How to Answer “Managing a Quality Service” Interview Questions
How to Answer “Managing a Quality Service” Interview Questions
Determining candidates’ experience in managing a quality service is one of the most common competency-based interview questions.
In this blog, we’ll discuss how to answer this question effectively, with example questions and answers.
Why do interviewers ask about managing a quality service?
When it comes to questions about managing a quality service, interviewers are interested in knowing about your leadership skills as well as your ability to deliver work to a very high standard.
Your response should show how you have demonstrated these qualities in your previous roles, and how you could apply the necessary skills to a new role.
Managing a quality service interview questions
Variants of the “managing a quality service” interview question could include:
- How do you ensure high standards amongst your team?
- How do you keep your service to a good quality when things get busy?
- What do you believe constitutes a quality service?
- What do you feel is a bad quality service?
- How would you respond if a customer complained about the quality of service?
- What skills do leaders need when it comes to delivering work of quality?
- What skills do teams need when it comes to delivering a service of quality?
While these questions are all phrased differently, they are all essentially driving at the same thing, namely how you meet the objectives of your role effectively, and how you support others to do the same.
Managing a quality service example answers
Many people struggle to provide an answer to the “managing a quality service” question - it can be hard to think of relevant examples, especially if you have limited leadership experience.
Here as some examples of managing a quality service that could be used to inform your answer:
- Meeting the objectives of a project by taking the time to understand the objectives and measuring the results
- Using organisational skills to prioritise a workload to deliver high-quality work under pressure
- Identifying barriers to success and working collaboratively to remove them
- Speaking with a manager or client to understand the core aims of a task so that they can be delivered effectively
- Working on a group project and assigning tasks to the most suitable workers
- Working as part of a group and providing support to other members of the team
- Taking time to review work and reflect on whether it truly meets the brief.
- Reflecting on the specific needs of a customer by practising emotional intelligence
- Using your greatest competencies to your advantage by applying them to the task at hand
- Learning from previous experiences and applying learnings to refine your approach to tasks
Managing a quality service: STAR example
As with most competency-based interview questions, using the STAR technique to answer the ‘managing a quality service’ question is extremely helpful.
As a quick reminder, STAR stands for:
S - Situation
T - Task
A - Action
R - Result
We’ve put together three STAR example answers for managing a quality service.
#1: Customer Service
Situation:
The hotel I work at was very busy, and a guest called with a last-minute request to organise a bottle of champagne for the room as a romantic gesture for their partner. I was dealing with several customer requests at the time, but wanted to go above and beyond to provide the guest with the best experience possible.
Task:
I needed to find a way to manage the immediate needs of the guests in front of me at reception while also handling the special request from the customer in a timely manner.
Action:
I spoke with my team and delegated tasks between two employees, explaining the priority tasks. This freed me up to go and organise the special request; I spoke with the bar staff and ensured that champagne was delivered to the guests’ room before their arrival.
Result:
The guest gave us a very positive review online, while the guests at the reception were welcomed with no delays.
#2: STEM technical example
Situation:
I was tasked with assessing the strength of a section of a bridge. This was a new task for me, using software I was unfamiliar with.
Task:
I needed to conduct a review of the bridge section, learning about the software in the process.
Action:
I first compiled all the information I already had about the project and identified gaps in my knowledge.
I structured the questions that I would need answers to in a list. I then sent an email with these questions to a more experienced colleague and asked them for a time to hold a call to discuss.
Result:
I was able to hold a call and get the answers I needed to perform the task effectively. Structuring my questions in advance ensured I wasn’t taking up too much of my colleague’s time and that I had all of the information I needed to perform the task without delays.
#3: Leadership skills
Situation:
I needed to onboard a new employee to the team and ensure they were quickly up to date with our processes
Task:
In previous scenarios, it had taken too long to onboard new team members, resulting in a delay to our service, so I needed to ensure the process was completed efficiently.
Action:
I made sure to learn from my past onboarding experiences. I already worked to refine our onboarding documents and took feedback from new team members to ask what would have helped them to get up to speed faster.
I also regularly checked in with the new employee to gauge how supported they felt and whether they needed additional training or support.
Result:
The new employee was able to take on responsibilities within the first week as opposed to the usual two week onboarding period.
Managing a quality service: Final thoughts
Hopefully, you now feel better to answer managing a quality service interview questions. Remember, it’s all about demonstrating your ability to maintain high standards, even when circumstances make that a challenge.
Liked this blog? Find out how to answer interview questions about leadership here.
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