wiseguyMBA wrote:
hi rhyme
this is a very lame Q, but I have to ask.
What exactly does the interviewer mean by " tell me about a teamwork experience". Isn't that a very abstract questions? Most of the projects I do are in teams, so what do they want to hear specifically? Conflict management? Multicultural teams? Dealing with someone difficult?
what would make a good teamwork example?
thanks
WG
It's a vague question, but that's a good thing -- you can use it to tell almost any story that you want. I like to take questions like that and define teamwork at the forefront of my story so that we both know exactly what we are talking about. The risk of not doing so is that the person is expecting a story about X and I tell a story about Y -- which likely comes across as having no point at all to someone expecting X. On the other hand, if I tell them, "To me teamwork is really about Y" then the story makes sense.
So, with that in mind, feel free to define "Y" however you see fit.
Some ideas:
Y = "Teamwork is really about bringing together a disparate group of people to achieve a goal" (broad, but you can use it in just about any story)
Y = "Teamwork is about identifying individual strengths and weaknesses and ensuring everyone is properly aligned for success" (the one I tend to most like)
Y = "Teamwork is about influencing others to work together towards a common goal" (google Cialdini principles of persuasion or perhaps its principles of influence, I forget, but just google Cialdini)
I have to run to a meeting, hopefully that helps.