Discuss a critical decision you made in the past, and its impact on your team's performance.

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As a District Manager, you will need to make tough decisions that impact your entire team. The interviewers want to know that you can think critically and make sound decisions that are good for your company, the team, and the customers. Talk about a time that you had to make a critical decision in the workplace. What was the outcome, and how did you help recover team morale?

When approaching a question that asks for a specific 'time when,' it's best to reply with a story-based example. Try forming your response using the STAR framework, an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Offer an engaging story, and be sure to highlight the way you fixed the situation and what you learned from the experience.

"(Situation) Just last week, I had to decide to terminate one of our most popular team leads after seeing a 90-day pattern of poor sales performance. This decision was challenging because this person was well-liked within the team from a personality standpoint; however, his performance was low. It was beginning to impact our team in the form of low morale. (Task) As the District Manager, it was entirely up to me to drive our regions' goals and targets while maintaining a high level of team engagement. (Action) I had a private conversation with this team lead, outlining the reasons for his termination. I took all of the proper termination steps according to our HR policies and debriefed with the remaining team after the termination. (Result) The following few days were a challenge as the team members were sad to see this person go; however, after a few days, the team re-discovered their cadence and productivity, and sales increased."

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How to Answer: Discuss a critical decision you made in the past, and its impact on your team's performance.

Advice and answer examples written specifically for a District Manager job interview.

17. Discuss a critical decision you made in the past, and its impact on your team's performance.

How to Answer

As a District Manager, you will need to make tough decisions that impact your entire team. The interviewers want to know that you can think critically and make sound decisions that are good for your company, the team, and the customers. Talk about a time that you had to make a critical decision in the workplace. What was the outcome, and how did you help recover team morale?

When approaching a question that asks for a specific 'time when,' it's best to reply with a story-based example. Try forming your response using the STAR framework, an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Offer an engaging story, and be sure to highlight the way you fixed the situation and what you learned from the experience.

Written by Rachelle Enns on October 2nd, 2020

Answer Example

"(Situation) Just last week, I had to decide to terminate one of our most popular team leads after seeing a 90-day pattern of poor sales performance. This decision was challenging because this person was well-liked within the team from a personality standpoint; however, his performance was low. It was beginning to impact our team in the form of low morale. (Task) As the District Manager, it was entirely up to me to drive our regions' goals and targets while maintaining a high level of team engagement. (Action) I had a private conversation with this team lead, outlining the reasons for his termination. I took all of the proper termination steps according to our HR policies and debriefed with the remaining team after the termination. (Result) The following few days were a challenge as the team members were sad to see this person go; however, after a few days, the team re-discovered their cadence and productivity, and sales increased."

Written by Rachelle Enns on October 2nd, 2020

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