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People management

7 questions for team leads, managers and directors. The italic line under each one is what it is actually testing.

  1. How many people reported to them, and for how long?Establish the actual span before anything else.
  2. Did anyone leave their team? What did those people say on the way out?Regretted attrition is the single most useful management signal available.
  3. Who did they promote or develop? Where are those people now?Good managers leave a trail of people who outgrew them.
  4. Describe how they handled someone who was underperforming.Listen for whether it was addressed early and directly, or avoided until it exploded.
  5. How did they deliver news they disagreed with?Managers who blame 'the company' to their team corrode trust quietly.
  6. What did their team do differently after they arrived?Separates a caretaker from someone who actually changed the operating rhythm.
  7. Would you have them manage a team of yours again?The straight version of the question everyone dances around.
Before you dial. Ask the candidate for the reference and tell them you intend to call. Confirm the reference's relationship to the work. Nothing here asks about protected characteristics, and you should not go there if a reference volunteers it — steer back to the work and do not write it down.

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