B&Q Assessment Tests

B&Q Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a resourcing assistant at B&Q. A new starter due to join a manager’s team on the first of next month has told you he cannot start until the fifteenth. The manager has built his cover around the original date and has not been told. You update a tracker the manager can see, though he tends to look at it once a week. It is Monday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ring the manager today and tell him the start date has moved to the fifteenth and what that leaves uncovered, then update the tracker so that the change is on the record too.
   2. Update the tracker and send the manager a message asking him to check it when he gets a moment, so that he sees the change in the system where all the other dates live.
   3. Update the tracker with the new date and say nothing to the manager, since he checks the tracker most weeks and will see the change there soon enough.
   4. Ask the new starter whether he could manage the original date after all, and tell the manager either way before the end of the day.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Ring the manager today and tell him the start date has moved to the fifteenth and what that leaves uncovered, then update the tracker so that the change is on the record too.

   Least effective: C. Update the tracker with the new date and say nothing to the manager, since he checks the tracker most weeks and will see the change there soon enough.

   B: Sends somebody to look rather than telling them: the message competes with everything else in his inbox and the fortnight of missing cover is not mentioned in it.

   C: Withholds a change somebody is planning around: he is building cover against a date that no longer exists, and the person who knows has decided a weekly habit will do the telling.

   D: Tests a hope before passing the news on: he does hear today, and the morning he could have spent rearranging cover is gone.

   The most effective response is to ring the manager today, tell him the date has moved and what that leaves uncovered, then update the tracker and confirm in writing: he learns it from a person, he learns the part that affects him, and the record still gets made. It beats updating the tracker and asking him to look, because that leaves him to discover a fortnight of missing cover among everything else in his inbox. It beats asking the starter to reconsider before telling the manager, because the morning goes whatever the answer is. The least effective response is updating the tracker and saying nothing: he goes on building cover against a date that no longer exists, and the person who knows has decided that a weekly habit counts as telling him, which is a different kind of wrong from telling him badly or from telling him late. The principle: when a change breaks somebody’s plan, tell them directly, and let the system record it rather than deliver it.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are an availability analyst at B&Q. By four o’clock you owe the trading team a report on what will be short this weekend, and you have also promised a colleague you would rebuild her forecast template today. At two o’clock a site tells you a delivery has been turned away and two hundred cases are sitting on a vehicle with nowhere to go. Only the report has a stated deadline. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Sort the turned-away delivery first, tell the trading team the report will be twenty minutes late and why, and let your colleague know the template moves to tomorrow.
   2. Finish the report for four o'clock as promised and then deal with the vehicle, since the report is the only piece of work today that has a stated deadline attached to it.
   3. Start all three, moving between the report, the vehicle and the template so that everybody sees progress before the end of the afternoon.
   4. Hand the vehicle problem to a colleague on the supply desk without saying what has already been tried, and carry on with the report and the template.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Sort the turned-away delivery first, tell the trading team the report will be twenty minutes late and why, and let your colleague know the template moves to tomorrow.

   Least effective: D. Hand the vehicle problem to a colleague on the supply desk without saying what has already been tried, and carry on with the report and the template.

   B: Treats a stated deadline as the only claim on your time: the report is delivered on the hour and two hundred cases spend the afternoon on a vehicle that could have been redirected.

   C: Splits effort so nothing finishes: the delivery needs a decision in one go, and three part-finished jobs at five o'clock help nobody.

   D: Passes the problem on without owning it: the colleague restarts from nothing while the vehicle waits, and the person who took the call keeps the easier two jobs.

