AMA: Observable Head of Growth Marketing, Erika Barbosa on Stakeholder Management

My advice can apply even outside of Sales - try to frame your interactions around the question - how can I help? Even more so lately, people feel overwhelmed with a constant shortage of time. Time is money for Sales and when possible, you want to establish this relationship from a lens of empathy and partnership. Here are three of my top strategies to drive alignment with Sales: Share insights. What better way to drive alignment and nurture a relationship than with ongoing information sharing? W ...Read More

The key stakeholders from other departments change due to the needs of the business changing. The swimlanes for demand generation typically become more defined. There are more processes and procedures in place based on what you manage. You’ll probably find that you go from wearing many hats with less clarity on your stakeholders to a more narrow focus with clearly defined stakeholders. Fast forward from a startup environment to an SMB or enterprise and the only constant is change. You may go fro ...Read More

This is tough to navigate but doable. I recommend that you actively listen to both sides. Try to meet them where they are at. To do so, you’ll need to empathetically listen to their perspectives. Identify a common ground for the executive stakeholders backed by data. It’s harder to argue against facts. Let the data help navigate the discussion and bring you to a compromise. I also recommend that you assume good intentions. Keep stakeholders focused on the bigger picture and its associated busine ...Read More

The approach for managing people who don’t report to you will be different from your direct reports. This can equally apply to feedback on a piece of work and prioritizing your project. However, it all starts with building relationships. A few of the key ingredients to a successful relationship include: Validation of the work being completed Acknowledgment of the effort and attention that is involved Communication that is clear, transparent and informative It’s critical to be thoughtful in your ...Read More

Stakeholder management should absolutely be approached differently based on the team you’re speaking with. The reason for this is that each stakeholder is going to have a different need or interest. Just like you would speak with individuals based on the relationship you have established, the same applies to stakeholders. How do you do this? Customize your approach based on what impacts the stakeholder. You’ll need to be adaptable and flexible. Because everyone has different needs and concerns, ...Read More

I believe the key to this is to set clear expectations from the beginning. Communicate the project framework in your kickoff or initial call. If this foundation is laid from the beginning, it won’t be interpreted as a pivot. It will be interpreted as carrying through what you initially outlined. There needs to be a clear owner of the project, collaborators and identified individuals who need to be informed (or a similar framework). Proactively keep the team informed. Celebrate successes along th ...Read More

Aligning internal stakeholders can be challenging, but also rewarding and necessary. When you think about career growth, this is one skill that will level you up. Why? It’s human nature to have opinions and perspectives that we hold strongly. Sometimes these opinions may not be the project driver or the subject matter expert. To meet business objectives, you’ll need to gain buy-in, alignment and ultimately respect from your stakeholders. How do you start building this alignment? It all starts wi ...Read More

From the beginning of a project, set clearly defined objectives and goals. I believe the key to managing stakeholder input is to lay the foundation from the beginning. It’s much harder to manage stakeholders and their feedback if the structure is not set from day 1. If each interaction anchors to this then your stakeholders won’t experience surprises. Clear communication is going to be necessary as well. My preference is to get ahead of the questions. Define how you are going to communicate prog ...Read More

My current role has a focus on growth marketing and is all about influencing others without authority because of the cross-functional nature of the role. Depending on the org structure, you’ll need to work with product marketing, customer success, sales, engineering, design and many other departments. I do not have authority across all of these departments. Yet the cross-functional nature is imperative to reach our united business objectives. I recommend you lead by example. This makes it much e ...Read More

It’s challenging to improve a historically tense relationship. It takes time and mutual respect. The key is to create an environment that is a safe space. Model and foster an environment of communication, transparency and empathy. Know that you will need patience as you work to create a more collaborative relationship. It’s important to meet people where they are at. Why has there been a tense relationship? What’s within your control that you can do to help improve the situation? How do you help ...Read More

This is a difficult task that needs to be managed with care. Before conflict even begins, from day one as a leader, you should foster a safe space. This way, when conflict arises, team members feel it is safe to discuss their perspectives. Brené Brown refers to this as a rumble and I highly recommend you read her work in Dare to Lead. It’s critical to listen with an empathetic ear. Be sure to offer validation of feelings and perspectives. Approach the conflict with open communication, respect, c ...Read More

The best cadence for gathering stakeholder feedback in preparation for a launch is specific to the timeline of the launch. I recommend getting ahead of this and collecting feedback with ample time to map out additional touchpoints for feedback such as at set milestones. Ask yourself, how long do you need to document the feedback, define action items and incorporate the feedback accordingly? For example, this is a general framework for collecting feedback at milestones: Pre-launch. Who do you nee ...Read More

To influence people across different functions and teams you need to focus on our common denominator of being human with our individual perspectives. Here are my five tips to accomplish this: Lead by example. Embody the type of person that people respect even if they do not agree with you. Show up in the way that you would like others to show up for you. Empathy. Put yourself in their shoes and approach interactions from this lens. It’s important to be respectful even if you have to agree to dis ...Read More

Managing stakeholders is a critical and necessary skill, and clear communication plays a significant role in achieving this. What may seem obvious or clear to one person might not be the same for others. Therefore, it's important to prioritize over-communicating to ensure understanding. An essential aspect of clear communication is simply asking questions. It is an art to ask questions in a manner that aligns with the communication style of the individual you are speaking to. It's crucial to be ...Read More