What do you do when priorities change quickly interview question

Q: How do you deal with changing priorities interview question?

Explain how you shift between priorities Example: My daily task list helps me manage a steady workflow, but I understand that priorities can shift unexpectedly. Knowing this, I try to limit the number of daily tasks and save time in the event that I need to make adjustments for any changes to my daily workload.

situation: Every day I create a to-do list that helps me prioritize the day's activities. One particular day I was going to make follow-up calls to generate new clients. Right after the day started, I received a call from a client who said that their system was down. A technician was on his way to fix the problem, but since I was the one who sold her the equipment a week earlier, she wanted me on-site as well.

Table of Contents Show

Question 30. Describe the culture of your organization and provide an example of how you work within this culture to achieve a goal.
Question 31. Give an example of a time when your patience was tested. How did you handle it?
Question 32. Describe a time when you were on the verge of completing a task and were asked to abandon the project for another project.
What Does “Conflicting Priorities” Mean?
Examples of Conflicting Priorities at Work
Common Interview Questions Regarding Prioritizing
How Do You Prioritize Your Work? Example Interview Answers
Example Answer 1:
Example Answer 2:
Example Answer 3:
Example Answer 4:
Tell Me a Time When You Had to Manage Conflicting Priorities: Examples
Example Answer 1:
Example Answer 2:
Tailor Your Answer to the Company When Possible
Mistakes to Avoid
How do you deal with changing priorities interview question?
How do you respond when priorities change at work?
What is an example of a time you had to adapt quickly to a change?
What would you do if the priorities on a project you were working on change suddenly?

action: To maintain goodwill, I put aside my to-do list and served as the liaison between the client and the technician.

result: Later on that day, I received a call from the client's manager. He personally thanked me for taking the time to ensure that the system was up and running. When the company was ready to upgrade, I received the call to make that sale.

Question 30. Describe the culture of your organization and provide an example of how you work within this culture to achieve a goal.

situation: In the organizational culture of the company I work for, employees are often required to work after normal hours. For example, as the organization partners with community businesses and participates in outreach events, I am required to attend those events in the evenings and on weekends.

action: To strike a balance between my personal and professional life, I negotiated flex time whereby I could take late and extended lunches so I could attend my daughter's soccer games.

result: The arrangement worked well because I was able to support my daughter and also meet the demands of the department and community-involvement initiatives.

Question 31. Give an example of a time when your patience was tested. How did you handle it?

Obstacle: When I worked for the Citizenship Enterprise, the media department had an affinity for meetings. We had two meetings per week, and most were unproductive because the head manager resisted planning in advance. His thought was that unstructured meetings led to greater creativity, and although his philosophy had merit, unfortunately in practice this hardly ever worked in his favor.

action: In an effort to increase productivity, I started to e-mail him the talking points I wanted to broach during the meeting, and I asked for his input on these. After a few weeks, he began to request that all team members e-mail him their agendas for the meetings.

result: As a result, the meetings were structured, and we were able to get more done in less time; regular meetings were reduced to two per month, as well.

Question 32. Describe a time when you were on the verge of completing a task and were asked to abandon the project for another project.

situation: This is a common occurrence in the conference-catering business. There are a lot of activities to manage, from preparing standardized recipes to communicating with the general manager. One particular time, the kitchen equipment at Nickel and Wood Country Club failed one hour before guests were set to arrive. I was in the meeting hall supervising the layout of the room when I received notice of the breakdown.

action: Since I could not be in two places at the same time, I walked my assistant through the arrangement requirements and asked her to monitor the execution of the plans while I went to find a technician to come fix the equipment on short notice.

result: I made several phone calls and requested a favor to get a qualified technician onsite, who agreed to keep the cost down while completing the work quickly. By the time the guests arrived, everything was in place and no one had a clue of the mishap that had occurred right before their arrival.

Most jobs require you to manage multiple tasks, and you’re going to face competing priorities.

So employers ask interview questions like “How do you prioritize your work?” or “Tell me about a time when you had conflicting priorities at work.”

And if you can’t show the employer that you’ve got a proven system for time management and task management, they’re going to be worried.

(Which could cost you the job offer.)

Coming up, I’ll show you how to answer interview questions about conflicting priorities so you can impress the interviewer and land the job.

What Does “Conflicting Priorities” Mean?

Conflicting priorities are objectives competing for your time and attention that cannot all be done at once. When faced with conflicting priorities, you’re forced to manage your time and rank those tasks in order of importance, addressing some before others.

