That’s a typical question for project manager or project lead. It does not ask you the experience, so you can talk the talk. All you need to understand is the project lifecycle.
“First I would get to know all parties involved in the projects, – learn who is the stakeholder? who is the customer? who is the executive sponsor? and who is the key player? Then I would do a lot of interview with these key players to find out what do they want from this project and what are their expectations. The next step would be to work with users to collect business rules and create requirement documentations. I would also analyze the scope of the project available resources. Based on the requirement analysis I would start to create architecture and high level design. Following that would be detailed design and development, and go on through the development lifecycle. Basically that’s how I would start a new project.”
This is an open question. My answer would focus on management, people, and technology.
“To me the first critical factor is the management support. Without a strong executive sponsorship, a project could not start and go on. I would make sure the management team understand the scope and purpose of the project, and have reasonable expectations. During the project I would communicate with the management effectively and keep them updated. The second factor is the team building. I would build a strong team with different skills and experience that could handle different tasks in each phase of the development. The third factor is the technology. We need to do a lot of research and analysis to select the right technology suitable for the project. Depending on the type of project, we may need to evaluate development tools, middle tier software, database servers, and hardware. There are many factors to consider. Let me know if you want me to go in details on this topic.”
This question is often asked to project manager candidates in order for interviewers to learn how a candidate can use project management tools effectively in project management process. If you have little idea for this question, here is a suggested answer. (more…)