50 decision-making questions for interviews, reviews and teams

“Are you a good decision maker?” Everyone says yes. The question tells you nothing, and yet it is still asked.

Better decision-making questions ask about a particular decision: what the person knew, what they considered, whom they asked, what they chose and what happened. This article gives you 50 of them, for interviews, performance reviews, team retrospectives and surveys, along with what to listen for and how to score answers fairly. All 50 were written by our editorial team, and you are free to use and adapt them.

Decision making is a behaviour that you can discuss all year, as well as at interview. See how New Dynamics performance reviews bring goals, feedback and development into one fair discussion.

What good decision making looks like

You cannot ask good questions about a skill until you have said what the skill is. The UK Civil Service does this well. Its Success Profiles behaviours define “making effective decisions” in two sentences: “Use evidence and knowledge to support accurate, expert decisions and advice. Carefully consider alternative options, implications and risks of decisions.”

The same document gives examples at each grade. At the most junior grades, people “use guidance, analyse relevant information and ask colleagues for input”. One grade up, they “explain how decisions have been reached in a clear and concise way”. At the middle grades, they “invite challenge and where appropriate involve others in decision making”. At Grades 6 and 7, they “ensure decision making happens at the right level”, and “make decisions confidently even when details are unclear or if they prove to be unpopular”.

Drawing on those examples, five signs are worth looking for.

1. Uses evidence. Finds the relevant information, and notices errors and gaps in it.
2. Weighs options and risks. Considers more than one course of action, and what each would cost.
3. Involves the right people. Asks for advice, invites challenge and thinks about those who will be affected.
4. Decides in time, at the right level. Does not rush, stall or push every decision upwards.
5. Explains the decision. Says clearly what was decided and why, and owns the result.

Two kinds of interview question

The US Office of Personnel Management describes the structured interview as a method that measures job-related competencies “by systematically inquiring about their behavior in past experiences and/or their proposed behavior in hypothetical situations”.

That gives you two kinds of question.

• Behavioural questions ask about the past. “Tell me about a time when…” They suit candidates who have relevant experience.
• Situational questions ask about a likely future. “What would you do if…” They suit candidates who are early in their careers, or who are moving into a new kind of role.

Behavioural interview questions about decision making

1. Tell me about a difficult decision that you made at work in the past year. How did you reach it?
2. Describe a decision that you had to make without all the information you wanted. What did you do?
3. Tell me about a time when you had to choose between two good options. How did you choose?
4. Describe a decision that you made quickly under pressure. Looking back, what would you keep, and what would you change?
5. Tell me about a decision of yours that turned out to be wrong. How did you find out, and what did you do next?
6. Give me an example of a time when you changed your mind after hearing someone else's view.
7. Tell me about a decision that was unpopular. How did you explain it?
8. Describe a time when you used data to make a decision. Where did the data come from, and how far did you trust it?
9. Tell me about a decision that you chose not to make yourself, and passed to someone else. Why?
10. Describe a time when you spotted a risk that others had missed. What did you do about it?

Follow-up questions do much of the work. Keep three ready: “What other options did you consider?”, “Whom did you involve?” and “What would you do differently?”

Situational interview questions about decision making

11. You have two urgent requests from two senior people, and time for one. How do you decide?
12. A customer needs an answer today, and the colleague who would normally decide is away. What do you do?
13. You are halfway through a piece of work and you learn something which suggests that the plan is wrong. What are your next steps?
14. Your team is evenly split on which of two approaches to take. How do you move forward?
15. You have been asked for a recommendation by Friday, but the key figures will not arrive until Monday. What do you do?
16. You realise that a decision you made last week is causing a problem for another team. What now?

Make the scenarios true to the job. A question built on a real situation from your organisation tells you more than a puzzle does.

Questions for managers and leaders

17. Tell me about a decision that affected people's jobs or workloads. How did you consider those affected?
18. How do you decide which decisions to make yourself and which to leave to your team? Give me an example of each.
19. Describe a time when you overruled your team. What happened afterwards?
20. Tell me about a time when you encouraged someone to challenge your thinking. What did you learn?
21. Describe a decision on which you had to balance cost, quality and speed. What gave way?
22. Tell me about a decision that you delayed on purpose. Why did you wait, and was it right to?
23. How do you make sure that a decision, once made, is carried out? Give me an example.
24. Tell me about a time when you reversed a decision. How did you tell the people concerned?

For more questions on the wider role, see our manager interview questions.

What to listen for in an answer

Whether the question is behavioural or situational, listen for five things.

1. Ownership. Was it their decision? Listen for “I” as well as “we”.
2. Options. Did they consider more than one?
3. Evidence. What did they look at, and did they question it?
4. People. Whom did they consult, and whom did the decision affect?
5. Learning. Do they know how it turned out, and what would they change?

Do not mark someone down because a decision went badly. Good decisions sometimes fail, and poor ones are sometimes rescued by luck. You are assessing how the decision was made.

