[Behavioral] Tell me about a time you had to influence without authority.

Illustrative answer

This is a fictional example. Replace the situation, actions and outcome with your own truthful experience.

Support and engineering were each waiting for the other to complete an intake handoff. Support considered a ticket ready once the customer described the problem; engineering needed reproduction steps and an affected version. I was the BA and managed neither team.

I reviewed a small sample of stalled tickets with both leads and mapped where the missing information caused returns. I separated that evidence from assumptions about who was at fault. Then I proposed a short readiness checklist, a named owner for gathering missing details and an exception route for urgent cases. Each lead confirmed what their team could own; I did not assign responsibilities on their behalf.

We agreed to try the handoff on the next intake cycle. I documented the decision and checked the returned tickets with the leads. The reviewed cases had clear owners, and the remaining exception was escalated through the agreed route. That supported keeping the process for another cycle; it did not prove a company-wide reduction in delays.

I learned that influence was strongest when I made a shared problem concrete and helped the actual owners test a manageable change.

Why this works

The example shows evidence, a specific intervention, decision authority and a bounded outcome. The candidate's contribution is distinguishable from the team leads' approval.

Follow-up to practice

What would you do if one lead rejected the checklist or the pilot increased their workload?