IntermediateBehavioral
5 min
Recovering from a Poor On-call Handoff
On-callRunbooksProcess Improvement
Advertisement
Interview Question
Describe a situation where a bad on-call handoff caused problems. What did you do in the moment and what did you change afterwards?
Key Points to Cover
- Explains the handoff gap and impact
- Shows calm triage and missing context resolution
- Introduces improvements (checklists, templates)
- Measures effectiveness in future rotations
Evaluation Rubric
Explains handoff failure impact25% weight
Handles triage effectively25% weight
Implements durable fixes25% weight
Shows measurable results25% weight
Hints
- 💡Think: paging rules, dashboards, templates.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- ⚠️Failing to explicitly state the impact of the bad handoff (e.g., time to resolution, customer impact).
- ⚠️Not detailing the specific triage steps taken to identify the root cause.
- ⚠️Omitting the resolution of the immediate problem and focusing only on process changes.
- ⚠️Not mentioning the communication aspect during the incident (e.g., reaching out to colleagues).
- ⚠️Proposing generic solutions instead of specific, actionable process improvements (e.g., 'better communication' vs. 'handoff templates').
Potential Follow-up Questions
- ❓What change had the biggest effect?
- ❓How did you align teams on quality?
Advertisement