Identify your stakeholders
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2025 8:26 am
One of the biggest challenges when we talk about stakeholder management is understanding how to structure your product communication in order to keep these people engaged, updated, with their expectations – and anxieties – well managed and trusting in your work during the progress of your initiatives.
This challenge gains new layers when we humanize the stakeholder position , and, instead of treating this relationship simply as stakeholder management, we begin to prioritize the construction of a safe environment for exchanges, in which transparency is a priority in building the relationship.
There is a long way to go to achieve excellence in your com vk statistics and user count munication, storytelling and alignment skills. And to get there, treating your communication as a product can help you define methods for continuous evolution. In this article, I will share with you how, in my experience as a Product and Program Manager , I managed to evolve my communication standards.
This process starts by knowing who to talk to. Who are the actual stakeholders in your initiative? And what are their levels of interest? Does this person need to be giving their opinion on the solution design at each sprint? Or does he or she only need to be informed about the milestones being delivered ?
To help with this identification, there are many possible techniques that can be implemented, such as the stakeholder map or the RACI matrix . They provide a view not only of who these people are, but also what level of information, depth and proximity your stakeholders need to have.
This will be a fundamental guide for building your internal communication and reports.
Build deep relationships with room for vulnerability
Generally, the difficulty in stakeholder management is being able to understand what the real demands are, how those actors expect communication to occur. And sometimes, for those who are leading the issue, it can be difficult to be direct and ask questions, especially considering that it is expected of you to read the context and understand the best way to do it.
And, in fact, this is expected. However, reaching this place can be simpler if you are open to building a relationship . So, a strategy of 1:1s, finding points of identification between you, active and empathetic listening, understanding the stakeholder and how that initiative impacts them is a good place to start.
In line with this, it is important to have a well-structured storytelling , always with a good data foundation. And to act as a leader through influence, being more intentional in communication and making the process more fluid.
Relating to stakeholders can often be difficult. We have to deal with our biases about the person, their biases about us, the meeting of expectations and anxieties, and all the pressure that surrounds us. Humanizing this process is a way to deal with it in a more relaxed way and be more efficient.
Establish your communication pattern
Once you have identified your stakeholders and sought to build a relationship with them, it is time to design and implement an engagement and communication plan. In other words, establish alignment processes that bring stakeholders closer to monitoring the issue.
But how to do this?
Understand which forums are necessary
Depending on the phase of the initiative, and the maturity of the topic, there are some possible agendas that may be important for you:
Brainstorming or lean inception sessions if your initiative is still in the ideation phase and you are interested in creating a sense of belonging and collaboration with your stakeholders ;
User story mapping sessions or other techniques that allow tactical deployment and construction of action plans that involve the stakeholder;
Demos or usability tests to demonstrate progress and concrete feedback on the final vision of the solution;
Performance follow-ups if the interest is to monitor the behavior of the solution and the interaction with users;
Define your asynchronous communication format
In addition to the synchronous and routine forums that will be run, it is important to think about the cadence at which you will use them, combining efforts with asynchronous communication patterns.
Especially during the delivery process, it is essential to ensure that your stakeholders have the most up-to-date information, and to do so, that they know where this information is, when they can look for it and what level of granularity they need.
One possible path is:
Align the communication channel : will you create a specific channel for your initiative? Or is there already a space where interested people are already present and that you can use to communicate asynchronously?
Promote clarity of cadence : people's expectations are much easier to manage when they have predictability about the information you provide. A common approach is to establish biweekly communications, usually in line with the sprint cycle, so that with each communication you have new statuses, possible advances or requests for help to be aligned;
Listen to your consumers : experiment with communication formats and be open to feedback . After all, your communication is not for you, but for those who are interested. Was the information clear? Was there any relevant detail missing?
Structure your storytelling well : in asynchronous communication, good storytelling can be a game-changer for stakeholder engagement. Bring data whenever possible, be visual if it makes it easier to understand, write succinctly and assertively, hold the necessary people accountable so that they realize the importance of your actions, and adapt the granularity of the information to those who will consume it.
