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Tell me about a time you disagreed with your team but decided to go ahead with their proposal
Why did you disagree? What was the outcome?
Example Answers
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I can certainly provide a detailed response to that question. I've worked on several projects where I had to collaborate with a cross-functional team, and disagreements were somewhat inevitable. One time that comes to mind was when my team proposed a new feature for our e-commerce platform that I disagreed with.
The feature in question was a new checkout process that involved a lot of additional steps. While my team believed that it would reduce the number of abandoned carts, I was concerned that it would actually create more friction and cause more users to drop off before completing their purchase.
To address these concerns, I proposed that we conduct some user research to test both our existing checkout process and the proposed new one. By doing this, we could get a better understanding of what our users wanted and whether the new checkout process would actually solve the problems that we were facing.
Ultimately, we decided to go ahead with the research and found that my concerns were valid. Users found the new checkout process confusing, and it actually caused the abandonment rate to increase. After reviewing the research findings together, my team decided to scrap the proposed checkout process and focus on improving our existing one instead.
In the end, I feel that our abilities to work collaboratively, incorporating feedback, and base our decisions on data have helped us make better-informed decisions and positively impact the product's success. This experience taught me the importance of having open and constructive discussions, gathering data, and taking a customer-first approach to product development.
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Sure, I'd be happy to share a relevant experience.
In my previous role as a product manager for a social networking app, my team was working on a new feature that would allow users to create custom avatars. The team was really excited about the feature and had put a lot of effort into designing and building it. However, during our testing and user research, we found that users were not really using the avatar feature as much as anticipated. We were also facing some technical challenges in integrating the feature seamlessly into the user interface.
I expressed my concerns to the team and suggested that we either delay the launch of the feature or rethink our approach altogether. However, the team was convinced that the feature was a valuable addition to the app and wanted to launch it as planned. After discussing the pros and cons, we decided to move ahead with the launch of the feature, with the understanding that we would monitor user engagement closely and iterate as needed.
After the feature launched, we saw that adoption was indeed lower than expected. We conducted further research to understand why and made some adjustments to the feature based on user feedback. Over time, we started to see increased engagement with the feature and higher satisfaction scores from our users.
The outcome was positive in the end, but it was definitely a learning experience for me to balance my concerns with the understanding that my team had put a lot of effort into the feature and believed in its value. It also reinforced the importance of user feedback and data in product decision-making.
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Sure, I'd be happy to share an example of a time I disagreed with my team but still decided to move forward with their proposal.
In the early days of my career, I was leading a team that was developing a new range of mobile phones for a leading consumer electronics brand. We were working on a particular feature that required us to make some adjustments to the phone's design, but our hardware team was resistant to those changes.
I disagreed with the hardware team's approach because I felt that the proposed design changes were necessary to ensure the phone's functionality and long-term market success. However, I also understood that the hardware team had years of experience and expertise in their field, so I knew it was important to listen to their feedback and concerns.
To build consensus, I made a deliberate effort to bring both teams together to discuss the issues and propose alternative solutions. We spent several hours going back and forth, debating the pros and cons of different approaches. In the end, I agreed to go ahead with the hardware team's proposal while making a few minor tweaks to ensure the new feature worked as intended.
The outcome was positive. The feature was highly successful, and our new range of mobile phones received excellent feedback from both customers and industry experts. Despite my initial disagreement with the hardware team, I was glad that I had listened to their feedback and worked collaboratively to come to a consensus. I learned that it's important to be open-minded, show respect for others' opinions, and work together as a team to achieve our goals.
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Sure, let me describe a scenario that comes to mind. One time, while working with a cross-functional team in my previous role, we were tasked with launching a new feature that the sales team believed would be a game-changer and drive significant revenue growth for the company. The engineering team had proposed a deadline that was aggressive, given the complexity of the feature, and the potential risk of unforeseen bugs arising during the testing process.
As someone who values the importance of timeliness and client satisfaction (both essential in the enterprise software space), I felt strongly that the proposed deadline was unrealistic, and if we launched with known issues, it would negatively impact our company's reputation in the market.
However, after numerous discussions with the team and thorough analysis of our options, I decided to go ahead with the proposed timeline despite my reservations. It was a difficult decision, but I decided to trust in the team's technical abilities and their evaluation of the project's complexity. More importantly, I believed that the risks associated with delaying the launch far outweighed the potential risks of launching with some known issues, which could be addressed through subsequent updates and patches.
The outcome of the decision was that we launched on time and the new feature received positive feedback from clients. However, as expected, a few issues surfaced in the first few weeks, which the team promptly addressed with quick patches and hotfixes. Overall, we were able to meet the client's timeline, which improved our relationship with them and positively impacted the company's bottom line.
In hindsight, I believe that this experience taught me the importance of team collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and risk management. While I may have disagreed with the team's proposal initially, I ultimately chose to go along with it because I understood that everyone had the company's best interests at heart, and ultimately, we were all working towards the same goal of delivering quality software products that benefit our clients and end-users.
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Sure, I'd be happy to answer that question. As a product manager, it's important to balance the perspectives of various stakeholders and make decisions that align with the overall strategy of the company. There was a time when my team proposed a new pricing model for our SaaS platform that I initially disagreed with.
They wanted to introduce a tiered pricing structure that would significantly increase the cost for our enterprise customers. While I appreciated their innovative thinking, I was concerned about the impact this could have on our retention rates and long-term growth. I felt that our current pricing model was working well, and we needed to focus on improving the features and capabilities of our platform before increasing prices.
However, after some internal discussions and analyzing customer data, I realized that the market had shifted and our competitors had introduced similar pricing models with solid uptake. Ultimately, we did decide to move forward with the team's proposal, although we made some adjustments to the pricing tiers to better reflect the needs of our enterprise customers.
The outcome was positive – our customers embraced the new pricing model, and we were able to increase our revenue and improve our bottom line. We also found that our enterprise customers valued the additional features and personalized support that came with the higher pricing tier. Overall, it was a good reminder that effective product management requires a balance of listening to feedback, analyzing data, and ultimately making tough decisions that will drive success in the long run.
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Sure, I can definitely speak to that.
In my previous role, I was leading a team to develop a cybersecurity solution that focused on protecting financial institutions from any potential cyber threats. We had a diverse team comprising of product managers, developers, and security analysts.
During one of our meetings, the team proposed an idea for a new feature that would require us to use an open-source library that had known vulnerabilities and was generally considered less secure than alternatives. While I appreciated the creative thinking behind the idea, I disagreed with the proposed approach because it posed an unnecessary risk to our product, and ultimately, our customers' security.
I shared my concerns with the team and explained why I was hesitant about the proposed approach. We discussed the alternatives and their pros and cons, and I advocated for using a different library that was not only more secure but also had a larger developer community and better documentation.
In the end, the team agreed with the alternative approach, and we were able to deliver a more secure product that better aligned with our customers' needs. We made sure to document our decision-making process and communicate it to the stakeholders.
Overall, I believe it's essential to leverage the diversity of thought within a team to make better decisions. Still, as a product manager responsible for the overall success of the product, it's important to speak up when appropriate and make the tough call if necessary.