Can you share with me a situation where you needed to obtain information from someone who was hesitant to provide it and how you went about it?

Question

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Task:
 1. My team analyzed the current workflows and identified that closing a
    customer account required manual steps across multiple systems. This process
    took an agent around 30 minutes per customer. With 20 agents handling tasks
    like closing fraudulent, dormant, or requested accounts, the inefficiencies
    were evident.
 2. We discussed with business and product teams and found that APIs to close
    accounts in other systems already existed. By integrating these APIs and
    exposing the functionality on the CRM, we estimated reducing the time to
    5–10 minutes per account, thereby saving the bandwidth of approximately
    10–12 agents.
 3. While gathering information about the APIs, we successfully acquired details
    for most systems, except for the API to close ledgers. Despite reaching out
    to the relevant team via Slack and scheduling meetings, they were
    unresponsive.
 4. We escalated through emails involving stakeholders, but the documents shared
    were unclear and lacked the necessary details.
 5. I started questioning whether we were even engaging the correct stakeholders
    or if something else was causing the delay.

Action:
 1. I scheduled a meeting with the fellow Engineering Manager (EM) responsible
    for the other team to understand the situation.
 2. During the meeting, I discovered that the ledger team had the integration on
    their roadmap but were hesitant to collaborate because they wanted to
    implement their API themselves to ensure they received credit for the work.
 3. Recognizing the seriousness of the issue, I assured them that our intent was
    not to take credit for their work but to solve the problem together for the
    organization’s benefit.
 4. To avoid such misunderstandings in the future, I updated the documentation
    to explicitly call out the owners of each API, ensuring transparency for all
    stakeholders.
 5. I guided my team to use open-ended communication, such as, “Can you show us
    the request and response for this API?” and provide constructive feedback
    instead of outright complaints. This approach helped the other team feel
    included and respected.
 6. I included the ledger team in all related communications, fostering a sense
    of ownership and partnership in the initiative.

Result:
 1. We successfully launched the button on the CRM that orchestrated the
    customer closure process.
 2. Trust was built between our teams, and the ledger team even provided on-call
    support for us during the initial days, including India off-hours.
 3. My team learned how to work collaboratively and create win-win situations,
    strengthening cross-functional relationships within the organization.

Can you share with me a situation where you needed to obtain information from someone who was hesitant to provide it and how you went about it?

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