Topics:

Prioritization:

Why should I know learn this skill : to manage limited resources- unlimited tasks, prevent
project delays, satisfy sx and clients, helps in risk management and decision making, helps in
agile and adaptive ways of working.

1. How to do it: firstly I should have clear understand of project objections, what to achieve,
what are the expected outcomes, objectives should be SMART.
2. Evaluate and Classify Activities: break down the objectives in specific tasks, this task are
assess and classify based on imp and urgency (eisenhower matrix).

Project Type Best Prioritization Methods

Software MoSCoW, Agile (Kano model, RICE), Dependency
Development Mapping
IT & Infrastructure Critical Path, Weighted Scoring
Product Management Agile Backlog, Kano Model, 80/20 Rule
Marketing & Sales Eisenhower Matrix, SMART Goals, Kanban
HR & Operations OKRs, Kanban, Pareto Principle
Event Planning Eisenhower Matrix, MoSCoW
Combinations
· IT Teams → Kanban + Eisenhower Matrix for Agile work organization.
· Operations Teams → ABC Method + Time Blocking to balance high-impact tasks.

3. Create a detailed project plan: with the prioritized list I would create a plan including
timeline, required resources, and roles and responsibilities of the team members. MS
Projects
4. Allocate resources strategically: right resource to right task at right time, avoiding
workloads and bottle necks. Be flexible to adapt changes and emergencies that rise during
projects.
5. Monitor and reevaluate priorities: its important to continuously monitor progress and be
ready to reevaluate and reorganize the priorities based on new information.
Proactive management of expectations changing business needs
can prevent misunderstandings and ensure continuous stakeholder
support throughout the project life cycle.

Conflicting priorities:

IT

How Do You Prioritize Project Tasks When Multiple Stakeholders Have Conflicting Requirements?
· Introduction: Setting the Scene (The Conflict & Stakeholders)
During an e-commerce platform revamp, we faced a high-stakes prioritization challenge where multiple teams
had conflicting requirements. Each stakeholder viewed their task as the most urgent:

- Delays in the recommendation engine could hurt peak-season sales.

- Security concerns could lead to financial fraud if ignored.
- Postponing logistics integration might affect order fulfillment.
With the holiday season approaching, each team had a different sense of urgency, making prioritization a
complex balancing act.
2. The Challenge: Balancing Business Impact & Security
As the project lead, my role was to mediate between conflicting priorities and ensure that the most impact ful
and time-sensitive tasks were addressed .Challenge was to balancing security payment platform, deliver key
feature before holiday sale.
Balancing these factors required a data-driven approach rather than subjective decision-making.
3. Action Plan: Prioritization Frameworks & Stakeholder Collaboration
To make objective decisions, I used a two-step evaluation process:
Step 1: Assessing Impact Using a Risk Matrix & ROI Analysis
Security Vulnerability: I applied a risk impact analysis : The findings were clear: this was a high-risk, high-impact
issue that required immediate action to prevent fraud.
Recommendation Engine: Evaluated the ROI potential of increased conversion rates and the technical feasibility
of implementing it quickly. Data showed that it could significantly boost revenue during peak sales.
Logistics Integration: Analysis showed that postponing the integration wouldn’t disrupt holiday operations,
making it a lower-priority task.
Step 2: Prioritizing with the MoSCoW Method
Using the MoSCoW prioritization framework, I categorized tasks based on urgency and business impact:

I worked closely with each team, made sure their concerns were addressed and they agreed on the updated
timeline. This structured approach helped me align all stakeholders on why certain tasks needed immediate
attention.
4. Execution & Results: Impactful Outcomes
By effectively aligning priorities and collaborating with each team, we ensured seamless execution:
✅ Security vulnerability patched in 48 hours, preventing potential fraud and ensuring compliance.
✅ Recommendation engine launched just before peak season, leading to an 18% boost in conversion rates.
✅ Third-party logistics integration postponed strategically, with no disruption to order fulfillment.
Operation:

I was working on project with WMS operations team, to resolve delayed deliveries due to inventory
mismanagement in the regional w/hs. we faced a challenging prioritization issue related to inventory
management. where

There was clear conflict between sales and finance team on inventory management. With limited time before
the sale, I had to balance inventory optimization, cost reduction.