   The most effective response is to sort the turned-away delivery first and tell the trading team the report will be twenty minutes late and why: the vehicle is the only item that gets worse by the hour, twenty minutes is a cost the reader can plan around once they are told, and nothing is dropped silently. It beats finishing the four o’clock report before touching the vehicle, because a stated deadline is not the same as the most urgent thing and two hundred cases are stranded meanwhile. It beats starting all three at once, because the delivery needs one uninterrupted decision and three half-finished jobs serve nobody. The least effective response is handing the vehicle problem to the supply desk without saying what has been tried: the colleague starts from nothing, the vehicle waits longer than under any other response, and the person who owns the problem keeps the two jobs that suit them. The principle: order the work by what degrades, and where something slips, say so to the person waiting for it.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a customer experience graduate at B&Q. A customer you helped last week has been sent a fifty pound voucher as an apology, and has written back to say she does not want it and would rather it went to nobody. The voucher is active and cancelling it means a form and a wait. Nobody else knows it exists. Your team has a small budget that these come from. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Cancel the voucher through the form so the fifty pounds goes back to the team budget, and note on the case what the customer asked for.
   2. Leave the voucher active and unused, since the customer has said she does not want it and it will simply expire without anybody having to fill in a form about it.
   3. Keep the voucher for yourself, since it has already been issued, the customer does not want it, and cancelling it takes longer than the fifty pounds is worth to anybody.
   4. Offer the voucher to the colleague who handled the case before you, as she did most of the work on it and the customer has no use for it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Cancel the voucher through the form so the fifty pounds goes back to the team budget, and note on the case what the customer asked for.

   Least effective: C. Keep the voucher for yourself, since it has already been issued, the customer does not want it, and cancelling it takes longer than the fifty pounds is worth to anybody.

   B: Leaves money committed to nothing: the budget carries a fifty pound hole for the life of the voucher because a form was not worth the trouble.

   C: Takes a benefit the role forbids: the money belongs to the team budget whatever the customer decided, and the fact that nobody would notice is what makes it a decision rather than an oversight.

   D: Passes on a benefit that was never anybody's to give: it feels generous, and it disposes of company money on the strength of who deserves it.

   The most effective response is to cancel the voucher through the form so the money returns to the team budget, and note what the customer asked for: the customer’s wish is honoured, the budget is whole, and the case shows what happened. It beats leaving it active to expire, because the budget carries the commitment for months for want of a form. It beats offering it to the colleague who did the work, because that hands out company money on the basis of merit. The least effective response is keeping the voucher yourself: it is the team’s money, the customer’s refusal did not make it yours, and the fact that nobody would ever know is the part that makes it a choice rather than a slip, which is a different kind of wrong from being lazy or from being loosely generous. The principle: money that was never yours does not become yours because nobody is watching and the paperwork is tedious.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a shift supervisor at B&Q. As the afternoon handover starts, a customer comes to the desk and says she was told this morning that somebody would ring her back about an order and nobody has. The handover takes twenty minutes and the team on the earlier shift have already left. The customer has come in specially. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask her to leave her number and explain that the people who took the call this morning have gone home, so somebody will look at it and get back to her tomorrow.
   2. Assume somebody on the morning shift has already dealt with it and that the message has crossed with her visit, and carry on with the handover as planned.
   3. Stop the handover, look into the order there and then, and pick the handover up afterwards with whatever time is left before the shift changes over.
   4. Take her details and the order number and tell her you will look at it as soon as the handover ends, so that she has a time rather than another promise of a call.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Take her details and the order number and tell her you will look at it as soon as the handover ends, so that she has a time rather than another promise of a call.

   Least effective: B. Assume somebody on the morning shift has already dealt with it and that the message has crossed with her visit, and carry on with the handover as planned.

   A: Repeats the promise that has already failed her once: she came in because a call-back did not happen, and she leaves holding another one.

   B: Assumes the problem away rather than checking it: the one person she has managed to reach decides, without looking, that she has probably been helped already.

   C: Spends a fixed team commitment on one case: the handover exists so the incoming shift knows what it is walking into, and it cannot simply be shortened.

