Anticipating Stakeholder Needs

Building trust and better products.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

My role as a Product Manager in our Digital Transformation Environment often requires me to introduce stakeholders and teams to methods and practices that are new to them. Getting someone on board with the new and uncomfortable often requires a degree of trust and in the software world of trying to shorten release cycles and deliver value faster, you need to be able to build that trust fast. These are some of the things you can do to anticipate your stakeholders’ needs, earn trust fast, and build better products.

• Identify the reports you support. Be proactive in having this conversation. Ask “What do you do on a weekly basis to help support the problem we’re trying to solve and what information can I provide you with to help?” Being proactive in this conversation shows that you care about their success and is a sure-fire way to establish yourself as their ally.
• Get to know your stakeholders and understand what goals you can help them accomplish. Most people set goals for personal or professional growth. Some of these goals probably have to do with the problem space you’re working together in, some might not. By understanding their goals, you can help them accomplish some of them whether it be through being proactive in providing information and data, or connecting them to new people.
• Understand each stakeholders’ level of technical understanding. You need to speak in a language that resonates with everyone and communicates clearly on each person’s individual level. Clear communication is important and is not just about sending a message but also the way it is received. When everyone is “speaking the same language” there are fewer misunderstandings, an increased comfort level, and idea sharing and feedback can flow more freely.
• Determine your stakeholders’ preferred methods of communication. Most people tend to neglect some platforms and gravitate towards others. You and your stakeholders are busy and you don’t want your message getting lost in the shuffle when answers were needed yesterday! A lot of unnecessary pain can be solved by a simple conversation about what methods different parties prefer.
• Determine the appropriate amount of communication for your stakeholders by doing a stakeholder mapping exercise with your team. I prefer the classic “2 by 2” with axes of influence and interest. The stakeholders that land in the high influence/high interest quadrant require the most communication, low influence-low interest typically require the least.
• Publish a weekly product update. I’m a huge advocate of this! At the end of every week spend about 30 minutes writing up what you’ve been up to for the last week. Discuss your successes, what’s coming up, any significant challenges, and things that have provided a boost to the team velocity. This update will help keep stakeholders on the same page so they understand where you’re at and where you’re going. It will also help reduce the number of hours you spend on the phone discussing these things when stakeholders call you out of the blue with questions or to check in. Lastly, in not being afraid to share your challenges or struggles, it’s can have the added benefit of leading stakeholders to offer help in removing blockers. I’ll say it again because this one is so important, proactively publish a weekly product update!

There you have it, some of the key actions I take to get out ahead of stakeholders’ needs. In doing so, I’ve been able to earn trust fast, establish strong relationships, and build better products.