What happens when a team member takes a sick leave when your project has an upcoming deadline?

This question is designed to understand your team management skills and your adaptability to unexpected challenges. The interviewer wants to know how you would handle a situation where a team member cannot contribute due to sudden sickness, especially under the pressure of an approaching deadline. To answer this question effectively:

• Discuss how you prioritize tasks and reroute them when needed.
• Emphasize your ability to adapt and problem-solve on the go.
• Demonstrate leadership skills by caring for the wellbeing of your teammate while ensuring the project's completion.
• Show how you communicate with the team to keep everyone on the same page during such incidents.

In the past, when a team member has been sick before a major deadline, I acted quickly to evaluate the impact on our project. I conducted a quick meeting outlining the situation and discussing how we can reallocate tasks among the remaining team members. It required everyone to put in a little extra effort, but the team was understanding and willing. We were able to meet our deadline and ensure the person who was sick did not feel guilty or stressed while recovering.

If a team member were to fall sick near a project deadline, I would first ensure that the team member can focus on getting better without worrying about work. Following this, I would review their pending tasks and redistribute them based on the team's capacity and individual expertise. If required, I would be willing to take on additional tasks myself to ensure we don't miss our deadline. This is actually something I had to do on one project, and it turned out successfully since I believe in transparent communication and making teamwork truly count when facing unexpected hurdles.