   The most effective response is to take her details, tell her you will look at it the moment the handover ends, and come back to her before she leaves: she gets a person, a time and an outcome inside the hour, and the handover the incoming shift depends on still happens. It beats asking her to leave her number for tomorrow, because a call-back is exactly the promise that has already failed her. It beats stopping the handover altogether, because the whole incoming shift plans off it. The least effective response is assuming the morning shift has already dealt with it and carrying on: nobody checks anything, and the one person she has actually reached decides on no evidence that she has probably been helped, which is a different kind of wrong from making a weak promise or from over-correcting. The principle: a customer in front of you gets a commitment you can keep, and never an assumption about what somebody else has done.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a marketing graduate at B&Q. A page that went live this morning carries a claim about delivery times that changed last month, so it is now wrong. Changes to live pages go through a release that runs each afternoon, requested by eleven o’clock. It is ten past eleven. You have the access to edit the page directly, and customers are reading it now. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Edit the live page yourself now, since you have the access, the claim is plainly wrong, and customers are reading it while a release process takes its course.
   2. Put the correction into tomorrow's release and note the page as a known issue, since the deadline for today's release has already gone by ten minutes.
   3. Ask the release team to take the page down until the correction can go through properly, so that customers see nothing rather than something untrue.
   4. Ask the release team to take the correction into this afternoon's release despite the cut-off, explain what the claim says now, and tell your manager it is live.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Ask the release team to take the correction into this afternoon's release despite the cut-off, explain what the claim says now, and tell your manager it is live.

   Least effective: A. Edit the live page yourself now, since you have the access, the claim is plainly wrong, and customers are reading it while a release process takes its course.

   A: Breaches the release process because the cause is good: an unreviewed change goes live outside the route that exists to stop unreviewed changes going live.

   B: Accepts a day of a wrong claim on a technicality: nobody has asked whether a correction ten minutes late can still make this afternoon.

   C: Removes more than the error: the whole page disappears for a day because one sentence about delivery times is out of date.

   The most effective response is to ask the release team to take the correction this afternoon despite the cut-off, explain what the claim currently says, and tell your manager: the fastest legitimate route is tried, the people who own the release decide, and the person accountable knows a wrong claim is live. It beats putting it in tomorrow’s release, because nobody has asked whether ten minutes late can still be accommodated. It beats taking the whole page down, because one sentence does not justify losing all of it. The least effective response is editing the live page yourself: an unreviewed change goes live outside the process whose entire purpose is to stop that, which is a different kind of wrong from being too accepting or from over-correcting. The principle: a good reason is exactly when a control gets tested, and the answer is to ask for an exception rather than take one.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a supply chain graduate at B&Q. In yesterday’s planning call a colleague from the site team said, sharply, that your volume numbers were “made up in a spreadsheet by somebody who has never seen a delivery”. You run that call every week and he is the person who knows what the sites can actually take. Next week’s call is on Monday and the volumes have to be agreed on it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Stop inviting him to the planning call after that exchange, and send him the agreed numbers afterwards so that he still has what he needs for the week.
   2. Raise it with his team leader before Monday, since a remark like that in front of the whole call is not something you should have to work around every week.
   3. Say nothing and carry on running the call exactly as before, on the basis that the numbers speak for themselves and the remark will be forgotten by Monday.
   4. Ask him for twenty minutes before Monday to walk through how the volumes are built and what he would change, so that Monday's numbers carry what he knows about the sites.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Ask him for twenty minutes before Monday to walk through how the volumes are built and what he would change, so that Monday's numbers carry what he knows about the sites.

   Least effective: A. Stop inviting him to the planning call after that exchange, and send him the agreed numbers afterwards so that he still has what he needs for the week.

   A: Removes a colleague from a meeting after a disagreement: the person with the best information about what sites can take is now outside the conversation that decides it.

   B: Escalates a two-person problem: the remark is dealt with by somebody else, and the working relationship the Monday call depends on gets worse rather than better.

   C: Avoids the conversation the call needs: the numbers are not the point, his confidence in them is, and nothing has changed that by Monday.

