Getting a Launch Back on Track When a Partner Team You Depend On Falls Behind

Your feature cannot ship until a cross-functional partner team delivers its part, and that team is moving slower than expected. What do you do? ```hint Look at it from their side first Before deciding how hard to push, think about what the delay looks like to the other team: what they are measured on, what else is on their plate, and what they were actually told about your request. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - How far behind is the partner team, and what rides on your date: a commitment to customers or partners, a coordinated launch, or an internal target? - Did the partner team formally commit to a scope and a date, or was it an informal promise? - Does the partner team share your leadership chain, or sit in a separate organization with its own priorities? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - Finding out why the work is slow before acting: competing priorities, capacity, unclear requirements or a technical blocker. - Making the impact of the delay concrete and agreeing on a recovery plan with the partner team rather than for it. - Options that reduce the dependency, such as cutting scope, phasing the launch or lending people. - When and how to escalate without damaging the working relationship. - Keeping stakeholders informed and putting safeguards in place for the next cross-team dependency. ### Follow-up Questions - The partner team's lead tells you your feature is simply not a priority this quarter. What now? - You escalated, and leadership sided with the other team. How do you handle your launch and your stakeholders? - Tell me about a time this happened to you. What would you do differently now?