Have you ever disagreed with direction you received from your manager? What did you do and what was the outcome?
Building and further developing a modern and high-performing health system at UnitedHealth Group requires all staff to have a forward vision and a sense of innovation. The company is doing this today by streamlining and simplifying the healthcare experience for its members, its extensive vaccine research, and its strategic partnerships with healthcare providers and systems all over the world. All of this innovation started with groundbreaking ideas and your interviewer wants to hear that you are always willing to speak up when you feel you have a great idea, so they ask this question. Think about a time when you didn't hesitate to speak openly with a leader in a time when it was against the grain. Try to focus the majority of your response on your desire to do what is right and how you did this in a professional and respectful manner.
"I can't say that I've disagreed or balked at specific direction from a director or manager during my career because that is not the type of person I am. But in cases where I had new ideas that weren't the typical way of doing things, I've never hesitated to speak my mind to try and better things or create more efficient processes. Three years ago, the team I supported was handling a large volume of new clients and I was responsible for entering new client data into our CMS and other systems. Sales were going out the door right away and I knew that I just wouldn't be able to keep up with getting everyone entered on time along with my other daily duties. While my manager felt it was an easy task, I asked them to come to shadow the work that I was doing just to add one customer to the systems. They quickly got me some help for my regular duties while I focused on the new entries over the next four days. In this role at UnitedHealth Group, it's great to know that I will be supporting a robust account management team and I'm confident that I can bring new and refreshing ideas to help in their support."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
A retail space became available in the shopping mall, connected to the hotel that my boss also owned. He was just about to enter into a lease with a tenant for this space for approximately 1,000 a month when I approached him and insisted on a new direction and use. I suggested we relocate our current housekeeping office to this space and the fitness center and take the space that housekeeping and the fitness center and turn it into 2 additional hotel suites. He agreed with my plan, and this idea has been producing approximately 120,000 a year in revenue ever since.
Rachelle's Feedback
Wow - it seems you are incredibly creative and highly invested in the success of your employer. Fantastic example!
Anonymous Answer
We hit the busy season and it was unexpectedly early. We needed workers and my boss wanted me to set up interviews. The route he was taking was going to cost the company tons of money and resources. Instead, I approached him at a later time and presented him with a couple of scenarios, using websites he was unfamiliar with. After I put both routes side by side he was very enthusiastic to first try my plan. After everything was said and done and the busy season had passed, we realized that we had saved the company substantial amount of money and a lot of headaches.
Marcie's Feedback
Nice! This is an excellent example of a time when you disagreed with your boss's direction and you were able to show him a better way of doing things. You use the STAR method nicely here: outlining the situation/task, the action you took, and what the successful end result was. Great job!
Anonymous Answer
In a previous position, my manager held a team meeting and told us that we would perform fasting blood draws in the parking lot with one car line with a canopy to set up our stations. The idea sounded great that we would be out of the rain, but with only 1 line and the amount of blood draws we have in the morning, the line would go all the way out into the street. Not to mention, if we had a patient pass out, that would put us way behind, and it just didn't sound logical. I withheld my concerns initially and asked some clarifying questions. After the meeting, I connected with my manager about my concerns and suggested we have two car lines instead and set up a canopy for the 2nd line to save time. I also mentioned that we have 15 patients every 15 minutes to keep a good flow without a line to the street. She thanked me for sharing my ideas, and we all pulled together as a team, and the plan worked tremendously.
Amanda's Feedback
Terrific example! You've provided a pertinent example that illustrates your ability to express concern appropriately, make recommendations for change, and collaborate productively to achieve the best possible outcome.
Anonymous Answer
Disagreements are going to happen and in my career, I have learned the proper way to handle a disagreement with a manager. Your manager is human and may not always have the best solutions. It is in your approach that you can persuade the manager to see your point of view. I have been in this very situation when my manager felt strongly about a solution. I went back to my office and did some research and presented to her my solution in a concise manner and was able to sway her decision.
Marcie's Feedback
It's great that you recognize that your manager is human and not always right. Your example is a good one but really needs to be more specific to be meaningful and memorable to the interviewer (otherwise it comes across as very vague). Can you talk about what your manager's solution was, what kind of research you conducted, and how you persuaded your manager to switch to your solution? Providing details will make your response much stronger. Good job!
Anonymous Answer
I remember a situation where I disagreed with my manager when I had to ask for a deadline extension on a final project. I was facing a potentially missed deadline with a client's project due to a lack of labor issues. I approached my manager for an extension rather than waiting until it was too late. At first, he was not receptive and did not want to grant an extension due to the client being upset. Instead of getting upset, I took extra time to explain to my manager how much additional time I needed and why it would be better to take the time to finish rather than rushing the task. The outcome of this issue came back with satisfaction with exceptional quality for the client and my manager was extremely satisfied.
Amanda's Feedback
This is a strong example of your ability to navigate conflict in a positive way. Consider clarifying your answer a bit to illustrate that the extension wasn't needed due to a lack of time management or another issue that was within your control. Explain what you mean by labor issues. Was your team short-staffed? Then, make it clear that he actually granted an extension that enabled you to complete the project with a high degree of quality, ultimately exceeding the client's expectations.
Anonymous Answer
Yes, but rarely, the trust and relationship we build are super important. We usually spend quite a bit of time talking through what we want to achieve and brainstorming ideas and alternatives. If we do have a disagreement, I usually provide a couple of solutions and explain the pros and cons for both and the ramifications on workload and impact on businesses and then we decide. Tracking working capital metrics was an example. Our CFO would like to get it from the financial system, my suggestion was to mimic the calculation and track it offline. Either option had its own pros and cons. I took the extra steps to seek input from business partners who potentially would be impacted by the change. Then I walked the CFO through the different scenarios and the implications, at the end we agreed to track it offline to kick start the initiative. What we did is to find the most optimal solution for the team and for the business.
Marcie's Feedback
Awesome! Your response is strong because it gives a specific example of a time when you disagreed with the direction your manager wanted to take. You clearly explain how you handled this situation and what the outcome was. Great job!
Anonymous Answer
Luckily I've had great relationships with my managers and we've been able to be pretty candid with each other. I disagreed with him on the direction he wanted to go in regard to the work-from-home policy once things started to open back up. He was very conservative and wanted everyone back in the office. I didn't think we were ready for that, and that employee morale would be an issue if we demanded it. We discussed it, and then we involved other members of management. Ultimately we compromised on a hybrid policy.
Marcie's Feedback
Nice job using the STAR method (situation, task, action, result) to answer this question. Did the hybrid policy end up working out well? It's great too that you indicate you generally get along with your managers; the interviewer will be happy to hear this. Good job!
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