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Tough Interview Question

abnormalnorman

How do you make a managerial decision, if you have conflicting advice from experts?

Any answers to this one?

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mad m

A manager has to put trust in his experts to make that decision. If the manager is expert in the problem some managers might feel its hard to let go of control and do it themselves.

Its all about delegation and knowing what type of team surrounds you with the expertise. If there is conflict between experts then there should be an open discussion to come up with a solution. Win/Win

abnormalnorman

mad m wrote: »

If there is conflict between experts then there should be an open discussion to come up with a solution. Win/Win

thanks for that.

But i think the question is still left unanswered.

Your last sentence touches on it - "open discussions".

But, if you have one expert telling you one thing, and another expert of the same field telling you conflicting information - how ,as a manager , do you make the final decision? What would be the procedure in doing so?

Econ_

1. Determine what the contradictions are

2. Challenge the experts with the contradictions

3. Side with the expert that was most convincing under challenge of the contradiction

OR

Try to arrange a group meeting with the experts and thrash things out

OR

Delegate the decision to an employee who you feel may understand the contradictions better

abnormalnorman

Econ_ wrote: »

1. Determine what the contradictions are

2. Challenge the experts with the contradictions

3. Side with the expert that was most convincing under challenge of the contradiction

OR

Try to arrange a group meeting with the experts and thrash things out

OR

Delegate the decision to an employee who you feel may understand the contradictions better

Thanks Econ_

That sounds good to me - but is it the "right" answer, as far as interviews are concerned?
Also, you have 3 answers above - in an interview situation , i need one answer only?

bucketybuck

In my opinion, the important thing is often that a manager makes the decision at all. Especially in busy environments sometimes you need to make the call and get on with things, and as long as you can stand over that decision then things will work out.

So if experts are giving conflicting advice? Listen to all the opinions, assess the situation yourself and then go with the decision you think is correct.

You want to demonstrate that you are a manager who has the backbone to make those calls, not somebody who freezes when faced with a tricky choice, I think thats what your answer should be trying to convey.

abnormalnorman

bucketybuck wrote: »

In my opinion, the important thing is often that a manager makes the decision at all. Especially in busy environments sometimes you need to make the call and get on with things, and as long as you can stand over that decision then things will work out.

So if experts are giving conflicting advice? Listen to all the opinions, assess the situation yourself and then go with the decision you think is correct.

You want to demonstrate that you are a manager who has the backbone to make those calls, not somebody who freezes when faced with a tricky choice, I think thats what your answer should be trying to convey.

I think you might be right bucketybuck. But what if its a specialist topic that you (the manager) know nothing about?

heroics

abnormalnorman wrote: »

I think you might be right bucketybuck. But what if its a specialist topic that you (the manager) know nothing about?

Put the 2 experts in a meeting and get them to argue their points. You need to trust and make decisions based on the experts recommendation. There are often 2 ways to complete an objective maybe both experts have a valid option.

I agree with bucketybuck at the end of the day you as a manager need to make the decisions otherwise nothing gets done. No manager is the expert in everything.

bucketybuck

abnormalnorman wrote: »

I think you might be right bucketybuck. But what if its a specialist topic that you (the manager) know nothing about?

How likely is that? That as a manager in a company or department that you will be making an important decision on something that you have absolutely no clue about? As in, not one clue whatsoever, even as a layperson?

Its possible of course, but far more likely you will know enough to get by and so will know enough to assess the information being given to you by the experts, even if on a basic level.

Thats why I think you are overstating the importance of that factor, the question isn't trying to find out how you react when you know nothing about the topic, its just trying to find out how you react to confused situations in general.

So how do you react? Well, you tell the two experts to summarise their reports. You ask them to clarify anything you really don't understand. You ask them why their conclusion was different to the other experts and what their opinion of the other experts conclusion is? And when you have questioned their findings and gathered all the info you can, then you make a decision and stand by it.

abnormalnorman

bucketybuck wrote: »

So how do you react? Well, you tell the two experts to summarise their reports. You ask them to clarify anything you really don't understand. You ask them why their conclusion was different to the other experts and what their opinion of the other experts conclusion is? And when you have questioned their findings and gathered all the info you can, then you make a decision and stand by it.

okay, will go with that then . . . thanks!:D