Communication & collaboration

Gain cooperation without formal authority

Cross-functional project Karim BENALI Collaboration framework

Practical example

YOUR SITUATION

Launch is in ten days. A key resource is no longer available.

You are leading the launch of a new customer relationship tool. Karim BENALI, Head of Operations, was supposed to assign a team member for two half-days of testing. Ten days before launch, he tells you his team must deal with a production backlog and can no longer participate. You have no formal authority over him.

YOUR COUNTERPART

Karim BENALI

Head of Operations

Team of 12
Mindset
Under pressure, protective of his team
Primary expectation
Protect his team’s delivery capacity

YOUR MISSION

Understand his constraints, make project dependencies explicit, and secure a realistic commitment for the essential testing.

Your room to maneuver

You can reduce the initial test scope or split the testing into shorter time slots. You cannot force a resource assignment. If no agreement is possible, prepare the options together for the project sponsor.

YOUR FRAMEWORK FOR THE CONVERSATION AND REVIEW

Build a working agreement

A framework for moving forward despite competing priorities.

  1. Align on the shared goal

    Explain the goal and the concrete impact of missing the tests.

  2. Explore constraints

    Understand the other team’s workload and priorities.

  3. Explore options

    Compare several options that fit the constraints.

  4. Secure the commitment

    Clarify who does what, by when, and how to raise a blocker.

Difficulty Intermediate

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Fictional practice example · Preparation sheet