Within neoliberal regimes of educational performativity, expectations of teachers' work have become increasingly prescriptive, standardised and formulaic. To counter the reductive effects of this 'exteriority' of influence over teachers' work, we draw on three conceptual prompts--"relational pedagogy," "informality," and de Certeau's theorisation of "strategies and tactics"--to examine empirical accounts of teachers who challenge the normative expectations of their work. We contend that teachers who seek to work beyond the restrictions of neoliberal educational managerialism engage in deliberate acts of tactical intervention, which involve the deployment of relational and informal modes of engagement with students and other educators. In doing so, teachers can more fully assert their professionalism and nurture important relational bonds with students in ways that respond to the contingent nature of classrooms in rich and contextually meaningful ways.