Reasoning and judgment
Situational judgment
Judging how effective a possible response to a workplace situation would be, against a published scale of likely outcomes. Distinct from deductive reasoning, which states the rule that decides the case, and from problem sensitivity, which is noticing that something is wrong rather than choosing what to do about it.
Exams on RankHigh that test this
What follows is our approach, not an official rule. What each question type measures is set by the body that runs the examination. How to work one is RankHigh’s method — it is what a good tutor would tell you, and there is more than one way to be right. Where an examination publishes its own instructions, those govern on the day.
Rating how effective a response to a work situation would be, on a four-point scale defined by the outcome it is likely to produce.
Where people lose it
Rating intention instead of outcome. A well-meant response that leaves the situation exactly where it found it is not effective, and the scale is worded in terms of outcomes for that reason.
How to work itRankHigh method
- Fix the objective first. The situation states what needs to happen; every rating is relative to it.
- Ask whether the response moves the objective forward, part of the way, or not at all.
- Then ask what it does to the working relationship it depends on. A response that fails the objective AND antagonises somebody sits at the bottom.
- Rate each response on its own. More than one may deserve the same rating, and nothing says one of each must be used.
- Be wary of responses that are merely true — stating a fact is not the same as doing something about it.
Effective means likely to produce a good outcome, not well intended and not merely correct.
Practice it on your own exam
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