Phrases to use:

End of question: Are there any areas where you may need clarification?

Kudos: for stories, give examples of Kudos that you have received.

Is there one area you would like me to focus on? Would you like me to focus on one area than the
others?

Any specific steps you want me to go into greater detail?

How would you resolve conflict and ambiguity in a project ?

First, identify if the activity that is affected by conflict is on the critical path and is just bells and whistles
– If not and buffer can be taken, Usually delays are caused by time crunch – so discuss on how much
delay will be caused and analyze if it does not risk timelines. Also, Identify the underlying rootcause for
the conflict (By looking at data or conducting discussions with the affected members) and collect the
themes or major topics – It maybe due to

lack of shared goals (highlight the benefits due to finishing up the goal),

unclear expectations (Clear communication on what is the work and how long it is going to take),
conflicting priorities, - Break down work into smaller chunks if necessary

resourcing constraints - is there a problem with the framework? (If the data says so, involve
stakeholders, present the situation, acknowledge and set up appropriate framework) –

Wrong prioritization – Define what issue qualifies for what severity, establish communication channels.

Most important, ensure all other tasks which are not affected by the conflict are going as planned. Also,
documentation is key to avoid same ambiguity in future.

- Identify root cause for ambiguity; Stand-Up and face the problem

- Assess, Acknowledge
- Evaluate
- Mitigate
- Communicate - Document

If ambiguity between coworkers about roles and responsibilities, create a RACI matrix together to come
to consensus

How would you convince someone to get your work done if they happen to be a difficult personality

Research what other work they have done before talk to people they worked with and ask for the best
ways to work with said person. Also communicate proactively and try to earn trust of the person.
 What are the key things a PM is expected to do?

Flexibility/adaptability to don multiple hats

End to end problem solving (Ability to identify, structure, present a problem to buy in; the plan and
implement the solution)

Leadership – Influencing without authority, innovate, identifying shared vision, conflict resolution,
presentation, and building trust with stakeholders.

Data driven – Gets hands dirty with data and metrics; drives effective emails, meetings and
conversations with data

Navigating ambiguity – Taking calculated risks - Whenever several stakeholders are involved and stays
committed to the goal and timelines.

Reporting, Escalation management, Stakeholder management, Analyzing data to come-up with

improvement initiatives (Tech/Non-tech initiatives), partnering with cross functional team of
TPMs/SDMs to improve process efficiency, quality, reducing cycle time or laying foundation for scale

How Consensus Building Works

Consensus building is a simple concept, producing a team agreement at the conclusion. Here are the
major steps involved in consensus building.

1. Brainstorm possible topics, issues or problems associated with your Six Sigma project. Make sure you
follow proper brainstorming rules so that team creativity isn’t limited.
2. Briefly discuss all brainstormed options. Limit discussions to a couple minutes per option.
3. Affinitize (combine) similar concepts so duplicates are removed from the list. (Also, bring in data to the
conversation)
4. Add any additional topics, issues or problems that may have resulted during the discussion. It
is important for the team to realize that all input (regardless of when it was said) is needed.
5. Ask the team to discuss the options and select a single, selected topic, issue or problem from the list.
6. If consensus among the team members cannot be reached (that’s surprising!), a voting process should
be utilized. In addition, it is useful to inform the team that consensus is the primary decision process,
with voting being the fall-back process if agreement cannot be reached. That way, everyone knows the
process before you begin.
Project is running behind schedule. How do you bring it back on track?
Firstly, know which stage the project is at. Identify potential reasons why the project is running behind
schedule. Also, discuss with the project members on what are the potential reasons for running late.
Collate the reasons and start looking for problems that need to be addressed – Common problems
include
 Resourcing problems – Rare skilled resources – Ex: JP resources
 People working on the project are not adequately trained and empowered to complete subtasks
within timelines
 Prioritization problems – High priority action items override the current project
 Crossfunctional team problems – While the plans within the team is going fine, but external
stakeholders are delaying certain sub tasks.
 Customers – Extra scope/scope out of the initial plan and was added
 Technology/Software problems – Wrong UI design, Data constraints in tables (Ex: CM tool to
SIM and tables were not designed in such a way), Tool failures etc.

Most important, ensure all other tasks which do not have a problem and can be carried out in parallel go
as planned.

Bringing project back to schedule –

People problems: Training, Setting clear expectations, defining roles,
Resourcing: Cross train folks who are working on activities not on critical path, Outsourcing – Mturk,
Over time,
Fast-tracking: identify tasks which overlap and conduct them in parallel, disallow scope change:
convince cust.
Scope reduction: Reduce unwanted bells and whistles, highlight reduction in time to cust while doing so

Motivating a cross functional team, how?

Identify the barriers that prevent collaboration – The CF team is not clear about its role, May have
conflicting priorities and the work might not align with their goals, Or we may be pushing so much work
to them and they are just plain overworked. Find out shared goals and call out benefits.

How to get buy in from senior management?

1) Writing up an excellent doc/presentation, devoid of unnecessary jargon and the point in STARL

format. Many projects fail as they fail to convey the intended message to leadership. Esp

highlight how The task is an achievable and timebound goal with the resources we have in hand.

2) Data should be meticulously vetted and there should be complete attention to all the

numbers. If assumptions are taken, they should be explicitly called out.

3) Being open to feedback – Getting it reviewed with you manager/other leaders and refining the

idea before presenting it to larger forums increases the probability of getting a buy-in

4) Focus on projecting how it ties in with the vision of the team and leadership, how it helps them

achieve their larger goals

5) Understanding from whom the buy in is needed – A presentation to an operations/program

team will be mostly different from the presentation to a vendor management team. Use

appropriate term which the respective group can relate to and put yourself in the group’s shoes.

Influencing without authority, how?

Build a compelling case by Finding out a shared goal/Common vision and highlight how it is a win – win
situation

Perform some research on the stakeholder, by talking to people, analyzing successful docs – What are
the stakeholder preferences.
Establish credibility and trust by offering assistance out the stakeholders needs with bias for action and
show that you are a reliable expert in getting things done. Sometimes the little things such as listening
to the stakeholder for a particular format, extra data which doesn’t take much work goes a long way

Listen to the stakeholder, if there are any feedback/issues on the work I do, own up and make
necessary changes to processes/systems to ensure satisfaction.

And always, show gratitude!

How do you plan and set correct expectations?

How do you communicate change to stakeholders?

status reports, recurring project sync up meetings.

Being on top of data and metrics to answer questions and earn credibility.

Setup a sharepoint for notes, action items, which can be reviewed in the recurring meetings.

Make the discussions a two way street and not just

test in and outs of the change yourself (Ex: UI change), before informing customers

How did you resolve conflicts/misalignment among stakeholders?

Put the interviewer in the room. Most conflicts are better solved face to face. Identify the barriers that
have led to conflict -

Project risks:

 Technology risks/Projects that create tech debt – Ex: Oracle to Redshift

 Scope creep – Deviation from project plan
 Project dependencies
 Resourcing risks – Availability of people
 Prioritization risks – High priority action items
 Rare skilled resources – Ex: JP resources