Employers will often ask an interview question about competing priorities to make sure you’ll be able to handle the most important tasks they assign you and complete projects within their deadlines.

To properly handle conflicting priorities, you’ll need time management skills, communication skills (if working as part of a team), the ability to stay calm while working under stress, and problem solving ability.

Examples of Conflicting Priorities at Work

Your direct manager told you that Task A needs to be done immediately, but a Department Head, who works above your boss, pulled you aside and asked if you could help them with Task B.
You’ve been given two urgent projects and told both are a top priority but only have time to handle one before the end of the day.
A team member quit, you’ve been given their workload in addition to yours at the last minute, and you won’t be able to finish your most critical project while managing their workload.
Your manager assigned you an urgent task, but before you’ve finished, asked you to support a different project that’s critical and needs more attention.

Common Interview Questions Regarding Prioritizing

The most common interview questions regarding prioritizing your work are:

How do you prioritize your work?
How do you manage your time and prioritize tasks?
How do you handle multiple tasks and priorities?
Tell me about a time you had to manage conflicting priorities at work

With interview questions 1, 2, and 3, you can answer in the same way, since they’re focused on your general approach to prioritizing tasks throughout your day.

Question 4 is a behavioral interview question. To answer this question, you’ll need to describe a specific time you had conflicting priorities.

But the general idea for what to say to an employer is the same for all four questions:

The best way to answer any question about how you manage conflicting priorities or many tasks/deadlines is to show you stay calm and logical, and most importantly — have a system.

If you can show employers you’ve faced competing priorities in the past and have a method for handling them, by giving an example or describing your system, you’ll satisfy the interviewer.

Below, I’ll share examples of how you’d answer interview questions about prioritizing your work.

How Do You Prioritize Your Work? Example Interview Answers

Example Answer 1:

I like to prioritize my work by keeping an Excel spreadsheet of my projects and their deadlines so I can see everything at a glance. Then, I sort and adjust the spreadsheet to prioritize my work based on the importance of a project, how long it’ll take, how urgent it is, and whether I’ll need input from other team members to complete the work. I review this sheet each morning. In my current role, I usually have six to eight projects. I’ve found that by communicating clearly with my team and manager at multiple points throughout each project and then tracking everything in Excel, I’m able to manage all of my tasks and hit each deadline, even if we hit some unexpected challenges or delays. I’ve found that communication is key in all of this, too.

Example Answer 2:

Working in retail customer service, it’s not always possible to handle everything urgent at once, so it’s important to know what the greatest priority is. For example, if a customer drops and breaks a glass jar in the aisle, cleaning that up is urgent because it’s a safety hazard. I’ve taken it upon myself to study and learn what’s most urgent in the job and if I’m not sure, I use my best judgment and then ask my manager after the fact if I acted correctly. Through this, I’m always learning and improving, and this helps me know the right priority to follow next time I’m faced with a similar situation.

Example Answer 3:

Each week, I look at my workload and projects and set a daily schedule to help me prioritize. Usually, I’ll estimate how long a project will take and give it a ranking in terms of how urgent it is based on that. Having a clear priority each day allows me to better manage my workload and juggle multiple tasks without missing deadlines. When necessary, I can prioritize within a day, to ensure that I’m tackling the most important jobs first thing in the morning.

Example Answer 4:

I’ve had to juggle multiple deadlines and projects in my two most recent jobs, so I developed a system that works well for me. I use a calendar and alert system to track my priority list so I can see what’s the most time-sensitive and urgent among my tasks. I also break each project into steps to see which pieces of the work are most urgent or require the most time. That way, I can set a priority each day for larger jobs or projects, which allows me to hit deadlines even on long, complex tasks. Some of the projects I’ve managed in my current role have lasted multiple months and involved 10-20 team members, for example.

Tell Me a Time When You Had to Manage Conflicting Priorities: Examples

Example Answer 1:

In my senior year of college, I had three professors assign large, multi-week projects that were all due the same week. I knew this would be a crippling workload if I saved it for the last minute or didn’t prioritize and plan ahead, so I sat down, broke each project down into smaller tasks and estimated how long each smaller task would take. This showed me which tasks to tackle soonest, and I was able to use this system to get everything turned in on time. It worked, and I finished my senior year with a GPA of 3.8.

