As a TPM for Meta, you will often have to handle conflicting priorities. How do you deal with conflicting priorities?

Question

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

When I have to deal with multiple tasks and I have to set priorities, first I
try to understand the requirements, deadlines, and impacts of the tasks.
Create a visual representation of dependencies, such as a dependency management
map or Gantt Chart.
Then, I break down the activities into smaller tasks, and I classify them based
on their urgency and importance. For that, I use the Eisenhower Matrix, which is
a visual tool that helps me to stay focused on the critical tasks.
The tasks I identified as urgent and critical are the ones that need to be
addressed first.
For tasks that are important but not urgent, I fix deadlines and I add them into
my Schedule to monitor and ensure they are closed on time.
I also look on the low-impact tasks that can be delegated to other team members
or can be handled later

Anonymous · Answer

Requirements must be prioritized based on factors like Reach, Impact, Effort,
Confidence, Alignment with company mission and vision, etc. by working with
stakeholders during the planning phase of the project. Priority can be
classified as Must have, should have, could have and won't have. This helps
resolve the conflict between different requirements. Now assume, the conflict is
between 2 requirements with the same priority. I look for common ground between
the requirements and see if a common solution can satisfy both requirements. For
example, customers were asking for a baseball batting simulator and pickleball
drills and I was able to satisfy both requirements by adding capability to
program position, velocity and angular velocity to the ball machine so the
customers themselves could configure it to suit their needs. If such a common
solution is not possible the next option is to negotiate min viable solutions
than can enable the team to deliver both. Once the min viable solutions are
delivered the additional functionality may be delivered at a later date. If such
a solution isn't possible the next option is to escalate to management with
proposal on updated priorities, ask for more resources, or extend the delivery
timeline, etc. To summarize, look for a common solution, negotiate min viable
solution and phased delivery and lastly escalate the issue with proposed options
for management.

Anonymous · Answer

I will start reviewing the program charter and the program plan to ensure
 priorities and dependencies are aligned with the stakeholders expectations and
the current reality of the program.
For conflicting tasks with the same priority I will also organize them using
their potential impact and whether they are a dependency for other tasks. This
way we can prioritize tasks higher based on their potential impact.
Getting stakeholders involved in the process of reprioritizing tasks to ensure
their suggestions and concerns are heard and there is alignment with the
outcomes of priority organization.
I’ll collect metrics to help make data driven decisions and if possible the
tasks can be split into smaller pieces and assigning different priorities to the
smaller tasks.
When working on the Flutter Security Team the program prioritized securing the
release workflows with the higher priority and the build infrastructure changes
with lower priority. After careful review of the dependencies I found that
infrastructure changes were needed to secure the release workflows. I splitted
the build infrastructure task into smaller tasks increasing the priority for the
ones that were strictly necessary to complete the release improvements. As
implementing security for an open source project at google was new territory we
were communicating frequently and openly with stakeholders about changes in the
execution plan and ensuring alignment.

Anonymous · Answer

I prioritize requirements as P0 (Must have), P1 (Nice to have) and so by
considering their reach, impact, confidence and effort. For the sake of this
discussion lets assume the conflict is between two P0 priorities. I would look
with alignment with company mission and the urgency and set SMART goals and
associated KPIs. Brainstorm and negotiate with the stakeholders to root cause
and try resolve the conflict. Quite often subtle modifications and shared
information can resolve the conflicts. For example, in a recent project one
customer was asking for custom pickleball drills while another was asking for
improvements to baseball pitches thrown by the ball machine. We didn't have time
to deliver both these items but  I was able to satisfy both customers by
delivering a programmable ball machine.

As a TPM for Meta, you will often have to handle conflicting priorities. How do you deal with conflicting priorities?

Practice this question with AI

Go Premium

Practice More Questions

Community Answers

Unlock Community Insights

Unlock Community Insights

Unlock Community Insights

Unlock Community Insights