Team Lead Interview Preparation Guide
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Team Lead frequently Asked Questions in various Team Lead related job Interviews by interviewer. Get preparation of Team Lead job interview questions

71 Team Lead Questions and Answers:

1 :: Explain what are vital Contingency plans a team lead must take care?

Vital contingency plans are -- resource allocation plan: what if a resource is absent -- who will replace.
in case more time is needed to complete the work -- how to handle the project support contingency risk budget - how much

2 :: How to conduct the team appraisals? Outline the process and parameters?

For team appraisals first the following needs to be done :

clarification of roles and responsibilities
constructive feedback to team members
discovery of unknown and unresolved issues
development of individual training plan
estabilishment of specific goals for future.
then a feedback as a standard form should be taken from individuals of the team:
recognition and rewards for the desirable behavior, team efforts etc

3 :: Tell me what are the communication methods you followed within team and to client?

Within Team:
Team meeting,
Email,
One-on-One meeting,
Free talk


To Client:
Conf meeting,
IM,
Email

4 :: Tell me how you estimate your project / task end dates and then monitor them to ensure that dead lines are met?

Assign the tasks to the team members. Ask then to break the task into sub tasks so that each sub task’s completion time is round a day or two and ask him to estimate the time. Once they have estimated sit with the team members and review the task/ sub tasks time and review the time lines and make adjustments if needed. Once this is done, you can meet every morning for 10-15 minutes to track the tasks/sub tasks. Since the tasks are now granular the tracking of the tasks completion are easy. Even if you are slipping and if there are any bottle necks it is easy to track it very early so that you take appropriate action/decision.

5 :: Explain what steps must a team lead take to focus the skills of team members to higher authorities?

One of the good quality of a leader is to search the leadership qualities in his team, if he find the qualities in one of the team member then it should not be kept within himself but to exposed to other higher authorities, some of the points which he needs to taken care while explaning the qualitites to authorities. The team lead should test the memeber in all situation, all the recognization should be on paper and if the authority ask to prove his talent or give the scenario were he has explicit himself on document, that is the reason that documents are very important.

6 :: What is Self-managed team leadership?

Self-managed team leadership is different from traditional leadership and provides an alternative to traditional leader’s role. Self-managed team leaders lead without positional authority. Self-managed team leadership is moving inside one’s subordinate work group to lead. Self-managed team leadership defines a different role for the leader. The leader is not responsible for making decisions, developing action plans or giving orders. In these situations, the team is given the responsibility, authority and accountability for managing a defined area of responsibility. When the work group is given control over one or more defined areas of team responsibility, it is the leader’s role to use self-managed leadership skills and systematic processes to help the team to operate effectively and efficiently.

7 :: In your team one member is very rude how do you handle this guy?
One to one meeting has done three times, till the guy is very rude, what is your next step?

Well in such case if you have taken many one to one meetings with that rude guy to make him convince to work property.

Then next step is to talk with him as a friend and try to get the matter because of which he is behaving like this. If the you can get the problem that why hi is behaving like this then there may be a many solutions. If his reason of behaving like this is correct then you can try to resolve the issue according to him.

But the reason you get by the rude guy is not proper or correct then you can explain him the draw backs of his behaviour. If it is his tendency to behave like this then you can explain him about his future with this attitude.

And finally if he is not able to understand your language...then warn him once or two and after that just sit with him against the managing team and try to get the solution from management regarding his rude behaviour.

8 :: Explain what are the weakest qualities or attributes a team leader should avoid definitely?

The team lead must avoid these attributes of his/her personality:

He/she always have greater understanding of project they should never ask about the project plan or anything which they are supposed to know because this degrade them in eye of other Team members.

This is basic fact that all leading position doesn't matter he is project manager or team lead are very sensitive there are always other people who want to jump on those positions so be always loaded with extra knowledge, skills and discipline.

During lack of right person in team (let's say QA) the team lead should be able to work instead.

Be critical about your performance before somebody else become.

9 :: Tell me how can a team lead keep the team organized to meet deadlines or goals?

Team members have to be provided access to the bigger picture. This not only assists them in attaining their goals but is also a moral booster when they realize the overall impact of their contribution.- Periodic feedback to members allows them to gauge their progress and mitigate any issues before they go out of control- Nip it in the bud: conflict resolution skills are vital. Organize the team to ensure that sub-teams members respect each other i.e do not have personality conflicts

10 :: How you are going to be a or become a role model of you team?

You can be a role model for your team by following the 4 basic principles i.e :-

1) Responsible: Be a responsible person.If you say that you will get back to a team member on a particular topic then make sure you do it.

2) Be Calm: You might have many problems but your team is not responsible for that. So make sure you maintain your calm.

3) Honesty: No need to stress on this point. You lose your right of leadership once you lose your honesrt.

4) Be humble with everyone in the team regardless of their designation/ranks.