How do you ensure alignment when you have two senior executive stakeholders who disagree with each other on the proposed strategy and you are stuck in the middle?

While not ideal, it's also not uncommon that two executive stakeholders will disagree on some level of strategy on a project. I think the path through this for Product Managers really boils down to three things: Understand and leverage alignment that already exists Provide data and insights from your deeper understanding Build a plan together that focuses on iterative validation Firstly, if you are in the room together at all, that almost certainly means that on some level, there is alignment. U ...Read More

To resolve this situation, you need to: Establish who is the decision maker (it can't be two people)  Summarize conflicting points of view and communicate the process of how you evaluate them (pros & cons, etc.) Provide a clear recommendation based on your evaluation and decision-making framework Have the team commit (sometimes, "disagree and commit") to the plan.  At Atlassian, product managers use the DACI framework to move forward on decisions that are complex and/or have multiple stakeho ...Read More

'The stuck in the middle' is often a symptom of a larger problem which results from lack of operating principles for decision making. For example: we follow the DACI model for decision making where the individuals might be participating in discussion but they would not be the driver or approver of the decision. In this situation, I often ask the relevant leaders to write one pager memos explaining the issue in their words and their suggested recommendation. Once the problem is on paper and there ...Read More

When execs disagree and I’m caught in the crossfire, here’s how I find the path forward: Frame the options: I lay out 2–3 clear paths in a table including options across the top, key considerations down the side. The first column is my recommendation, with a crisp “why” up front. Identify the friction: I call out exactly where the disagreement lives and how critical those points really are. Often, it turns out the conflict is over low-priority details, not deal-breakers. Unblock with short-term ...Read More

It's a tough situation if you, as a product manager, find yourself stuck in the middle without alignment. There are certain steps you can follow if you're in such a situation: Seek early feedback: Engage with stakeholders beforehand to gauge their support, concerns, or opposition to your proposed strategy. Understand their priorities and address their feedback where possible early on Present data and insights: Support your strategy with objective information such as data, user research, and mark ...Read More

Oh boy, this one is a doozy. Here's how I generally approach this situation - hoping it helps:  Make sure your manager is aware of the conflict and see how they might be able to support you. Depending on the manager, they might just solve the issue for you. If not, then they may be able to back you up in other ways.  Get the executive stakeholders in a room together and clearly outline the conflict in strategy. I find it helps to have a short blurb or 1-pager clearly outlining:  This is my under ...Read More

There are two things I think about in cases like this: fears and steel-manning. I’ve found that one of the fastest ways to help get alignment amongst executives is to start by establishing their fears about a given strategy, plan, write-up, etc. Often disagreements in strategy come down to one person or team worrying about downstream consequences that can often be mitigated once they are out in the open. The other useful tool in these situations is steel-manning. The idea is that often during di ...Read More

Watch the video response on Loom, or read the transcript below: This question is a tough one. How do you ensure alignment when you have two executives, or sometimes even more than two, who disagree with each other on something that's important to you? Let me tell you what not to do. Don't get in the middle! The middle is a very dangerous place for you to be. You don't have context for what is driving their disagreement and You don't have the authority or power or awareness to even be part of tha ...Read More

When senior executives disagree, you can help getting the situation unstuck by bringing in additional context, information, or factors to consider to the discussion. A few of these could be: Help structure the conversation by documenting arguments in favor and against the strategy. Document what are the arguments in favor and against the proposed strategy, try to do this in a way that's neutral and unbiased. Then focus the discussion on the merits of each of those arguments. Outline a framework ...Read More

This is a really interesting question. I guess I’ve never really thought about being stuck in between two stakeholders before. Whether they agree with each other or not is actually mostly irrelevant – the real issue is that there isn’t agreement on the path forward yet and you need to build alignment. And that’s totally fine. Lack of alignment is a normal part of the process and arguably a good thing – diversity of thought and opinion makes for better decisions. So let’s talk more broadly about ...Read More

Your primary role as a product manager is to ensure doing what is best for your products and customers. To manage conflict with stakeholders, try and listen to their point of view, what is important to each stakeholder and what they are trying to achieve. Understanding their goals will enable you to try and create a solution that becomes a win-win. For example, your sales team wants to launch a beta product to maximize in-quarter revenue but your Finance & Operations team wants the backend a ...Read More

When you are stuck between the disagreement of 2 executives, there is no prescriptive playbook to help resolve this since the solution depends on the people involved, the phase of the company and the complexity of the problem. Some guiding principles to adopt to resolve the gridlock would be: Take time to understand the “why” behind the respective leader's feedback.  Add as much context and data on your preferred approach as you can and document everything in written format to drive discussion. ...Read More

At GitLab we have a DRI (directly responsible individual). The DRI is the one who's decision matters and even if there are senior leaders if they are not the DRI their opinion doesn't necessarily mean it be an outcome. But let's say the company does not have this concept and as a PM you have to take both POVs into consideration. I would make sure to restate the company/business/division/product goals. I would then provide any evidence or data to suggest which direction is better. If there is no ...Read More

Can relate to this question! I definitely struggled with similar situations earlier in my career. Interestingly I got the solution from the executives I was working with at the time. He suggested “get us together, tell us the team is struggling with completely different directions, and ask us ‘where should the team go’”. I think any seasoned executive, or team leader for that matter, knows they need to provide clear guidance to their teams. Sometimes the executives are just not aware their diffe ...Read More

Trying to understand views of both stakeholders and discussing Pros and Cons of points shared by both on given proposal would help in bringing more clarity about reasons for disagreement. And still disagreed points can be opened for discussion with 3rd senior executive stakeholder, if available. Once inputs from all are received, you should see possibility for consideration or amendment in your proposed strategy, basis your own judgement and take final decision. There could be many reasons for 2 ...Read More