Tell me about a time you disagreed with a coworker. How did you resolve the conflict?

"I once had a peer who disagreed with nearly every idea I had. I went out of my way to keep the lines of communication open while setting boundaries, but we needed to be respectful and professional. We made a list of our strengths and weaknesses, and when we had projects to work on together, we would split some of the tasks while working toward a common goal. I found that through mutual respect, we were able to have tough conversations, but we each allowed one another to present our ideas and the pros and cons to each; then we would agree to let our manager have the final say. It's all about flexibility and compromise."

"If I disagree with a coworker, I typically send a follow-up email after our conversation and try to take my emotions out of it. I will recap the problem and what our differing thoughts are and try to schedule a time to brainstorm further or to see if they would like to jump on a call with a neutral person so we can run the situation by them and get their input on solutions. I never belittle anyone or speak negatively about them to other employees; instead, I go right to the person with whom I have the conflict and try to resolve it directly before escalating to a manager if need be."