How to Answer: "How do you handle inter-team dependencies that delay your sprint?"

“When facing inter-team dependencies, I proactively de-risk them before the sprint starts by defining strict OpenAPI contracts with partner teams. If an unexpected delay occurs, I decouple our work using mock endpoints and feature flags so my team can deliver non-blocking UI/business logic on schedule. Concurrently, I communicate directly with the blocking team's tech lead to adjust priorities or offer temporary pairing assistance. If the blocker persists, I transparently swap backlog tasks during daily standup and inform product leadership.”

“I address dependencies during sprint refinement by flagging potential bottlenecks. If a dependent team gets delayed, I reach out to their lead to understand the revised ETA and see if we can use a temporary stub or dummy data to keep building. If the dependency halts critical work, I inform my engineering manager immediately so we can pivot to parallel user stories without wasting sprint velocity.”

“I make sure to raise dependencies as soon as I notice them in sprint planning. If another team is delayed, I notify my team lead right away and ask if I can stub out the backend response or work on a secondary ticket while waiting for their API to land.”