Program Management: Due Dates
Explore strategies to respond to engineering challenges that threaten project deadlines. Learn how to ask clarifying questions, analyze root causes, and develop actionable plans to manage due dates effectively in a TPM role. This lesson equips you with practical skills to negotiate timelines and prioritize feature launches during technical program management interviews.
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Question
Your engineer comes to you and tells you that a particular feature cannot be launched by the due date. How do you respond?
Background
This situation is a very common occurrence, and this question is a great way to see how you would handle a tough, ambiguous interaction with key cross-functional stakeholders. These scenario-type questions are trying to gauge how you will handle a similar situation at work and if you are able to reach a consensus on a plan of action.
We’ll treat this question as a role-playing exercise with back-and-forth questions from the interviewer to better reflect how a real-life interview would work.
Solution approach
Since this involves a sensitive interpersonal interaction, we don’t want to jump to conclusions right away. We should aim to gather facts and ...