How to score answers fairly

Acas, in its guidance on interviewing job applicants, advises that “it's a good idea to ask each applicant the same questions where possible”, and states plainly: “Questions must not discriminate.” The Office of Personnel Management makes the same points about structure: all candidates are asked the same predetermined questions in the same order, and all responses are evaluated “using the same rating scale”.

A simple scale for decision making:

Agree the scale before the first interview. Have each interviewer score alone, then compare. Acas suggests that, if possible, each interview should be carried out by more than one person. Our article on the hiring manager explains who does what in the process.

This is general information, not legal advice. Acas guidance applies in Great Britain.

Questions for performance reviews and one-to-ones

Decision making does not stop being interesting once someone is hired. These questions suit a review, or a regular one-to-one.

25. Which decision are you most pleased with this quarter, and why?
26. Which decision would you make differently now?
27. Where did you have to decide without enough information? What would have helped?
28. Which decisions do you think you should be able to make without asking me?
29. Which decisions are taking too long in our team, and what is holding them up?
30. When did you last change your mind about something at work? What changed it?
31. Whose advice do you seek before a big decision? Whose should you add?
32. What is the hardest decision ahead of you in the next three months, and how can I help?

Question 28 is the most useful of the eight. If the answer surprises you, read our article on the definition of micromanaging.

Questions for a team retrospective

Use these after a project or a significant decision. The aim is to improve the way the team decides. It is not to find someone to blame.

33. What did we decide, and when? Who made the decision?
34. What did we know at the time, and what did we assume?
35. Which options did we consider, and why did we reject them?
36. Whose view did we not hear?
37. What turned out differently from what we expected?
38. What will we do differently the next time we face a decision like this?

Survey statements about decision making

These are statements for an employee survey. Ask people to rate each one from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”.

39. I understand how decisions that affect my work are made.
40. I have the authority that I need to make decisions in my role.
41. Decisions in my team are made quickly enough.
42. When a decision affects me, I am asked for my view beforehand.
43. When leaders make a decision, they explain the reasons.
44. People here can question a decision without fear.

For more, see our culture survey questions.

Six questions to ask yourself before you decide

45. What exactly am I deciding, and by when does it need to be decided?
46. Is this my decision to make?
47. What do I know, what am I assuming, and what is missing?
48. What are the options, including doing nothing?
49. Who will be affected, and whom should I ask?
50. How will I explain this decision, and how will I know whether it worked?

Questions to avoid

“Are you decisive?” It invites a yes.

Brainteasers. How many tennis balls fit in an aeroplane tells you nothing about how a person decides at work.

Trick questions. A scenario with a hidden trap tests nerve. Few jobs require that.

Leading questions. “You would check with your manager first, wouldn't you?”

Anything that touches a protected characteristic, such as questions about family plans, age or health. They are irrelevant to decision making, and Acas is clear that interview questions must not discriminate.

For candidates: how to answer

1. Choose a real decision that was yours to make, and that mattered.
2. Set the scene briefly. What had to be decided, and by when?
3. Describe the options that you considered, the information that you used and the people whom you asked.
4. Say what you decided and why.
5. Give the result honestly, and say what you learned. An example that went imperfectly, told well, is stronger than a polished success.

Prepare three examples before the interview: a decision under pressure, a decision that went wrong, and a decision that others disagreed with. Between them, they will answer most of the questions above.

Frequently asked questions

What are good decision-making interview questions?

Good questions ask about a specific decision. Examples are “Tell me about a difficult decision that you made in the past year. How did you reach it?” and “Describe a decision that you had to make without all the information you wanted.”

How do you assess decision-making skills?

Ask every candidate the same behavioural or situational questions, and score each answer against the same scale. Listen for ownership, the options considered, the evidence used, the people involved and what the person learned.

What is a behavioural question about decision making?

A behavioural question asks about a real decision in the past, for example “Tell me about a decision of yours that turned out to be wrong.” A situational question asks what the person would do in a likely future situation.

How should I answer a question about a difficult decision?

Choose a real decision that was yours to make. Explain what had to be decided, the options that you considered, the information and people that you consulted, what you chose and why, how it turned out and what you learned.

What decision-making questions can I use in a performance review?

Try “Which decision are you most pleased with this quarter, and why?”, “Which decision would you make differently now?” and “Which decisions do you think you should be able to make without asking me?”

Should I judge a decision by its result?

Not by the result alone. Good decisions sometimes turn out badly, and poor ones are sometimes rescued by luck. Look at how the decision was made: the evidence, the options, the people involved and the timing.

Your next step: choose six questions

1. Pick four interview questions from this list that suit the role, and add two scenarios from your own organisation.
2. Agree the five-point scale with your fellow interviewers before the first interview.
3. Ask every candidate the same questions, and score alone before you compare.
4. Take question 28 to your next one-to-one.

For a full, fair hiring process, read and download our recruitment and selection guide. The guide is free to read, and the PDF uses our short download form.

Want behaviours such as decision making to be part of feedback and reviews all year? Book a New Dynamics demo and bring your current competencies. You can also email contact@new-dynamics.com.