Project Management & Team Lead Q&A

Q: What's your current role and responsibilies?
I have played a offshore team lead role when we had the seperate QA board. I managed a team of 4 people. My roles and resonsibilities were to co-ordinate with onsite team lead to discuss the PI objectives and communicate the team so that they can ramp up with the knowledge of new features and fixes. I do participate in each sprint planning to estimate the tasks and define story points according to the velocity of resources and discussion on the scope of testing. Now I do assign the tasks within the team accordingly. Also, I come up with a plan and helping the team if we are lacking to achieve the target. In case still we are lacking to complete the task, I co-ordinate the onsite team lead who further update to srrum master.
Also, I try to rotate the features among the team members to avoid any dependency of a resource. I do arrange the KT sessions once we have lien time.
Now, we all are moved to a common board so I am working as a individual contributor. I am writing the test script in python to automate the DVB features.

Q: What are the constraints for a project manager?

- Scope

- Timeline

- Cost/Budget

next 3 constraint are,

- Quality

- Risk

- Resourses

Q: What is the project management life cycle?

- Initiating

- Planning

- Executing

- Monitoring & Controling

- Closure

Q: What are the important skills for a project manager?

- Communication

- Leadership

- Team Management

- Negotiation Power

- Personal Organization

- Risk Management

Q: How would you handle a difficult stakeholder involved in your project?

- Accept thier authority without fighting

- Remove all the negative emotions

- Understand their issues

- Ask for advice and listen to them

- Be tactful and honest with your decisions

- Praise them and try to establish the connection

- Tailor your communication

Q: What is RAID in project management?

R - Risk

A - Assumptions

I - Issue

D - Dependencies

Q: When you consider that project is off track and what will be steps to finish in time?

* Check below pointers to know that project in on track or not:

- Budget is under control or not

- Consuming too much time

- Project scope keeps changing

- Original goals are no longer present

* What are the corrective action

- Discover the root cause

- Put in more time and efforts to catch up

- Try to follow the original goal/vision

- Re-adjust resources

- Keep open communication with client and stakeholders

Q: How will you manage the team members who are not working to their full potential?

- Identify it is a problem of skill issue or will issue

- Create action plan accordinly 

- Avoid any type of emotional confrontation

- Encourage them to think and act in natural ways

- Help in developing their decision making ability

- Expand their performance tolerance threshold

- Streangthen potential ny surrounding it with those even stringer

- Understand what motivated them 

- Show where they fit in company mission

- Arrange a follow up process

- Reward and appriciate their improvement at the same time

- Be ready to let them go

Q: What do you do if there's a disagreement within your team?

- There is always be disagreements within a team becuase of different thought process

- Sit together and understand the point of view of everyone and ask everyone to listen to each other

- Convey the team that negotiate and compromise is the success of project

- If I have an idea to put in front of team and discuss without hearting to anyone sentiments

Q: How would your colleagues and team describe you?

- Showcase actual positive strength

Q: Explain a project where you led your team to success?

- With a true story to convience and motivate the team

Q: How do you get others to accept your ideas?

- Explain the idea and benefit of idea which is useful for everyone. e.g. get out from comfort zone.

Q: How to handle a situation when any blocking issue comes from field and client is very angry
- Should not react at the same time and ask them I will be comeback with analysis.
- Quick action to reproduce the issue, analyse the issue and with proper root cause analysis and then contact to client
- Fix issue asap and do through testing
- Accept mistake and take preventive measure to avoid blocking issues
- Discuss and involve senior if case of revenue loss

Q: Salary Negotiation
- I would expect the industry standard hike. Generally companies give 30-40% hike on switching the company.
- I am demanding very resonable hike as you have the variable component in the salary structure. That means the take home amount is very less after deducting tax, epf and variable component. I hope you would understand.

Q: Notice period

Q: Why should we give you offer
- I have worked around 13 years in the same indusrty which you are hiring for.
- I have working knowledge of latest technologies such as devops tools, machine learning, automation in python which might be useful for the organization down the line.
- I have good exposure to deal with client and manage team to deliver objectives in a effective manner.

Q: Why you want to change the company?