Repairing a damaged working relationship can provide strong EO Working Together evidence when you show how trust changed through your actions. Get the EO Civil Service interview guide before the interview so you can prepare the conversation, practical agreement and lasting result rather than describing a disagreement that simply faded.
Question
“Tell me about a time when you repaired a difficult working relationship with a colleague or another team.”
What Is Being Looked For
The panel wants to hear how you recognised the effect of the relationship on the work and took responsibility for improving it. At EO level, show that you listened to the other person and adjusted your approach where appropriate.
Use B-STAR to begin with a short belief about dealing with tension directly and professionally. Explain the cause briefly without blaming the other person. Spend most of the answer on the steps that rebuilt a workable relationship.
Strong actions include arranging a private conversation, testing assumptions and agreeing how information or decisions will be handled in future. The result should show better delivery as well as a more positive relationship.
Avoid presenting one friendly meeting as the full outcome. Explain how you maintained the change through regular contact or a shared process. Prepare for a follow-up about your own contribution to the problem.
Example Answer
I believe damaged working relationships improve when the issue is addressed directly and both people agree practical changes. I try to understand the effect of my own approach before asking someone else to change theirs.
As an EO project support officer, I worked closely with a finance colleague who approved purchase requests. Our relationship became strained after several requests were returned late. I felt the reasons were unclear, while she felt I was sending incomplete information and expecting urgent decisions.
I asked for a private conversation and began by explaining the delivery effect without accusing her of causing the delay. I then asked her to walk me through two rejected requests. This showed that I had been using an old cost-code list and had not made the required approval date clear.
I acknowledged my part and asked what would make the requests easier to review. We agreed a one-page checklist and a weekly fifteen-minute planning call for upcoming purchases. I added the required date and supporting evidence to each request. She agreed to flag missing information within one working day rather than holding the request until her full review.
I tested the process on the next three purchases and asked for feedback. After one request still caused confusion, I changed the checklist so tax treatment was shown separately. I also shared the updated process with the wider project team so the same issue did not recur through another colleague.
Purchase approvals became predictable and no later request missed its required date. The weekly call reduced once the new method became routine. My finance colleague later asked me to help another project adopt the checklist.
Keep the explanation balanced and make the changed working method visible. Use the EO Civil Service interview guide now to prepare a second Working Together question before the panel asks what you personally could have done earlier.
