Imagine two engineering teams disagree about who should own a shared service. How would you help them reach a decision?

What the interviewer is looking for

• This question tests cross-team communication. Brokers decisions between teams with competing interests, keeps everyone informed, and translates between technical and business audiences.
• What to bring out: Gathers each side's view, clarifies criteria like expertise and capacity, involves the right decision maker, and documents the outcome.
• Expect a follow-up like: What if neither team's manager will agree?

Another way it may be asked: Two teams both say a shared login service is the other team's job. What would you do to settle it?

A structure to follow: STAR, with the weight on Action and Result

1. Step 1

   Situation

   One or two sentences: where, when and what was at stake. Pick a real example you were close to.

2. Step 2

   Task

   What you personally were responsible for. Say "I", not only "we", so the cross-team communication you showed is visible.

3. Step 3

   Action

   The two or three things you did and why you chose them over the alternatives. This should be about half your answer.

4. Step 4

   Result

   What changed, in your own measure of it, and what you would do differently. Only use numbers you can stand behind.

This is guidance on shape, not a script. Use your own real experience and facts; never invent details to fill a gap. See the STAR guide and answer frameworks.

Common slips

• Describing what the team did without saying what you did.
• Choosing an example with no clear outcome, or one you cannot answer detailed questions about.
• Ending on the action and skipping the result and what you learned.

How to practise it

Write two bullet points for each STAR letter, then say the answer aloud in about two minutes.

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