How you manage conflict in your team is a common question that often leads to long pauses if you don’t prepare for the answer. Through F1GMAT’s Mock Interview Service, I have helped clients prepare for narratives that have a surprisingly common theme.
This is a scenario where the applicant – a 3–5-year experienced person is managing or collaborating with someone 10-15 years senior.
In Technology, examples are often found around technical specialists with impressive projects under their belts. Conflicts happen when the person’s perspective is not fully accounted for in a technical solution or in a strategic decision around Technology or talent acquisition in the team. The escalation is limited when the applicant gives autonomy to the senior person or consults the person for another key decision. Some examples are around ego. And many are around competence, where the applicant had to make the unpopular decision to reshuffle the team and let the senior person go. Many times. I have heard of specialists who have ownership of certain Technology, and they have leverage over how it is applied across the project. In such cases, it is all about negotiating and incentivizing the person to comply.
In Finance, it is even broader with Venture Capital examples around managing serial entrepreneurs with excellent track record and understanding their motivation for the new venture. And validating their claim for a patent or market penetration. Conflicts are often around the vision of the company. Investors might have a different perspective about the market size. These are interesting conflict examples. In Private Equity, it is all about distressed sales and understanding the conflicts that arise when the survival of the business is often questioned by the investor.
In Consulting, it is mostly about interviewing senior stakeholders. There might be cultural or Personality mismatches that can lead to partial sharing of vital information. In many cases, there might be deliberate misdirection. It could also be a strategic mismatch between what the Consultant is offering and what the senior person who hired the Consultant is trying to achieve. Changes in scope, markets, geopolitical developments, and new technology are some of the memorable examples that I have helped clients prepare.