TasK : As a pm,
- Stock levels were optimized to prevent stockouts during the sale.
- Finance team’s cost-cutting goals were addressed without impacting revenue.
- Warehouse operations were efficient enough to handle increased order flow.
The key challenge was the conflict between Sales and Finance—increasing stock levels for Sales meant higher
holding costs, whereas reducing stock for Finance risked stockouts during peak demand.

Action: Before acting a decision, I coordinated with each team individual to access the impact and urgency. I
conducted a deatiled analysis of inventory data, including sales forcast, stock availability in the regional w/h. I use
ABC inventory classification method classify high demand products and low demand products. I facilitated a cross
function work shop with all the stakeholder, and led them towards a common solution, We decided to increase
stock level for High demand products in key regien and reduce stock level of low demand product, finance team
agrred to increase stock for the flase sale, decide to reduce them post sale.
To monitor projects process I used Kanban Board, facilitaed daily meeting to identify and resolve risks
proactively.
It Results: Met flash sale demand without stockouts, successfully fulfilling all sales orders.
📉 Reduced warehouse processing time by 25%, improving operational efficiency.
💰 Optimized inventory costs, balancing Finance’s budget constraints.

The structured approach ensured that all stakeholder goals were met without compromising sales, costs, or
operational efficiency..

Agile :

· Can you give an example of a time when you had to adjust priorities in an Agile project due to
changing business needs?

in✅ Situation:
"During an Agile sprint for a major e-commerce platform revamp, our primary focus was
implementing a personalized recommendation engine to increase conversion rates before the holiday
season. However, midway through the sprint, a critical security vulnerability was flagged in the user
payment system, creating an urgent fraud risk. Simultaneously, an unexpected regulatory change
required immediate compliance updates to our checkout process. The development team was also in
the middle of integrating a third-party logistics provider. Given the evolving business needs and time
constraints, we had to rapidly reassess our priorities and adapt our sprint plan."

✅ Task:
"As the Project Manager, my responsibility was to facilitate an Agile reprioritization that aligned with
both business and security needs while ensuring minimal disruption to ongoing work. The challenge
was balancing security compliance with feature delivery and maintaining Agile momentum without
overloading the development team."

✅ Action:
"To address the shifting priorities, I

Held an emergency backlog refinement session with the Product Owner, security team, and business
stakeholders to reassess priority items based on risk and impact.
Used a Risk Impact Matrix to evaluate the potential consequences of delaying the security fix and
compliance updates.
Applied the MoSCoW method to prioritize:
Must Have → Security vulnerability fix and compliance updates (to prevent fraud and legal penalties).
Should Have → Personalized recommendation engine (to drive sales, but could be deferred slightly).
Could Have → Logistics integration (important but not critical for holiday readiness).
Collaborated with the development team to adjust the sprint backlog while maintaining a sustainable
workload.
Engaged stakeholders in a sprint review to communicate the reprioritization and ensure alignment on
expectations."
✅ Result:
"By swiftly reprioritizing, we successfully patched the security vulnerability within 48 hours, preventing
potential fraud risks and regulatory penalties. The compliance updates were implemented within the
same sprint, ensuring the platform met legal requirements. Although the personalized
recommendation engine was slightly delayed, it was delivered in the next sprint and still launched in
time for the holiday season, contributing to an 18% increase in conversion rates. The logistics
integration was postponed to a later sprint without affecting immediate business operations."
What could you have done differently? Proactively Identifying Security Risks, Holding more frequent cross-
functional check-ins with legal, compliance, and security teams could have helped us anticipate regulatory shifts
sooner.
What have you learned from this project?- Maintaining a flexible backlog and fostering a culture of
adaptability.2 Risk Management Should Be Proactive, Not Reactive. 3.Transparent Communication is Essential

· Describe a situation where you had to prioritize bug fixes over new feature releases. How did
you decide?

