How should you involve your stakeholders in the product development process?
As your company grows, cross-team communication becomes a key responsibility of the Product organization. As product leaders, here are a few ways to keep stakeholders informed and involved in the product development process:
Listen to Feedback
Your stakeholders are a key source of product feedback. Make it easy for them to provide feedback on existing products and contribute ideas for new features.
At Instacart we’ve found that creating open email groups is the simplest and most effective way to collect feedback from stakeholders. Anyone in the company can join these groups to be part of the process of giving and receiving product feedback.
An open Slack channel can also be a great forum for hosting product discussions. Invite your stakeholders to ask questions and provide feedback in whatever channel is easiest for them.
For key stakeholder groups like Customer Service or Business Development, a regularly scheduled meeting with a Product Manager ensures that nothing important slips through the communication cracks.
Share Projects & Roadmaps
You might know every detail of your active projects but the rest of your organization is probably busy with other work. Your stakeholders need a lightweight way to understand what the Product team is working on and who is involved.
Take the time to document active projects and make a point to share project documents and roadmaps with the whole company regularly. At Instacart we hold periodic roadmap review meetings where Product Managers share their team’s plans with company leadership. Anyone in the company is invited to join these meetings. Roadmaps are also posted in a central location for all to see.
Teach Them Your Process
You are an expert in the product development process at your company but your stakeholders may not be. It’s your responsibility to provide stakeholders with a foundational understanding of the process so they understand your decisions.
Walk your stakeholders through your own prioritization framework so that they understand how you estimate the size and impact of projects. Explain the metrics you use to track success and the ways you will assess the impact of projects. When working with stakeholders to prioritize their requests, encourage them to carefully explain problems and their potential impact to in the same way you would as a Product leader.
Take time to learn from your stakeholders as well. Truly understand the root of the issue and the goals of your stakeholders before starting a discussion about potential solutions.
Communication with stakeholders is an extremely important part of the Product team’s role. If you form solid relationships with your stakeholders through listening, sharing and teaching, you’ll work better together and become more likely to achieve the results you both want for your company.
Learn more about how Product, Engineering and Design should work together.
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