Introduction to Cross-Functional Collaboration Questions

“Google’s Product Managers work with cross-functional teams (marketing, UX, PR, engineering, etc.) to get things done. They have the ability to address difficult questions, handle pushback from a high-level audience, and maintain a professional demeanor while engaging in difficult or sometimes high-pressure situations.” - Google PM Interview Prep Guide, 2022

PMs at Google are the connective tissue bringing multiple functions together to make great products. By bridging the technical and business without losing focus, great PMs build a product culture that fosters quality, innovation, and speed.

Google and other FAANG companies have asked behavioral questions around cross-functional teamwork for years. As of June 2022, Google is dedicating a full interview to this skill, signaling its commitment to recruiting product leaders who recognize the value of collaboration.

You might see questions like:

• "How do you resolve conflicting product requirements? What or who determines which requirement takes the hit?"
• "Your largest customer is loudly advocating for a new feature which is not in your prioritized roadmap. Sales, eager to please, have gone straight to Engineering to see if they can drop everything and get this done. What do you do?"

... as well as standard “tell me about X” questions. In the next lesson, we’ll give you a framework for prep, but first let’s go over what Google is looking for.

What does this mean for my PM interview?

Google looks for a combination of thoughtfulness, self-awareness, and experience working cross-functionally.

• Thoughtfulness around how a well-functioning group, where each person brings their best, is critical for building great products.
• Self-awareness around how they, as PM, influence group dynamics and product culture.
• Experience applying these skills in the real world, where conflict is inevitable and hard choices are made.

Google has done a lot of research on collaborative culture and high-performing teams, so it's worthwhile to do a quick review of their findings. Use these insights as you build your story bank later on!

What makes a high-performing product team?

Google spent years trying to figure it out. Commonalities observed in consistently high-performing teams at Google turned out to match what good managers have always known - that each team member needs to feel safe speaking up. Creating a safe environment for taking risks turns out to be the most important thing you can do to build high-performing teams.

This is known as psychological safety. The same study identified three elements of psychological safety:

• Empathy, meaning teammates can connect and communicate on a personal level.
• "Equality in distribution of conversational turn-taking," or 1) everyone should have the same amount of time to speak 2) active listening is key, and 3) interruption and idea theft won't be tolerated.
• Confidence that no team member will be embarrassed, punished, or rejected for their ideas.

Google identified a few additional characteristics of high-performing teams:

• Dependability: Can we count on each other to do high quality work on time?
• Structure & clarity: Are goals, roles, and execution plans on our team clear?
• Meaning of work: Are we working on something that is personally important for each of us?
• Impact of work: Do we fundamentally believe that the work we’re doing matters.

As “keepers” of product culture, PMs have a big role to play in creating the right conditions for a high-performing product team.