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TOP-15 Strategic Agility Interview Questions & Answers

TOP-15 Strategic Agility Interview Questions & Answers

The business environment and market are changing constantly. Businesses that don’t find ways to adjust and adapt often end up winding up their operations. The job of an agility strategist is to make sure that does not happen.

An agility strategist needs to prove that they can do that job, regardless of the business size or scope. With that in mind, here are some of the TOP-15 strategic agility interview questions and answers.

1. Share a scenario where you anticipated a political problem and successfully solved it.

We once had to hire an employee to oversee the launch of a new product. I knew this would create a feeling of discontent among our employees, who felt they deserved a promotion. To mitigate the political storm, we invited them to send their application and then did an open interview.

It was easy to prove that they weren’t the right candidate because they couldn’t satisfactorily demonstrate that they had the necessary experience to launch our product.

2. Tell us about a time that you demonstrated your skills in building effective networks and relationships, within and outside your organization.

One of our customers had to launch a factory in one of the countries where we have a correspondent bank. However, they were facing licensing challenges because of limited funding. I was able to talk to one of our local correspondent bank’s CEO, about giving the client a loan.

I managed to convince them to extend a loan to the client, and take them up as a new client. I did that with help of our CEO, and the client’s banking statements with us. That client is now among the best customers of our correspondent bank.

3. Share a situation where you demonstrated your ability to maneuver through a difficult political situation.

I once had to work with two colleagues who didn’t get along. It appeared like the project wasn’t going to be a success if the two failed to put their differences aside. So I called a project planning meeting where the agenda was on how the three of us could contribute individually.

The outcome was great, as we came up with ways we could leverage our strengths to make the project a huge success. And we did it on time and budget.

4. Have you ever anticipated, planned for, and mitigated a complex political situation?

One of my junior employees once decided to confide in me. They felt their supervisor was being unreasonable in the way they allocated them project tasks. However, they wanted me to talk to the supervisor about it, without mentioning names.

I knew that would create a trend, so I called the two of them to a board meeting. I then mentioned what the employee had told me, and explained how we allocate the tasks in our department. That helped to clear any misinformation that could have developed out of that situation.

5. Tell us about a time you made a business mistake and the steps you took to rectify it.

I was given a discount on a new product, hoping that customers would order in bulk, and we would still turn a profit. That didn’t happen, and we had to update our terms for the discount, such that only bulk orders would qualify for that discount.

It worked out well, as the customers who had ordered with the initial offer liked the product enough to order again. And they left us positive reviews.

6. What unpopular decision have you ever made to solve a business problem?

I once had to let go of most of our IT team, after we decided to outsource their tasks to independent contractors and switched to using the cloud infrastructure. We had to do this to streamline and automate our business, and we explained as much to them.

We gave them a 3 months salary as a termination bonus. That decision now saves us thousands of dollars annually, and we no longer have to worry about IT infrastructure upgrades.

7. Have you ever conflicted with a peer? If yes, how did you handle it?

I was working on a project with a colleague, but the client didn’t like what we submitted. The colleague blamed me for the failure, although it was his idea to execute the idea the way we did. I decided to avoid the blame game and instead focused on what we could do to meet the client’s expectations.

That got us collaborating again, and this time we ended up with a solution that we both believed met the client’s needs. We presented it to the client, and they were happy with it. Ultimately, that got us working together again as a team and a good review from the client.

8. Tell us about a time you anticipated a competitor would come up with a competing product, and how you planned and executed your response.

I was working with a small beverage company that made soft drinks. I noticed that the market was quickly embracing bottled water. I expected our competitors to release their own bottled water brands.

So, I quickly planned for the launch of our brand and leveraged our distribution network to get it to the consumers. And to make sure that we had a head start, we sold our bottled water to local restaurants at huge discounts for six months, in exchange for a prominent display.

9. Have you ever dealt with new legislation that threatened to disrupt your business flow?

I was working for a company that manufactured plastic bags used for packaging groceries. The government decided to ban them, in favor of biodegradable bags. Our only option was to quickly switch to making the biodegradable bags and resupply our vendors, at zero cost to them.

We did it and managed to stay afloat, while many of our competitors had to close their businesses.

10. Tell us about a time you had to plan for and launch a new product to remain competitive.

I was working for a brick-and-mortar casino when I started to notice that online gambling and betting were becoming quite popular. I talked to the CEO about launching an online casino, but using our brand name to gain the trust of our existing customers.

He liked the idea, and before long, our online revenue surpassed that of the brick-and-mortar casino. Moreover, the ROI from the online casino was much higher, and the costs of running it were minimal compared to the brick-and-mortar casino.

11. Give an example of a situation when you were responsible for a software project

Some project work may necessarily entail the active participation of third-party providers or vendors. The group would have already decided on what to acquire and would have established technical specifications for the purchasing product or service during preparation.

Yet, in my old position as a procurement consultant, I helped orchestrate a software project designed to enhance our firm’s inventory tracking system. The company aimed to reduce expenses by streamlining how we handled our stockpile. To accomplish this, I partnered with my group to create a clear plan for implementing different advanced technologies into our current systems. We also developed a timeframe for accomplishing each stage of the project.

12. Are you knowledgeable about artificial intelligence and machine learning?

I am comfortable with both artificial intelligence and machine learning. In my prior job, I collected data from our supply chain tracking software by utilizing machine learning algorithms. This allowed me to recognize sectors where we could significantly raise productivity and reduce expenses. It also presented us with a greater understanding of our client’s requirements, letting us produce products more efficiently.

13. Give an example of the latest action you took that resulted in a beneficial result

When I began my present position as director of the supply chain at Xyz Company, I realized that we were spending too much money on the delivery of goods from our storage facilities to our major retailers. To resolve this concern, I put together a plan to integrate all of our stockpiles into a separate storage facility from which we could transport them immediately to each site. This ended up saving us a lot of money in freight costs each month. Before we begin implementation, we must discuss our necessary information with vendors. We must demand a reply, suggestion, and citations from them.

14. What exactly is the “Planning Poker” methodology?

Planning Poker, also recognized as Scrum Poker, is a prevailing opinion methodology that not only helps teamwork in assessing the effort it takes to accomplish each action on their deliverable, but it also helps to identify problems before they occur and within the purview of a requirement specification. It reduces the session, makes it more efficient, and creates forecasts with the involvement of the current roster. It is primarily used to eliminate the impact of other people involved and to compel each person to think completely separately as well as provide their viewpoint.

15. As part of any smart business or company’s strategic plan, how should you go about recognizing coalition partners?

Applicant should be capable of adapting, capable of making independent judgments, and preserving positive working relationships with colleagues. For instance, when organizations with shared tastes form a strong partnership, they are much more likely to achieve success. Allies can be supportive staffers as well. A decent fit should be accustomed to these suggestions. A compassionate senior functionary in the appropriate organization who comprehends your proposal can also be extremely helpful. Discovering and fostering such an individual illustrates entrepreneurial spirit. Following the guidelines and procedures makes sure that the group creates quality output without any weaknesses.