Vital Operation Manager Interview Preparation Guide

Download PDF

Activities of operations manager:
☛ Getting Information
☛ Communicating with Supervisors
☛ Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
☛ Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others
☛ Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
☛ Making Decisions and Solving Problems

Duties and tasks of operations manager:
☛ Direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, and/or distribution of products.
☛ Manage staff, preparing work schedules and assigning specific duties.
☛ Review financial statements, sales and activity reports, and other performance data to measure productivity and goal achievement and to determine areas needing cost reduction and program improvement.
☛ Establish and implement departmental policies, goals, objectives, and procedures, conferring with board members, organization officials, and staff members as necessary.
☛ Determine staffing requirements, and interview, hire and train new employees, or oversee those personnel processes.
☛ Monitor businesses and agencies to ensure that they efficiently and effectively provide needed services while staying within budgetary limits.

Here are the skills needed to be operations manager:
☛ Active Listening
☛ Management of Personnel Resources
☛ Time Management
☛ Monitoring
☛ Judgment and Decision Making
☛ Reading Comprehension
☛ Speaking
☛ Management of Financial Resources
☛ Active Learning
☛ Persuasion
☛ Coordination
☛ Negotiation
☛ Critical Thinking
☛ Writing
☛ Instructing
☛ Management of Material Resources
☛ Learning Strategies
☛ Service Orientation
☛ Social Perceptiveness
☛ Mathematics
☛ Quality Control Analysis

Here are the abilities needed to be operations manager:
☛ Oral Expression
☛ Oral Comprehension
☛ Problem Sensitivity
☛ Written Comprehension
☛ Speech Recognition
☛ Speech Clarity
☛ Deductive Reasoning
☛ Inductive Reasoning
☛ Near Vision
☛ Written Expression
☛ Originality
☛ Fluency of Ideas
☛ Information Ordering
☛ Category Flexibility
☛ Mathematical Reasoning
☛ Flexibility of Closure
☛ Time Sharing
☛ Selective Attention

Knowledge and experience needed to be operations manager:
☛ Administration and Management
☛ Customer and Personal Service
☛ English Language
☛ Law and Government
☛ Personnel and Human Resources
☛ Sales and Marketing
☛ Mathematics
☛ Public Safety and Security
☛ Economics and Accounting
☛ Production and Processing
☛ Communications and Media
☛ Computers and Electronics
☛ Education and Training

The following are some important skills and abilities required by operations managers in handling problem employees:
☛ The strength to deal with the situation in a direct manner as soon as it is realized. Ignoring a problem is never the solution.
☛ The ability to separate personal feelings from the behaviors. There may be mutual dislike between you and the problem employee, but the focus should always remain on the employee's behavior as it relates to achieving the goals of the company.
☛ The ability to thoroughly investigate the situation and not rely on gossip and hearsay.
☛ The effort to clearly communicate and provide specific feedback to this employee on how his behavior is impacting others by providing specific examples.
☛ The desire to work to coach the employee in displaying more appropriate behaviors.
☛ The awareness of the importance of actively documenting situations in the employee's record and consulting with HR as necessary.
☛ The understanding of when termination may be appropriate and how to follow through within the law.

By analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.

By developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.

By using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

By handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.

Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.

Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

A few of the needed skills in operations management include excellent communication skills, leadership skills, problem solving ability, and quick learning/thinking. Rather than spew out key phrases that you think people want to hear, make these relevant to your experience. One example might be that you managed changes and communicated said changes to all levels of personnel using your communication skills and leadership abilities.

Operations managers are typically involved in budget planning. Their goal is to learn how much has already been spent, how much will be spent, and how to spend the remaining budget so as to acquire necessary resources within budget limits. Operations managers may be even involved in financial issues such as loans for the company.

The manager interview questions are a good guide of what to expect in manager or supervisor job interview. Preparation and confidence will stand out as the right candidate for the job.

Show how you communicate information effectively to an individual or group, adjusting your approach according to the situation. Include your ability to see the other person's perspective and establish a constructive relationship.

Describe your ability to establish objectives, set priorities, plan proper assignment of tasks, allocate resources effectively, use appropriate organizational tools and follow up on work status.

Show how you have facilitated the development of knowledge and skills, how you adjust your approach according to the individual and provide support where needed. Discuss how you are able to assess the needs of your staff, establish a plan for improvement considering available resources and the individual requirements and gain agreement to this plan.

Show how you assign tasks and responsibility to the appropriate people, how you clarify exactly what is expected, communicate confidence and ensure adequate resources are available for successful completion of the task. Include followup procedures and setting deadlines.

Show how you are able to review the relevant facts, consider alternatives and decide on the most appropriate action. Discuss how you take into consideration the available resources and any possible constraints.

During this last year in my current position, the company was experiencing a problem with absenteeism and a large project was behind schedule. I decided that rather than blindly attempting to throw solutions out there, I should first find out what the problem really was: I asked the employees why it seemed morale was low and folks were taking off more time than usual. I found out that a lot of the workers felt disconnected from the company. We had grown quite a bit in a short time and the core group that had been with us from the beginning had enjoyed a true family atmosphere during the early years.

It is not enough just to mention that you were responsible for a particular task, employers want to know that you excelled at it. It is also not enough to merely recite your relevant areas of expertise, you will want to share examples of success stories from your work experience.

The ideal answer would incorporate an example of how you have worked with a team you have managed to solve a problem.
Example:
I believe my team would say I respect their talents and provide open communication and clear direction, while also allowing them enough space to get their work done without constant check-ins. I have a vested interest in understanding what motivates each person to do his or her best work. For example, my company was working on revising a marketing campaign for a big client who was unhappy with the initial pitch meeting.

Operations managers are required to communicate effectively inside and outside the organization. They often represent companies in conferences and meetings because they are highly qualified to present the details of expansion and growth, plans and prospects, and discuss any current projects.

The operations manager's scope is broad, but he/she deals with office regulations, discipline and small scale conflicts as well.
It is often the operations manager's role to allay personal conflicts or grievances by being attentive and communicating effectively with individual employees.