Do you approach stakeholder management differently based on the team you're talking to? And if so, how?

Absolutely - I think it’s one of the most important differentiators in driving effective outcomes. At a high level, the core principle stays the same: you’re always working toward a shared goal. But how you get there should look different depending on the stakeholder, because each team brings its own priorities, pressures, and definition of success. First, I spend time understanding what that stakeholder uniquely cares about and is accountable for. Every function is optimizing for something slig ...Read More

100%. A rule of thumb that has been helpful for me is that your organization's primary Go-to-market motion defines the primary and secondary stakeholders that you interact with. For each stakeholder, it's essential to define a commonly agreed-upon success criterion/criteria that make both teams successful. Most of your discussions with the stakeholder would hover around this chosen set of criteria.  a) In a Product-led Growth model, Product Management is one of the two primary stakeholders (the ...Read More

Yes 100%! Different teams have different priorities, pressures, and ways of communicating—so I definitely tailor my approach depending on who I'm working with. Here are some examples: Sales: I like to focus things on impact -- really talk through how a new campaign or asset will support their goals (e.g. - breaking into a greenfield account, accelerating a deal) Product or Engineering: They want to understand the "Why" and how it connects to the broader business and/or product strategy. Their re ...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 approach every discussion with every stakeholder from the perspective that we’re partners. We’re working towards the same goals and have respect for each other and our respective functions. We’re all in the same boat and want to row in the same direction. For every conversation, it’s important to enter with confidence and subject matter expertise, but with the grounding knowledge that everyone is on the same team, supporting each other as partners. Some of the best feedback I’ve received in my ...Read More

Yes, definitely. Different teams will have varying context about creative work, so it's important to understand their working knowledge of your craft and how much you will either need to explain or can move quickly on. There will also be stakeholders who literally have more of a stake in your project, and therefore they will likely need more communication and updates as the project progresses. It's helpful at the beginning of a project to set expectations with teams you've never worked with befo ...Read More

Absolutely! Not only the team, but also the individual.   Every team has its own goals and challenges and to work effectively with them, you need to first understand their needs and align accordingly.   For example, if you have to work with the product team to build assets, it is important to know their calendar – when is the next product launch coming up – because that will take precedence over everything else, unless you are creating something for a customer for an identified opportunity.   Wo ...Read More