, we got this person on track to really showcase the potential we recognized in them, with no further interpersonal issues. Now they're running their own store, and coaching their assistant on the same issues."
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