Hiring the right project manager can be tricky. An accurate screening process needs to be in play so you can filter the best ones who cater to what your business needs.
One of the best ways to determine a prospective manager’s skills is through his quick-wittedness and how he answers your Project Manager Interview questions. This often becomes a gauge for his competency, allowing you to see if he fits within your company culture.
By focusing on the totality of his personality and his approaches, you can quickly assess his skills and capacity to lead your people.
Three Questions that Provide Insights on Your Candidate’s Managerial Skills
Your questions should be based on how he performs his tasks and how well he gets along with his subordinates. But aside from that, being able to ask precise questions that target his leadership skills is a must. Here are some of the most useful questions to ask your candidates:
- What would you do if your handled project is off-track?
A project manager should have the ability to foresee where his team is heading. It means having the collective reasoning to judge if his project is meeting deadlines or is already veering off-track. Additionally, his ability to find a quick solution is one of the reasons for asking this question.
- How do you get your project back on track if it is not adhering to the scheduled timeline?
Project Manager Interview questions like this one should be on top of your list of questions you might what to ask your potential candidate. His answer would dictate how much skills he has to improve your business outcome and boost client satisfaction. Also, he must be adept at knowing the discrepancies between your employee’s actual and planned progress.
- How do you make sure your team delivers the right results to satisfy or exceed client expectations?
For the most part, a good manager has to understand what the business needs are. He must also be directly involved in satisfying customer and client expectations. This question is related to project delivery and satisfying every customer. It is an integral part of building the right business track, so it helps in the longevity of your enterprise.
Focusing Questions on Your Business Needs
Interview questions for project managers and company leaders have to be specifically tailored according to the role they are targeting. So items that focus on the business needs and how they attune their behavior and perspective should also be considered.
Identifying the best assets of your most qualified candidates will help you arrive at the most competent prospects. For one, a project manager has to be able to deal with the intrinsic pressures of the team. He should also be able to handle different personalities.
But one defining characteristic of a good project manager is adaptability. He should possess the skills, experience, and know-how to redirect the company towards its intended goals. A project manager has to be a strong leader and able manager to inspire people towards success.
On the other hand, skills can be honed with experience. However, character and attitude is the driving force to inspire others to follow and obey. It is not a learned skill but a trait your project manager must possess.