How do you move a project forward when you are faced with limited time for discovery and analysis?

Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
What to Avoid
Remember To
Answer Example

You may be asked this question in an interview to assess your ability to quickly make progress with limited knowledge and resources. Interviewers are interested to know your processes for driving out scope details while you work to gain the trust of key stakeholders and make tactical changes.

Avoid answers that rely on conducting a lengthy set of interviews and analyze all of the results before moving forward. Additionally, avoid answers that are not likely to be feasible for the company you are interviewing with.

Remember to offer examples of how you would gather a broad scope of information by conducting largely facilitated sessions or using surveys. Also, remember to mention how you would add immediate value through the implementation of quick-hit opportunities.

"Clients often want to get moving as quickly as possible and do not have the desire to wait while all of the details are figured out. In this case, I usually request to facilitate a vision and goal-setting session with as many stakeholders as possible. During that time, I try to gather as wide a perspective as possible on what is working, what is broken, and what the high-level solution expectations are. From there, I lean on my experience and intuition to determine where I need to dig further and which areas I can leave at a cursory review.

I establish relationships with the stakeholders as I go by taking them to lunch or calling them to brainstorm ideas. I also shadow front-line users in the areas that will be affected the most by whatever strategy we follow. I immediately implement any tactical changes that require minimal resources. This helps me to quickly gain trust with the users, their management, and the executives involved. That trust is imperative when I make my recommendation because it allows me to be transparent about the areas I did not have time to analyze fully while suggesting where to begin development."