Interview question: Working on a report, new info comes to light which means you need to start over again. What do you do?

[Highho]

I have an interview this Thursday and I'm fairly certain i'm going to be asked this question or one very similar.

"You're working on a report and new information comes to light which means you need to start over again. What do you do?"

Please could someone check my approach below? Would I be missing anything key? Appreciate any hints & tips!

1. Understand if deadline remains or whether this can be pushed back.
2. Assess workload.
3. Confirm if the deadline is achievable & if not then I would raise the need for support (Either resource on producing the report or assistance with other demands to allow focus).

Thank you!

Just in case this is useful - I am applying for a PMO Analyst role.

I'd inform my manager first tbh with the plan to do 1 and 2.

I don’t know anything about the role but are you going to walk out the door at 5pm ( insert scheduled finish time) or are you staying late to re-do?

So in my industry it works on billable hours. The new information will mean the job costs more, and it’ll be important to work out if it’s the client’s fault (charge them more) or ours or no ones, but to think about costs and potentially agree overruns.
So as interviewer I’d be looking for you to make that point about internal costing. HTH

Wouldn't you also be looking at the immediate implications of this new information and acting upon on that as well?

I'm not really 100% on what the job details are, but if you can see straight away that, for example, the windows are stuck on a container ship wedged sideways in the Suez and the last set of brassmanglebadgerfadgets needed to hold the entire west wing up are down the back of a sofa on the Calais side of the Channel, you don't need to ask for extra time to complete the entire report before telling the boss.

And if it links into other duties, such as staffing, you'd need to be alert to the actions you might need to take there, such as delaying deployment of 22 brassmanglebadgerfadgetwranglers on site 5am Monday morning?

Essentially, people need to know if there's a clusterfuck coming or just a small update to the report that means you need to print it out again.

I'm thinking that you aren't just there to passively report information, you're there to enable the PMO/senior team to do their jobs?

I'd suggest incorporating the angle of seeing what information/legwork can be salvaged if any for the new work stream. Also whether any lessons learned could save time going forward

I was also about to say see what (if anything) can be salvaged too

Agree with all the above, plus is it possible to rescope the work if the deadline can't be moved? I.e produce a cut back version or slide deck with the detail to follow...

@NeverDropYourMooncup you don’t work in construction management do you?

That sounds like a description of my actual job

Except last time we found out that the brassmanglebadgerfadgets weren’t down the sofa after all, but on a flatbed on their way to a site somewhere else entirely.

Agree with fudge sundae. I'd do a quick check to see how many additional hours are required and whether a variation to cost and programme can be raised.

Also if there is a hard deadline and no additional available budget I'd discuss internally and externally to see whether the new info can be acknowledged but excluded on the basis that you had started before it was released.

[quote Belkell]@NeverDropYourMooncup you don’t work in construction management do you?

That sounds like a description of my actual job

Except last time we found out that the brassmanglebadgerfadgets weren’t down the sofa after all, but on a flatbed on their way to a site somewhere else entirely.[/quote]
No, nothing to do with construction, I'm a mere desk jockey who is still astounded by the response of management to things that were drawn to their attention months ago when they eventually go tits up.

It's as though nobody ever actually sits down and thinks anything through.

I’d also add in verifying the accuracy of the new information - is it accurate or a red herring. Nothing worse than rewriting a report on bad data…

1. Is communicate upwards immediately with the initially known information - what the change is, known timeline impact or estimate range, first guess of next actions for manager to review and decide on, timing for you having more detailed analysis/information.

2 ++ Do the analysis - impact of change, describe the options (cut and run, modify, full redo, and the associates costs in people and time, plus notes on follow on impacts if it’s one component in a larger project. This is what will go to management / client for decisions.

1. Review with the relevant stakeholders for decisions