   The most effective response is to ask him for twenty minutes before Monday to walk through how the volumes are built and what he would change: the complaint contains real information about what the sites can take, the conversation is with the person who made it, and Monday’s call gets better numbers rather than a colder room. It beats raising it with his team leader, because a remark between two people becomes a matter between three and the working relationship gets worse. It beats carrying on as if nothing happened, because his lack of confidence in the numbers is the problem, not the numbers. The least effective response is dropping him from the call and sending the numbers afterwards: the person who knows most about the constraint is removed from the meeting that decides it, which is a different kind of wrong from escalating or from staying quiet. The principle: answer a challenge to your work by involving the challenger in it, never by removing them from the room.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a customer experience graduate at B&Q. Working through complaints you notice that eleven in the last month all describe the same confusing step in the returns instructions. Nobody has connected them, and each was answered individually. Changing the instructions is not your job and belongs to a team you have never worked with. Your own queue is up to date. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Write up the eleven complaints with the wording that confuses people, send it to the team who own the instructions, and ask them what they need from you to get it changed.
   2. Give the eleven cases to your team leader and leave it with her to send on to whoever owns the instructions.
   3. Answer each new complaint with a fuller explanation of the confusing step in the returns instructions, so that customers who hit it in future at least get a clear account of what to do.
   4. Add a note about the pattern to the monthly complaints summary, where the team who own the instructions will see it alongside everything else that came up.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Write up the eleven complaints with the wording that confuses people, send it to the team who own the instructions, and ask them what they need from you to get it changed.

   Least effective: B. Give the eleven cases to your team leader and leave it with her to send on to whoever owns the instructions.

   B: Passes a finding on without owning it: she receives eleven case numbers without the pattern that makes them one problem, and the person who saw the pattern has stepped away from it.

   C: Treats the symptom eleven more times: every future customer still meets the same confusing instruction and still has to complain to get past it.

   D: Buries a specific fix in a general document: the summary is read broadly and acted on rarely, and nobody is asked for anything.

   The most effective response is to write up the eleven complaints with the wording that confuses people, send it to the team who own the instructions, and ask what they need from you: the pattern reaches the people who can end it, in a form they can act on, and you stay involved rather than handing over. It beats answering future complaints more fully, because that fixes each customer and none of the cause. It beats adding a note to the monthly summary, because a specific fix disappears into a general document. The least effective response is giving the cases to your team leader and leaving it with her: she gets eleven case numbers without the pattern that makes them one problem, and the only person who saw it has stepped out, which is a different kind of wrong from treating symptoms or from filing it in the wrong place. The principle: carry a pattern you have found to the people who own the cause, with the pattern attached.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are an availability analyst at B&Q. A report you use every week double counts one type of transfer, which makes availability look better than it is. You have twice messaged the team who own the report and heard nothing. Colleagues in three areas use the same report to decide what to order. Your own workaround takes ten minutes a week and nobody else knows about it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the fault on to the reporting team a third time and take it off your own list, since the report belongs to them and you have now told them twice.
   2. Write up your workaround and share it with the three areas, so that everybody can correct the number for themselves until the report is fixed.
   3. Tell the three areas what the fault does to the number, and take it to the reporting team's manager with the two unanswered messages, since nothing else has moved them.
   4. Keep applying your own correction and wait for the reporting team to reply, since chasing a third time and going over their heads would both be premature.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell the three areas what the fault does to the number, and take it to the reporting team's manager with the two unanswered messages, since nothing else has moved them.

   Least effective: A. Send the fault on to the reporting team a third time and take it off your own list, since the report belongs to them and you have now told them twice.

   A: Passes it on and stops caring: two messages have already vanished, a third changes nothing, and the three areas ordering from the report still do not know.

   B: Spreads the repair instead of the fix: every area now spends ten minutes a week on a fault that still nobody owns.

   D: Waits on a team that has ignored two messages: your own numbers are right, and three areas keep ordering from a figure that is not.