Example Answer 2:

As a software developer, I’m typically working on two to three projects at a time, with varying importance and urgency. Each has a different project manager, too, so I’m often given conflicting tasks that are time-sensitive and important. For example, I was recently told by my manager to stop what I was doing and help out on an urgent task for the rest of my workday. He didn’t know that I had been pulled aside to work on another urgent project already, though, by a project manager in another group. So I simply said, “I’m happy to do that, but are you aware that I’ve been pulled in to work on <project name> by <project manager’s name>?” It turns out that my boss didn’t realize this, so this is an example of where clear communication and my ability to stay calm under pressure allowed me to determine the right priority and complete the most urgent tasks first.

Tailor Your Answer to the Company When Possible

Employers ask questions about prioritization because they want to see if you’d be able to prioritize effectively in their position.

In most cases, you’ll have a variety of examples you can share for times you had to manage competing priorities.

But you’ll impress the interviewer most if you can focus on examples and answers that are similar to the work you’d be doing in the job you’re discussing.

For example, imagine your last job was a mix of analytical skills and spreadsheet work, but also interpersonal interaction and teamwork.

If this next job you’ve applied to is almost entirely teamwork-oriented and will have you interacting with clients/customers, then you’ll want to share examples of how you managed conflicting priorities when working with clients/customers.

Showing you’ve been able to prioritize tasks in situations similar to the job you’re discussing will show the interviewer you’re a good fit for their company.

However, if you’re now applying to positions involving more analytical work and solo work in spreadsheets and other tools, you’ll want to discuss how you manage individual work effectively instead.

So look at the job descriptions for positions you’re targeting and notice what important tasks they mention.

Then think back to your past work and create a few examples that involve similar tasks and challenges where you used organization and time management to stay ahead and prioritize.

That will give you better results in your job search.

If you’re able to talk about a time you went above and beyond what’s expected of you, that’s also great because it’s a soft skill that transfers into any new job.

Mistakes to Avoid

There are a couple of mistakes you should avoid when telling the interviewer how you prioritize work.

First, I recommend you avoid saying anything that will make it sound like you struggle to manage time or tasks.

So your answer should highlight situations where anyone would have been overwhelmed or would have had to juggle multiple tasks.

But if you sound like someone who is always falling behind or feeling overwhelmed at work, then that could cost you job offers.

One more mistake: I recommend leaving personal stories out of your answer.

It’s tempting to talk about work-life balance, and how you prioritize your work when also juggling raising children or any number of other personal and family obligations.

However, your answer will be a lot simpler and less concerning to a potential employer if you focus on talking about how you approach each task at work.

Talk about how you prioritize your work against the other tasks you’ve been assigned so you can hit deadlines.

While that answer method is a bit dry/boring, it’ll avoid saying anything that’s a potential red flag to an employer, and that’s what you need to do when asked this question.

It’s not a question where you need to wow the interviewer. Instead, you’re looking to reassure them that you have a method for prioritization and can handle every task they give you.

Conclusion

For any type of job, employers want to know that you can prioritize work based on what’s urgent and create a workflow to stay focused on what’s needed.

They also like to hear that you communicate with your team and management as a part of prioritizing when necessary.

If you deliver an interview answer that sounds like the sample answers above, you’ll show employers you’re capable of being productive in their environment and of recognizing what’s urgent and important.

To wrap up, go create a few answers based on your own career experiences, especially those that will fit with the jobs you’re interviewing for.

By practicing ahead of time, you’ll feel more confident and be ready to answer interview questions about how you prioritize work.

Related interview questions:

How would you describe your work style?
How do you handle conflict?
Are you a leader or a follower?

How do you deal with changing priorities interview question?

Explain how you shift between priorities Example: "My daily task list helps me manage a steady workflow, but I understand that priorities can shift unexpectedly. Knowing this, I try to limit the number of daily tasks and save time in the event that I need to make adjustments for any changes to my daily workload."

How do you respond when priorities change at work?

5 ways to effectively manage shifting priorities.

Don't take it personally..

Maintain focus..

Communicate clearly with senior management..

Find the right project resource management software..

Track the progress of projects closely..

What is an example of a time you had to adapt quickly to a change?

I find I adapt readily to changes—for example, I was working a busy dinner shift when a large party unexpectedly arrived. Although our dining room appeared full, I thought quickly and reconfigured the dining room to accommodate the additional guests. As a result, we had our highest night of sales that year.

What would you do if the priorities on a project you were working on change suddenly?

What would you do if the priorities on a project you were working on changed suddenly? Sample excellent response: I would notify everyone working on the project of the changes. I would then want to know why the priorities have changed, and if there is risk of them changing again in the future.