Tell me about a time when you improved communication between yourself and a co-worker or client.
"Recently, we were working with a client who continued to change the direction of our work. Our team was heading down one path and before we knew it, the client expected us to go another direction. We resolved to hold a weekly status touch base call to ensure two-way communication between our team and the client."
"I had a client who often missed email updates. It caused us to cross our wires a few times. I suggested that we book a quick call every week to review any outstanding areas that need addressing. This process worked well for us."
"I recently worked on a project with team members from multiple sites. At first, we were emailing back and forth, but that wasn't working. I implemented a regular conference call to iron out issues and communicate updates."
"Many of our customers misread our return policy and assume that they can return an item to any one of our locations. Being a franchise, this is something we cannot accommodate. I recently requested to head office that we include this caveat in our return policy more clearly. The corporate head office agreed, and implemented the changes."
"I work continuously on improving communication between myself and the parents of my students. I recently polled the parents asking them if they prefer that letters are sent home, or emailed. A whopping 87% of the parents said they preferred email communication, so I implemented a regular e-newsletter containing news from our classroom and any files that needed to be signed and sent back."
"I am often the main point of contact for clients which means that my communication style needs to be crystal clear. Before onboarding a new client I have a set of questions that I ask. They are discovery questions, and I then pass onto my executive. The answers come directly from the client, so no assumptions are made. It's always first-hand information that I am providing."
The interviewer would like to know about a time that your communication skills improved a work-based situation. Possessing the skills to enhance communication in the workplace is a precious asset. Talk to the interviewer about a time when you used your excellent communication skills to improve a potentially harmful situation with a co-worker or client. Perhaps you saved a sale, were able to reiterate the intention of an email before feelings were hurt, or you helped a cross-departmental effort to go smoothly.
"In my current position I have one particular client who was an exceptionally brief communicator. If I asked two questions, he would answer just one. I learned that he would not acknowledge anything for which he did not have an answer. I began to ask him questions in a different way. For example, I would say 'Do you have an answer for me on question X?' and he would say yes or no. We would then go from there. This method was a valid form of communication for that particular client."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
There was a facility I worked with where I struggled with a few coworkers where they were not answering their e-mails in a timely base so I decided that I would schedule weekly meetings to update one another and discuss any risks related to the project.
Kevin's Feedback
This is a great solution! Nice answer.
There was a facility I worked with where I struggled with a few coworkers where they were not answering their e-mails in a timely fashion. If it was one person, that would just require a conversation. But with as many employees who weren’t using their email as an effective communication tool to stay up to date, that makes the problem systemic. So I decided that I would schedule weekly meetings to get everybody on the same page and enhance communication. That seemed to do the trick.
Anonymous Answer
In my previous job as a project manager, I had a client who was not very talkative, and for this project, we needed a very communicative person. During my course of emailing him, I understood that he is a very too the point person and doesn't use enough words. In those circumstances, I began to frame the question in such a way that it gave me a specific idea about the product. For example: When did it manufacture, and are there any defects so far? This question gave me a specific answer that I was looking for.
Rachelle's Feedback
Way to go! Oftentimes, re-framing our own ask can get us the information that we need vs. expecting someone else to change their communication style.
Anonymous Answer
In my last job, there was a vendor who was not answering my e-mails in a timely fashion, so I decided to schedule weekly meetings to update each other and discuss any issues in the invoices.
Cindy's Feedback
Good solution! This answer also demonstrates initiative. Did it work? What was the result?
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