What is one time you had to stand up and disagree with a team member's approach?

Question Analysis

This question assesses your ability to handle conflicts and disagreements in a team setting. The interviewer wants to understand how you approach situations where you need to express a differing opinion, your communication skills, and your ability to maintain professionalism and respect while disagreeing. The STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) is ideal for structuring your response to showcase your problem-solving and interpersonal skills effectively.

Answer

Situation: In my previous role as a project manager, our team was tasked with developing a new feature for our software product. During a planning meeting, a team member proposed an approach that I believed would not align with our project timeline and could potentially lead to resource overutilization.

Task: I needed to address my concerns with the proposed approach and suggest an alternative that would meet the project requirements while staying within our constraints.

Action: I scheduled a follow-up meeting with the team member to discuss my concerns privately, ensuring a respectful and open dialogue. I prepared by analyzing the data supporting my perspective and outlined how an alternative approach could be more efficient. During our discussion, I acknowledged the strengths of their proposal but highlighted my concerns regarding the timeline and resource allocation. I then presented my alternative approach, emphasizing its benefits in terms of efficiency and feasibility.

Result: After considering my input, the team member agreed to incorporate elements of my proposal, which resulted in a revised approach that was more aligned with our project goals. This not only improved our project timeline but also fostered a collaborative team environment where different perspectives were valued and considered.