As a senior project manager, you will work directly with internal and external stakeholders to identify value. What strategy will you use to learn enough about their operations to make an accurate value assessment?

Remember to describe a mix of information gathering approaches within your response. Interviewers appreciate candidates who understand the multitude of data sources available for learning about a value stream as well as those who can leverage them to construct and appreciate the big picture perspective of their client's operations.

"I use a mix of strategies to learn about the opportunities and best practices that lead to value for my clients. First, I learn their business directly from my clients. I meet with them to discuss their operations, I read whatever materials are available, I shadow, and I have even taken employee training courses to learn more about specific roles and processes.

In addition to gathering information internally, I review whatever I can find about the operations of my client's competitors. There are often a mix of strategies from competitors that can add value if implemented in a way that is customized to the needs of my client.

Finally, I gather customer information. The customers may be internal company users of a product or a service, or external consumers who buy a good or service. I gather whatever information I can find on what they feel is working well as well as what needs improvement.

For each of these strategies, I use a mix of data from reports, manuals, systems and the Internet. I also interview and observe. A holistic approach is best in my opinion, and I feel that I could apply the same approach successfully here at XYZ company."