What are the most important things to remember when answering an organizational design question?

1 Understand the context

The first thing to remember is to understand the context of the question, which includes the client's industry, goals, challenges, and current situation. You should ask clarifying questions to gather relevant information and avoid making assumptions. For example, you might want to know the client's size, growth rate, product portfolio, competitive advantage, market dynamics, customer segments, and organizational pain points. By understanding the context, you can tailor your answer to the specific needs and objectives of the client, and avoid proposing generic or unrealistic solutions.

3 Consider the trade-offs

When considering organizational design options, it is important to remember to take into account the trade-offs that come with them. There is no single perfect design that can optimize all the desired outcomes, meaning that you will need to balance between centralization and decentralization, functional and divisional structures, and formal and informal processes. Each of these will affect the decision-making speed, autonomy, coordination, control, specialization, collaboration, accountability, innovation, efficiency, flexibility, standardization, and creativity of the organization. It is essential to be able to explain the advantages and disadvantages of each option and how they relate to the client's goals and challenges. You should also be able to justify your recommendation based on the trade-offs and the context.

4 Provide examples

The fourth thing to remember is to provide examples to support your answer and demonstrate your knowledge and credibility. Examples can be drawn from your own experience, case studies, best practices, or industry benchmarks. You should be able to explain how the examples relate to the question and the context, and what lessons or insights can be derived from them. For example, you might want to mention how a similar organization in the same industry or a different industry has successfully implemented a certain organizational design option, and what results or benefits they achieved.

5 Anticipate the risks

The fifth thing to remember is to anticipate the risks and challenges that might arise from implementing your proposed organizational design solution. Organizational design is not a one-time exercise, but a continuous process that requires change management, communication, and evaluation. You should be able to identify the potential barriers or obstacles that might hinder the execution or adoption of your solution, and how to mitigate or overcome them. For example, you might want to consider the cultural fit, the stakeholder buy-in, the resource requirements, the timeline, the metrics, and the feedback mechanisms of your solution.

6 Ask for feedback

The sixth and final thing to remember is to ask for feedback from the interviewer. Feedback is essential for improving your performance and learning from your mistakes. You should be open to constructive criticism and suggestions, and show that you are willing to listen and adapt. You should also ask questions to clarify any doubts or gaps in your answer, and to demonstrate your curiosity and interest. For example, you might want to ask the interviewer how they would approach the question differently, what they liked or disliked about your answer, or what they would recommend you to focus on for your next interview.