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4 ways to win over a reluctant stakeholder
When stakeholder relations get rocky, try these techniques for getting them on your side.
It’s a bit like the tango. Energetic, powerful, dependent on each other but with a hint of argument woven in. That’s stakeholder management at its finest. But what about when you’re being stonewalled, and all you hear are all the reasons why what you’re proposing won’t work? We’ve all been in that situation: You need buy-in from a department head whose team needs to adjust a process or report data in a different way, and they’re reluctant (or they downright refuse) to endorse the change with their team.
Product management is a deeply collaborative, relationship-driven job, and developing techniques for addressing a reluctant stakeholder is crucial to your success. There are four easy things you can do to bring a reluctant stakeholder over to your side.
1. Walk in their shoes
Empathy is a critical skill for a product manager, but we usually talk about it in terms of understanding our users. But it’s just as important when it comes to understanding our stakeholders. Some of the most insightful conversations I’ve had have come from digging into the “why” behind the reluctance I’m facing. I’ve found everything from a hesitation to change a process during the busy season (solvable) to competing top-level goals between our two teams (more serious).
To sell, stop talking
When you’re working with a familiar stakeholder, you likely know what criticism you’ll be facing, and it’s easy to prepare your arguments in advance.
But wait.
If you go straight into selling mode, you’ll miss the point, and you likely won’t convince anyone of anything.
Instead, start with common ground and shared understanding. Do they understand the problem or opportunity as you do? Do they agree that it’s worth pursuing? How will the changes impact the stakeholder and their team? What does it mean for how they perceive their place in the company, in the process, and in the customer relationship?
Above all, listen. Listen for what is said and what isn’t. Invite them to share their…
