CSJT Delivering Results at Pace 2 β Questions and Answers
Question 1: You are midway through a high-priority project when your supervisor reassigns a key team member to another department. What is the best immediate action?
- Reassess the project timeline and resource needs, then inform your supervisor of any impact (Correct answer)
- Continue working as before and hope the remaining team can absorb the workload
- Complain to HR about the reassignment affecting your project
- Ask the reassigned colleague to work on both projects simultaneously
Correct answer: Reassess the project timeline and resource needs, then inform your supervisor of any impact
Promptly reassessing impact and communicating it up the chain allows leadership to make informed decisions about resources or deadlines.
Question 2: Your team consistently meets daily task targets but the overall project is falling behind schedule. What does this most likely indicate?
- Daily targets are set too low relative to the project's actual requirements (Correct answer)
- Individual team members are underperforming on their assigned tasks
- The project manager is not monitoring progress closely enough
- External stakeholders are adding unnecessary complexity to the project
Correct answer: Daily targets are set too low relative to the project's actual requirements
If daily targets are met but the project slips, the targets themselves are insufficient to achieve the broader deliverable on time.
Question 3: A colleague who handles a critical handoff in your workflow calls in sick. You have a delivery deadline in four hours. What should you do first?
- Identify who can temporarily cover the handoff and contact your manager immediately (Correct answer)
- Wait to see if the colleague recovers and returns before end of day
- Miss the deadline and document the reason as the colleague's absence
- Complete the handoff yourself without informing anyone
Correct answer: Identify who can temporarily cover the handoff and contact your manager immediately
Finding immediate coverage and alerting your manager gives the team the best chance of meeting the deadline.
Question 4: You receive two urgent tasks from different supervisors, both with the same deadline. How should you handle this?
- Inform both supervisors of the conflict and ask them to agree on a priority order (Correct answer)
- Work on the task from the more senior supervisor and ignore the other
- Split your time equally between both tasks without telling either supervisor
- Decline both tasks and ask to be given one at a time in the future
Correct answer: Inform both supervisors of the conflict and ask them to agree on a priority order
Escalating conflicts in workload to the relevant supervisors ensures priority is set by those with full context.
Question 5: During a project sprint, you realize a task you completed earlier contains an error that will affect downstream work. What is the best course of action?
- Correct the error immediately and notify the team members affected by it (Correct answer)
- Wait until the sprint ends before fixing it to avoid disrupting the current pace
- Fix it quietly without mentioning it to avoid looking incompetent
- Leave it for the QA stage to catch and correct
Correct answer: Correct the error immediately and notify the team members affected by it
Immediate correction and notification prevent compounding errors and give the team time to adjust their work.
Question 6: Your manager asks for a status update on a project that is behind schedule. What is the most effective response?
- Provide an honest assessment of the delay, the root cause, and your revised plan to recover (Correct answer)
- Report that everything is on track to avoid worrying your manager
- Ask your manager why they need the update before giving any information
- Send a detailed report of all work completed without addressing the schedule gap
Correct answer: Provide an honest assessment of the delay, the root cause, and your revised plan to recover
Honest, solution-focused status updates allow management to support you and make informed decisions.
Question 7: You are assigned a new task but realize you lack the skills or tools needed to complete it on time. What should you do?
- Flag the gap to your manager as early as possible and propose solutions such as training or support (Correct answer)
- Attempt the task regardless and submit whatever you can produce by the deadline
- Decline the task without explanation
- Ask a colleague to complete it for you without informing your manager
Correct answer: Flag the gap to your manager as early as possible and propose solutions such as training or support
Early identification of a capability or resource gap allows timely corrective action and preserves delivery quality.
You are midway through a high-priority project when your supervisor reassigns a key team member to another department.
What is the best immediate action?