In-tray exercises are commonly used during selection and recruitment processes – typically on assessment centres. The in-tray exercise is a form of test designed to assess managerial abilities. Candidates are asked to assess and prioritise data under pressure and consequently make rationalised decisions within a set time frame. What to expect? An in-tray exercise usually simulates a real-life 'work experience', in which you come in to your office after a weekend or a holiday and you are flooded with e-mails, notes and phone calls and you must prioritise and attend all. The exercise measures your managerial skills and your ability to reach the right decisions under time pressure. Often you will be given a role in an organisation (e.g. Marketing Manager for a company by the name of Huntereda), you will be presented with a number of documents (e.g. memos, e-mails, faxes) addressed to your self. You will be asked to give a priority ranking to each of the documents and suggest the proper way to handle each one. In addition to the documents you may be given an organisational chart of the organisation you work for. Before you begin Prior to doing an in-tray exercise it is vital you have a brief look through the documents and study the organisational chart. This will give you an overview of the organisation, the inter-personal relationships, politics and the issues you have to consider prior to deciding on the appropriate method to handle each of the documents. Things you should consider: - Does the document require your personal attendance or can it be delegated to a member of staff? If so, who should it be delegated to?
- Does the document require immediate attention or can it be postponed and until when?
- Does the document concern the entire organisation or is it a personal matter?
- By when must the task be fulfilled? Is it dependant on the performance of another task? Does it clash with any other tasks?
- Does the task concern an important member of the organisation?
- How important is the task?
In-Tray versus E-Tray exercises In most cases you will be asked to do an in-tray exercise rather than an e-tray exercise. This means the materials of the exercise will all be hard copied and you will have the physical documents in front of you. In addition, you will have to write the ways in which you handle each document and the urgency ranking you give it. An e-tray exercise on the other hand is executed on a computer - all the documents and information is provided on-line. The significant difference in this case is that with an e-tray exercise you have to select the most appropriate manner for dealing with the document from a list of optional answers (multiple choice) rather than suggesting in writing your own solution. JobTestPrep offers an online preparation course – which is interactive – so you can actively experience an e-tray/in-tray exercise. If you would like to purchase our online in-tray/e-tray preparation course please go to our shop and select the industrial sector followed by the position you are applying for. You will then be presented with a list of courses to choose from. The in-tray exercise is very often administered during the Group Exercise in the assessment centre and therefore we have combined the two in the same preparation course or alternatively you can find it in the 'Full Package'. |