Tell me about a time you brought disagreeing teams together.

The question aims to delve into your leadership abilities and your conflict management skills. It is inevitable that, within any working environment, there will be conflicting opinions and perspectives. What the interviewer really wants to know is how well you can manage such situations to unite disparate teams around common objectives. Here's what you should focus on:

1. Specific situation where you dealt with differing groups: Try to identify a key project or scenario in your prior job roles where two or more teams had conflicting views.

2. What you did: Detail the exact actions you took to address and resolve the disagreement. Did you organize a meeting, mediate a solution or come up with a novel approach?

3. Result: What was the impact of your actions on the teams and the project/company as a result? Be sure to highlight any significant positive outcomes.

In my previous role as a Project Manager at XYZ Corp., we had two teams, the Design team and the Manufacturing team, that had conflicting views on how a product's design should be implemented. The Design team believed their innovative design would make our product stand out in the market, while the Manufacturing team was concerned that the design was too complex and would increase production costs.

Firstly, I organized a joint meeting between the two teams. I encouraged an open, respectful dialogue where each team presented their viewpoints and concerns. We discussed the concerns thoroughly, and I helped to identify areas of compromise. I also facilitated the teams in understanding how each of their views contributed to the overall company objectives of innovation and cost-efficiency.

As a result, we were able to develop a product that was successfully innovative yet cost-effective. Both teams felt valued and recognized for their inputs, and this greatly improved interdepartmental communication and collaboration moving forward.

During my tenure as a Lead Engineer at ABC Company, two of our development teams had differing views on which software framework should be used for a particular project. The disagreement was causing project delays and impacting morale.

I led a workshop combining members of both teams. We listed out each team's preferred frameworks, the strengths and weaknesses, and how they align with the project requirements. By involving everyone in dissecting the problem together, the teams could visualize and comprehend the concerns of their counterparts.

Post discussions, we decided to develop a hybrid framework that accommodated key features from both the proposed frameworks. This strategy not only resolved the disagreement but also gave us a more versatile and powerful toolset, enhancing the project's end product. The teams also developed a better appreciation of each other's viewpoints leading to more cooperative work environment afterwards.