Share a time when you had a disagreement with a member of your team.

Question Analysis

This question is designed to assess your interpersonal skills, conflict resolution abilities, and how you handle disagreements in a team setting. The interviewer wants to understand your approach to resolving conflict, maintaining professionalism, and ensuring team cohesion despite differing opinions. By using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result), you can clearly demonstrate how you effectively managed a past disagreement and what you learned from the experience.

Answer

Situation: In my previous role as a project manager, I was part of a team working on a tight deadline for a major client. During a planning meeting, a disagreement arose between myself and a team member regarding the prioritization of tasks. They believed we should focus on the design elements first, whereas I felt that addressing the technical framework was more critical to meet our timeline.

Task: My task was to ensure that the team was aligned and working efficiently towards the project goals while maintaining positive team dynamics.

Action: I initiated a one-on-one discussion with the team member to better understand their perspective and explain my reasoning. I listened actively and acknowledged their valid points regarding the design's importance. To resolve the disagreement, I proposed a compromise where we would allocate resources to work on both the design and technical framework concurrently. This approach would allow us to make progress on both fronts without delaying the overall project.

Result: The team member agreed to the compromise, and we implemented the plan successfully. As a result, the project stayed on track, and we delivered a high-quality product to the client on time. This experience reinforced the value of open communication and finding common ground in resolving team conflicts.