   The most effective response is to tell the three areas what the fault does to the number and take it to the reporting team’s manager with the two unanswered messages: the people making decisions stop using a wrong figure today, and the fix goes to somebody with the standing to make it happen. It beats sharing your workaround with the three areas, because that spends everybody’s time on a fault that still has no owner. It beats waiting for a reply, because two messages have already gone unanswered while the ordering carries on. The least effective response is sending it a third time and taking it off your list: nothing about a third message is different, and the areas ordering from the report are still not told, which is a different kind of wrong from spreading the workaround or from waiting. The principle: when the owner will not act, protect the people using the output and escalate with the evidence of what you already tried.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are an insight assistant at B&Q. You hold a list of two thousand customers who gave their details to take part in research, and were told the details would be used for research only. A colleague in marketing has asked for the list to send a message about a new range, which he says is nearly the same thing and would perform far better than a cold list. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send him the list on the understanding that he sends one message only, since a single message to people who have already engaged is a small step from what they agreed to.
   2. Say no, explain what those customers were told when they gave their details, and offer to ask the next research group whether they are happy to hear about new ranges.
   3. Tell him it is not something you can do and leave it there, since the answer is no and going into the reasons will only invite an argument about how big a difference it makes.
   4. Send the list over, given these customers have shown they are interested in the range and would probably want to hear about a new one.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Say no, explain what those customers were told when they gave their details, and offer to ask the next research group whether they are happy to hear about new ranges.

   Least effective: D. Send the list over, given these customers have shown they are interested in the range and would probably want to hear about a new one.

   A: Attaches a condition to something that should not happen at all: the promise made to two thousand people is not repaired by limiting how often it is broken.

   C: Refuses without the reason or the alternative: he will ask somebody else who holds a similar list, and nothing has been built for next time.

   D: Breaches the basis on which people handed over their details: two thousand of them were told research only, and that is decided against them by somebody they never spoke to.

   The most effective response is to say no, explain what those customers were told, and offer to ask the next research group whether they want to hear about new ranges: the promise holds, the colleague understands why rather than being blocked, and a legitimate route exists for next time. It beats sending the list with a one-message condition, because a promise is not repaired by limiting how often it is broken. It beats refusing with no reason, because he simply asks somebody else. The least effective response is sending the list over because those customers have shown they are interested: two thousand people were told their details were for research, and that is decided against them by people they never spoke to, which is a different kind of wrong from half-refusing or from refusing unhelpfully. The principle: what people were told when they gave you their details is a promise, and no expected performance uplift outranks it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a supplier quality assistant at B&Q. A site has told you in passing that two pallets from a supplier arrived with the wrong labels last week and they simply relabelled them. Wrong labels are supposed to be reported so the supplier can find the cause. The site did not say whether they had reported it, and the supplier’s next delivery is on Thursday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Assume the site has already reported it, since they found the problem themselves and would hardly have relabelled two pallets and then left the supplier in the dark.
    2. Check today whether a report was raised, raise one yourself if not, and tell the supplier before Thursday's delivery so that the cause can be looked at.
    3. Raise a report yourself straight away without checking, since a duplicate report costs nothing and the supplier needs to know before Thursday in any case.
    4. Mention it to your manager and leave her to decide whether it needs a report, since it was second hand and the site has not asked you to do anything.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Check today whether a report was raised, raise one yourself if not, and tell the supplier before Thursday's delivery so that the cause can be looked at.

    Least effective: A. Assume the site has already reported it, since they found the problem themselves and would hardly have relabelled two pallets and then left the supplier in the dark.

    A: Assumes a report exists rather than looking: it takes one message to check, and Thursday's delivery arrives with the cause unexamined because nobody did.

    C: Acts without the one check that shapes the action: a duplicate splits the supplier's investigation across two reports and neither has the full picture.

    D: Passes a simple check upwards: she has to ask the site the same question you could have asked this morning, and Thursday is closer.

    The most effective response is to check today whether a report was raised, raise one yourself if not, and tell the supplier before Thursday: it costs a message, it produces exactly one report, and the supplier gets the chance to find the cause before the next delivery. It beats raising a report without checking, because two reports split the investigation. It beats handing it to your manager, because she has to make the same one minute enquiry. The least effective response is assuming the site has reported it: nobody looks, Thursday arrives with the cause unexamined, and the assumption is made by the one person who heard about it, which is a different kind of wrong from acting too quickly or from escalating something small. The principle: when a report may or may not exist, the cheap thing to do is find out.