Behavioral

Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with your manager.

Software EngineerFrontend EngineerData ScientistFull Stack Software Engineer

Instacart

Flexport

Square

Uber

Apple

Microsoft

Did you come across this question in an interview?

Answers

Anonymous

3.6Strong
Although I work well with all levels of management.  I did have a conflict with my manager.  The manager requested a statement from an associate on my team regarding avoiding calls. The decision had been made to terminate employment.  Being that  I worked closely with this associate,  the behavior in question did not seem like the associate character.  My manager and I agreed to sit down with the associate to understand what caused the reports to indicate he was not taking his fair share of calls throughout the day.  During the discussion we learned the associate split up his breaks into 5 minute breaks which led to him showing up unavailable on the report.  The finding was presented to HR and the associate employment was not terminates. I explained the reason he was on the report and reassured the associate his explanation provided clarity and thanked Jim for being understanding and patient through the process.  My manager met after and agreed to understand action in the future to avoid any wrongful terminations. The manager was grateful I did the additional research  to address the concern.
Expert Answer

Anonymous

4.4Exceptional
In my current project, we received a new requirement to add a multiline ship set. My manager asked me to complete this new requirement within the existing timeline. I raised a concern, explaining that it was not feasible to achieve within the given timeframe. However, he disagreed.
To address this, I collaborated with the development and QA teams to gather detailed data. We analyzed the complete workflow to identify the required changes and testing efforts. Given the existing commitments and workload, it was evident that the development and QA teams would struggle to accommodate this change within the original timeline.
I worked with the team to determine how many PL/SQL packages would be impacted, how many regression scenarios needed to be executed, and how many new scenarios had to be added. With these data points and estimations in hand, I approached my manager again. This time, the detailed information helped him understand the situation, and he agreed to revise the timeline.
I believe that starting a discussion with clear data points can significantly help resolve conflicts more effectively and efficiently.

Anonymous

4.2Exceptional
S（Situation）：在2024年9月底，我所在团队灰度上线了一个重要新功能。上线不久后，我们注意到产品的 NPS 分数出现了明显下滑。我的老板非常担心这个变化是由我们新功能引起的，因此建议我们暂停功能的进一步上线。
T（Task）：考虑到我们灰度期间已经收到不少正向的用户反馈和行为数据，我担心贸然暂停功能会影响节奏，并可能误判问题根源。我希望找出 NPS 下滑的真正原因，并用更稳妥的方式推进问题解决。
A（Action）：我首先分析了 NPS 下滑的时间节点，发现其发生在我们功能上线之前。结合用户评价存在滞后性的特点，我判断两者未必直接相关。随后我深入分析了近期的低分评价和客服 ticket，发现主要问题集中在打印出错、页面崩溃等历史遗留的功能性 bug。 我将这些发现整理成文档分享给老板，建议我们先优先修复这些问题，并继续观察 NPS 变化。同时，我也请他指出是否存在新功能相关的反馈痛点，以便一并跟进优化。我们快速完成了 hotfix，并验证后上线。
R（Result）：两周内，NPS 分数从 xx 回升到 xx（如能填具体更好），我们功能也顺利推进至全量发布，后续使用量增长了 xx%。老板也认可了我们以数据驱动决策的方式，对我在这件事中的判断力和推进力给予了肯定。

Anonymous

4Strong
I would not call it a conflict per say but we had a disagreement over my career development. By 2016 I wanted to transition to the management ladder but my manager thought my technical leadership and technical contributions were more valuable than having me as manager in the team.
We had long conversations over a couple of weeks exposing that moving to the management ladder would give me more visibility and the ability to exponentially increase my impact and my manager exposing my leadership was needed more on the engineering side than in product. At the end we found common ground. I was included in more product related meetings giving me the visibility I was looking for without having to move to the management ladder which was a win win for me and my manager.

Anonymous

4Strong
There was a time when I had a disagreement with my manager regarding a promise he made about a new feature. My manager wanted to be able to update some datas on any event which i think was making the code too complex and the process unstable.
To address the disagreement, I scheduled a one-on-one meeting with my manager to discuss our differing perspectives. During the conversation, I presented my rproposal for a simpler plan, emphasizing the potential risks and benefits of each approach.
Although we initially had differing opinions, we were able to find common ground through open communication and a shared commitment to the project's success. In the end, we discussed with stakeholders and and convinced them to accept a degraded solution.
This experience taught me the importance of effective communication and collaboration in resolving conflicts and finding mutually beneficial solutions in the workplace.

Anonymous

3.8Strong
I had a major difference with my manager about the review of one of my direct reports. My manager wanted to give a more negative review and I wanted to highlight their accomplishments over the last review period. I worked hard on enumerated all the positives about the individual and presented to my manager. He allowed me to proceed with my review because I made a convincing argument on the facts. I kept the discussion strictly based on facts. It is key to never get emotional and only used facts and make a decision based on solid data.
  • Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with your manager.
  • Describe a conflict with your manager.
  • Discuss a conflict you had with your manager.
  • Tell me about a time when you and your manager had a disagreement.
  • Talk about a time you had a disagreement with your manager.
  • Discuss a time when you clashed with your manager.
  • Let's talk about a conflict that you had with your manager.
  • Please describe a time when you ran into conflict with your manager.
  • Talk about a time you had a conflict with your manager.
  • Describe a situation where you had a disagreement with your manager?
  • Can you walk me through an instance where you had to manage a conflict with your boss?
  • Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you disagreed with your superior? If so, how did you handle it?
  • Describe a time when you and your manager had a difference in opinion, and how did you resolve it?
  • Have you ever had any issues with your manager? Can you give me an example?
  • Can you share an experience where you had a disagreement with your boss, and how did you address it?
  • Tell me about a time when you faced a conflict with your manager, and what did you do to resolve it?
  • Can you talk about a situation where you had to handle a conflict with your manager?
  • Explain how you handled a disagreement with your boss in the past?
  • Have you ever been in a disagreement with your manager, and if so, how did you resolve it?
Try Our AI Interviewer

Prepare for success with realistic, role-specific interview simulations.

Try AI Interview Now

Interview question asked to Quality Assurance Engineers, Product Managers, Technical Program Managers and other roles interviewing at StubHub, Hewlett Packard, OneWeb and others: Tell me about a time when you had a conflict with your manager..