This challenge gains new layers when we humanize the stakeholder position , and, instead of treating this relationship simply as stakeholder management, we begin to prioritize the construction of a safe environment for exchanges, in which transparency is a priority in building the relationship.
There is a long way to go to achieve excellence in your com vk statistics and user count munication, storytelling and alignment skills. And to get there, treating your communication as a product can help you define methods for continuous evolution. In this article, I will share with you how, in my experience as a Product and Program Manager , I managed to evolve my communication standards.
This process starts by knowing who to talk to. Who are the actual stakeholders in your initiative? And what are their levels of interest? Does this person need to be giving their opinion on the solution design at each sprint? Or does he or she only need to be informed about the milestones being delivered ?
To help with this identification, there are many possible techniques that can be implemented, such as the stakeholder map or the RACI matrix . They provide a view not only of who these people are, but also what level of information, depth and proximity your stakeholders need to have.
This will be a fundamental guide for building your internal communication and reports.
Build deep relationships with room for vulnerability
Generally, the difficulty in stakeholder management is being able to understand what the real demands are, how those actors expect communication to occur. And sometimes, for those who are leading the issue, it can be difficult to be direct and ask questions, especially considering that it is expected of you to read the context and understand the best way to do it.
And, in fact, this is expected. However, reaching this place can be simpler if you are open to building a relationship . So, a strategy of 1:1s, finding points of identification between you, active and empathetic listening, understanding the stakeholder and how that initiative impacts them is a good place to start.
In line with this, it is important to have a well-structured storytelling , always with a good data foundation. And to act as a leader through influence, being more intentional in communication and making the process more fluid.
Relating to stakeholders can often be difficult. We have to deal with our biases about the person, their biases about us, the meeting of expectations and anxieties, and all the pressure that surrounds us. Humanizing this process is a way to deal with it in a more relaxed way and be more efficient.
Establish your communication pattern
Once you have identified your stakeholders and sought to build a relationship with them, it is time to design and implement an engagement and communication plan. In other words, establish alignment processes that bring stakeholders closer to monitoring the issue.
But how to do this?
Understand which forums are necessary
Depending on the phase of the initiative, and the maturity of the topic, there are some possible agendas that may be important for you:
Brainstorming or lean inception sessions if your initiative is still in the ideation phase and you are interested in creating a sense of belonging and collaboration with your stakeholders ;
User story mapping sessions or other techniques that allow tactical deployment and construction of action plans that involve the stakeholder;
Demos or usability tests to demonstrate progress and concrete feedback on the final vision of the solution;
Performance follow-ups if the interest is to monitor the behavior of the solution and the interaction with users;
Define your asynchronous communication format
In addition to the synchronous and routine forums that will be run, it is important to think about the cadence at which you will use them, combining efforts with asynchronous communication patterns.
Especially during the delivery process, it is essential to ensure that your stakeholders have the most up-to-date information, and to do so, that they know where this information is, when they can look for it and what level of granularity they need.
One possible path is:
Align the communication channel : will you create a specific channel for your initiative? Or is there already a space where interested people are already present and that you can use to communicate asynchronously?
Promote clarity of cadence : people's expectations are much easier to manage when they have predictability about the information you provide. A common approach is to establish biweekly communications, usually in line with the sprint cycle, so that with each communication you have new statuses, possible advances or requests for help to be aligned;
Listen to your consumers : experiment with communication formats and be open to feedback . After all, your communication is not for you, but for those who are interested. Was the information clear? Was there any relevant detail missing?
Structure your storytelling well : in asynchronous communication, good storytelling can be a game-changer for stakeholder engagement. Bring data whenever possible, be visual if it makes it easier to understand, write succinctly and assertively, hold the necessary people accountable so that they realize the importance of your actions, and adapt the granularity of the information to those who will consume it.