Master 30 Product Manager interview questions covering prioritization, metrics, and product strategy.
Question 7 of 30
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The interviewer knows there are times as a product manager when you cannot meet a deadline. They want to know how you would handle this type of situation. They are looking to discover if you perform well under pressure and what steps you would take.
Discuss how you would handle this type of situation, including how you might recognize it in advance and the steps you would take to avoid it. If you have an example of when this happened to you in the past, tell the interviewer what steps you took and what the outcome was.
"I have certainly experienced times when a project veered off the timeline. Sometimes, testing takes longer than we estimated or web design hits a bump and goes over. To try and head off deadline issues, I continuously monitor all aspects of the project timeline. When I see signs we are going to fall behind schedule, I review all of the available options to get us back on track. This might include eliminating superfluous or redundant elements, but I would never do anything to impact the core of the product. The best path forward often involves either reducing product functionality to only the essential features for the first release, doing a soft release to a small group of customers while pushing back the full launch, skipping the minimum viable product (MVP) rollout, or re-prioritizing the product roadmap. Whatever changes are made, I always make sure to communicate clearly with all team members. It is key for everyone to understand the new plan and that we can still achieve our original goal by continuing to work together."
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Written by Tiffany McPherson
30 Questions & Answers • Product Manager

By Tiffany

By Tiffany