Can you share an example from your past work where you identified a problem and crafted an innovative solution? How did you approach it?

This question is asking you to provide a concrete example from your past work experiences where you displayed problem-solving and innovative thinking skills. The purpose is to gauge your critical thinking abilities, your initiative and creativity, and your ability to effect positive changes in a professional setting. The interviewer wants to know whether you can not only identify problems but also devise and implement solutions. When answering, consider the following points:

• Define the problem you identified clearly.
• Describe the innovative solution you developed, and why it was innovative.
• Discuss the process you went through to implement the solution.
• Share the results or impact of your solution.

In my previous role as a project manager at XYZ Tech, I identified a recurring problem of meeting deadlines for our projects. The issue was rooted in communication gaps and inefficient workflow among team members. To address this, I developed an innovative solution of creating a project management dashboard, leveraging a tool like Trello that everyone could access. This platform allowed all team members to update their progress in real-time, helping us to identify bottlenecks early and act on them promptly. This drastically improved our workflow and communication, and as a result, we saw a 30% improvement in our project completion rates within the first quarter of implementing this solution.

As a software developer at ABC Company, I noticed that our quality assurance process was resource-intensive and time-consuming due to manual testing. Recognizing this problem, I proposed an innovative solution to automate part of the testing process. I researched, selected, and implemented a test automation tool that was appropriate for our needs. I also worked diligently with the team to ensure they were trained and comfortable with the new system. As a result, we were able to reduce the QA process time by 50%, and it also increased our testing accuracy, freeing up the time of our developers for more critical tasks. This significantly boosted our overall productivity and delivered higher quality software.