· If your development team is behind schedule, how do you reassess task priorities to meet the
deadline?

· How do you handle prioritization in Agile sprints? How do you decide what goes into the
backlog?

· Explain how you use risk management to prioritize tasks in an IT project.

· How do you communicate priority changes to developers and stakeholders?

· How do you manage a situation where an executive pushes for a low-priority task to be
completed urgently?

Non IT
· Describe a time when you had limited resources but had to deliver multiple high-priority tasks ?
· How do you balance multiple projects with competing deadlines?
· Describe a situation where you had to handle unexpected delays. How did you adjust priorities?
· How do you manage stakeholder expectations when priorities shift?
Stakeholder buyin:

IT

Question: Can you describe a time when you had to gain buy-in from multiple stakeholders for a
critical technical project decision?

✅ Situation:
"During the redesign of an e-commerce checkout system, the engineering team wanted to introduce a
microservices architecture for scalability, while the finance team was concerned about potential cost
overruns. At the same time, the marketing team prioritized a seamless user experience over technical
complexity. Each team had different priorities, making alignment challenging."

✅ Task:
"As the Project Manager, I needed to bridge the gap between technical and business priorities while
ensuring stakeholder alignment. The challenge was to gain approval for a scalable architecture
without alienating non-technical stakeholders who focused on immediate costs and user experience."

✅ Action:

1. Identified key concerns – Held 1:1 discussions to understand resistance points from each
group.
2. Translated technical benefits into business value – Demonstrated how microservices would
improve uptime, reduce maintenance costs long-term, and support rapid feature
deployment.
3. Provided data-backed decision-making – Created a comparative cost-benefit analysis
showing how initial investment in microservices would lead to cost savings in scalability and
performance.
4. Compromised where necessary – Agreed to phase the implementation gradually, reducing
upfront costs while delivering early user experience improvements.
5. Facilitated alignment sessions – Hosted cross-functional meetings to ensure all concerns
were addressed and encouraged collaborative decision-making.

✅ Result:
"By proactively engaging stakeholders and framing the discussion around long-term benefits, I
secured buy-in for a phased microservices rollout. This led to a 30% reduction in downtime and a 15%
improvement in page load speed, significantly enhancing the user experience without exceeding
budget constraints."
Stakeholder Relationship

IT

Can you describe a time when you had to establish a relationship with a difficult stakeholder?

Cross-funtional teams manage relation

Manage:

In any project, I believe effective collaboration, alignment, coordiantion and continuous engagement
helps in smooth execution, and its my responsibility to make them happen.
1. Establishing clear comm. Channels, by ensuring all team members have visibility into deliverables,
timeline, and dependencies, I use Jira/ confluence and facilitate regular standups. I tailor my comm.
Style (tech- docu. And business- discussions(meeting))
2. I define clear roles and responsibilities for each team members, how there are contributing to
project success, I facilitate regular stand up to identify potential bottlenecks and dependencies to
mitigate risks proactively.
3. If any conflict arises, I mediate discussions, focusing on shared goals, to make data driven decisions.
I actively seek feedback and adjust work flows to improve efficiency and team dynamics.

GLobal :

When working with globally distributed teams across timezones, cultures and working styles, I adjust
my approach for seamless collaboration;
1. I strategically schedule meeting, by rotating meeting times to accommodate different time zones. I
document minutes of meeting share to all members so they contribute at their convience.
2. Their will be cultures difference in communication styles, work ethics and decision making, I
encourage inclusive participation.
3. Last and most important: project-related information is documented in centralized paltform,
visible to all teams, to reduce confusion, allows teams to access uopdates without needing constant
live discussions.