What are your key objectives and questions when meeting a new stakeholder, either with them or yourself as a new hire?

My objectives when meeting new stakeholders are centered around finding out more about them as a person and how they like to work, understanding their objectives, and getting feedback from them about what their experience with my team, function, and the broader organization has been. Here are some details about why and how I dig into these topics:

• Personal - I find it’s easier to build relationships and avoid some negative behaviors and experiences with people at work when you put in the effort to get to know more about their life outside of work. I try to get a sense of where they live, what they do on the weekends, etc. In every case, we either find something we both love and are passionate about, or find some very comical differences, both of which give each of us a better sense of the other person. This is helpful in building empathy between you and your stakeholders. It’s much harder to assume negative intent or to be rude to people you have bonded with over things like the best local coffee shops in a favorite neighborhood for instance, than ones where your only experiences are work-related.

• Goals & Objectives - The next area I focus on is understanding their objectives and goals. To put a finer point on it, I want to understand their objectives and goals for themselves and their team, and what they need to be successful. The stakeholders of a healthy organization generally want the same outcome (more revenue, better customer experience, etc), but they differ on the prioritization of the goals and/or the method for reaching that goal. I ask questions and try to uncover details that will allow me to link my goals and theirs in any way. I then look for opportunities for my role and skillset to contribute positively to my stakeholder’s goals, and I brainstorm some of these opportunities with them. The shocking thing is how many people are taken off guard by this approach. So rarely are stakeholder meetings voluntarily helpful that whenever I offer to support their goals with things in my purview people are genuinely surprised and extremely appreciative. It sets the tone for a great relationship and partnership.

• Experiential - Another potential friction point with stakeholders is the experience that they are having or have had in the past with your function, certain team members, or the approach the organization is taking to address a shared need or objective. Therefore, I often spend time while relationship building asking questions about my stakeholder’s experience. What do they think is working well vs what could be improved? Are there any friction points in the process we can address? Etc. If you are going to ask these types of questions, make sure you are ready and willing to hear the answers. Be very mindful of how you respond, because anything less than “Thank you so much for sharing that, can you please tell me more,” and you have negatively impacted your relationship with this stakeholder or partner as well as their likelihood to share this kind of feedback with you in the future.

Lts flip this around - what are the questions our new partners are thinking of, but probably will not ask us? I can gaurantee there are at least four:

• Will I like working with this person?
• Can I trust this person?
• What change is this person going to create?
• Do we have the same expectations about how we work together?

I am framing things this way for two reasons. First, the primary objective when meeting new partners is always to lay down a foundation of trust. A great way to start building that trust is to be genuinely curious about your partner's perspective and offer up answers vs. making them dig around. Second, it's far too common that we start with trying to understand that person's role ahead of understanding the person themselves. Remember, we work with people, not roles. There will be plenty of time to talk about the work in front of you, your roles and responsibilities, and OKRs.

A few finer points:

I encourage everyone to take on a mindset of having partners vs. stakeholders. Personally, having stakeholders feels adversarial to me. I know it's semantics, but consider if you would rather be considered a partner or stakeholder :) 

There are specific questions you should answer together in order to set healthy boundaries and clear expectations. All too often unclear boundaries and expectations are the fuel for discord and drama

1. Who is the decision maker for X, Y, and Z?
2. How do you like to receive feedback?
3. What does it look like for us to disagree and commit?
4. If we feel the need to escalate something where we are at an impasse, how do we do that together in a way that preserves our partnership?

I would recommend slightly different objectives based on whom you are meeting and building a relationship with, here's the big categories I'd consider with the objectives:

• Product, Design, Engineering, Data but not in your direct team - the goal here is to build a great collaborative relationship. Whether they are more senior/ junior, or working a different part of the organization. You want to focus on building trust, understanding and an open line of communication. Additionally, you want to get a strong understanding of their focus areas, their priorities, and why, and make sure they walk away with the same understanding of yours. With that foundation, you'll be well set up for all the types of things that could come your way - a need to work together, a request for or from the other team, a reshuffling so you directly work together, an opportunity to bring something new to the table in partnership. Questions to ask:

  • What are your priorities for this quarter/half/year?

  • What are you most excited about?

  • What are you most worried about?

  • How could me and/or my team help you with your goals?

  • What has been working well in the past between our areas? What hasn't?

• Marketing and Growth - the goal here is to build a great collaborative relationship. It's really helpful to understand their goals and challenges. Then depending on the organization and how closely these functions work with product you will want to understand what they are looking for from product. It's possible that they are simply looking for clear communication or they may be in a place where they are feeding you lots of customer insights and want to be very involved in creating product strategies and go to market plans. Having this context is critically important to making sure you're being a great partner. Try to find areas where you have a common goal and then approach those with a one team mindset - if you show that you are trying to help them succeed, that will set a very strong foundation. The questions you ask would still be very similar:

  • What are your priorities for this quarter/half/year?

  • What are you most excited about?

  • What are you most worried about?

  • How could me and/or my team help you with your goals?

  • What has been working well in the past between our areas? What hasn't?
    

• Skip level or Senior Leader in Any Level - one thing to keep in mind with any conversation with a senior leader is that it's an opportunity - for you to build a great impression. Senior leaders are always thinking about the talent in the organization and these interactions serve to form their perspectives on people on the team whom they don't work with regularly. For a brand new leader coming in who is not in your function, they are trying to understand where things are going well and where they're not and what the opportunities are, in particular in their org, so they'll be looking for your perspective and feedback on these topics. A senior leader in your function will be doing this and also trying to get to know you. Things to keep in mind for the conversations:

  • Prepare in advance and have a few questions that you want to ask - things you're curious about the business, the product, their function, their vision

  • Be prepared to share your honest opinions and detail on what's going on

There is no right answer to this. But there is a good way to at least have a basic idea that will inform the next stage of the interaction.

What matters to me, is who they are, how they think, how they deal with pressure and what value can be added.

1. Personal

I aim to understand their communication style, values, and preferences to ensure a productive relationship. This sets the tone for trust and openness which is a keystone for collaboration. I ask myself: How can I build rapport and ensure we align on a personal level?

2. Thinking Patterns

I focus on how the stakeholder thinks and approaches problem-solving. I explore their decision-making style and priorities to understand their expectations.

Questions like -What are their biggest pain points? How do they define success? What are their short- and long-term goals? This helps ensure that our thought processes align.

3. Pressure-Related

I assess the pressures they face, whether it's meeting deadlines, KPIs, or specific business targets. Understanding the source of their stress helps me empathize and tailor my support. I ask myself: What are their urgent challenges, and how can I alleviate some of that pressure through my role?

4. Career

Finally, I consider their career aspirations and how I can contribute to their success. This involves understanding how my role aligns with their professional growth and business goals and how to leverage that to my advantage (lets be real, we want to grow too). I reflect on: How can I add value to their career progression and overall business objectives? And in which way Id be able to contribute the most and grow faster?

These are the very first things that Id start with, the rest is to be agile and assess as you go on.