From Impact Assessment to Successful Collaboration
Hi! My name is Elena Aladina, I am a growth hack lead at Alfa-Bank. I have been managing teams for the last few years and I am convinced that the success of a product directly depends on high-quality interaction with stakeholders.
Stakeholders influence all stages of the product life cycle: they participate in budget allocation, manage team resources, and help set priorities. Understanding their roles and interests, proper communication, and emotional involvement are key elements of effective product management.
Imagine you are the captain of a ship sailing through a stormy sea of demands, expectations and decisions. How do you establish interaction with all key participants and confidently steer your ship towards the goal?
Step 1: Identify stakeholders and their influence
The first step to success is to identify all the participants in this adventure and make a list of who has an interest in the product or can influence it.
Levels of Stakeholder Influence
Low Impact: These stakeholders do not have significant influence on product decisions, but their opinions can be useful when solving specific issues.
Average impact: Medium-influence stakeholders participate in key decision-making discussions but do not make final decisions. They may influence the choice of technologies, processes, or resources.
High Influence: This group includes stakeholders who make strategic decisions, determine the direction of product development, and allocate budgets and resources. Their opinion is critical to the success of the product.
Here's what the list might look like:
Anna Produktova – Chief Product Officer (CPO). The hero of strategy and key decision-making. Her goal is for the product to be successful in the market. Her influence is high, and the success of the product largely depends on her vision.
Anton Techno – IT leader/ CTO:
Its task is to ensure the reliability and scalability of technical solutions.
His influence is moderate, but his choice of technologies and processes sets the tone for the entire adventure.
Marina Direktova – Head of Directorate:
Its goal is to ensure profit growth and rapid return on investment.
Her influence is high, she controls the budget and the distribution of resources, directing everything to achieve maximum benefit.
Also on the list are: Victor Klientoved – a client whose needs and wishes can influence the product. Elena Regulator – a representative of the regulator who checks compliance with the requirements and Petr Partnerov – a technology partner who provides important solutions and resources.
Step 2: Understanding Interests and Needs
Now that we've defined who our heroes are and their level of influence on the product, it's time to figure out what drives each of them.
Low level of interest: These stakeholders watch from afar and their opinions are important but not critical.
Average level of interest: They take a more active interest in the process and can make important recommendations.
High level of interest: These participants are highly involved and require frequent interaction, they need to know what is happening, how and why.
Next, determine what specific information each stakeholder needs.
For business stakeholders, information about launch dates and, first and foremost, business indicators and metrics that impact revenue and sales are important.
Product metrics are important for CPO: DAU, MAU, conversions, ARPU, Churn, Retention and many others.
For CTO and IT lead: quality metrics, releases, bugs.
Stage 3: Communication Strategy: From Planning to Implementation
Effective communication requires a clear plan that includes the frequency, channels, and methods of interaction with various stakeholders. It is important to regularly check that all stakeholders are informed about the progress, changes, and issues related to the product.
The higher the influence and interest of the stakeholder, the more frequent the meetings should be. For example, stakeholders with high influence and interest may have weekly meetings, while stakeholders with low influence may have monthly updates.
High influence and high level of interest: These stakeholders need to be involved in all important decisions, they expect regular updates and active participation. They need maximum attention and resources. When they are not happy with the color of the button, it is more important than anything else.
High influence and low interest: Despite their high influence, they may not be involved in every decision. It is important to ask for input on key issues and provide them with strategic information in a short and to the point manner – like a WhatsApp message to parents.
Low influence and high interest: These stakeholders can be valuable sources of information and ideas, but their participation in decision making is limited. It is important to maintain their interest and involvement in order to utilize their expertise.
Low influence and low interest: They don't require frequent interaction and are content to provide basic information to maintain product awareness.
Effective communication with stakeholders is the foundation of successful product management. Constantly check how your communication strategy is working. What needs to be improved? Use surveys and feedback to adapt your approach to changing needs.
Step 4: Personalize the approach
Personalizing your approach will help you create more productive interactions.
Managing Expectations: From the very beginning, agree with each stakeholder on their role and expected results, so that there are no surprises later like “But I thought everything would be different.”
Data collection: Understanding each stakeholder's preferences will help you create customized communication strategies. For example, some might prefer to send a report using memes, while others might appreciate diagrams.
Context Awareness: It is important to consider that in any area, changes may be caused by regulatory requirements, market conditions or internal policies. Understanding the context will help you better prepare for communication and avoid misunderstandings.
Stage 5: Emotional involvement
One important point is to manage the perception of change. In an area where change can cause fear and resistance, it is important not only to inform but also to emotionally engage stakeholders.
Emotional storytelling: Use storytelling to explain how the changes will impact your employees and your customers. Describe the changes as if they were an upgrade to a better version of life, like switching from a taxi to a private helicopter. Tell success stories so everyone feels like they got their ticket money’s worth.
Psychological contracts: Create informal agreements that help stakeholders feel included in the process. Instead of just informing them, involve them in setting goals and discussing results. Make them part of your team not just in words, but in actions.
Empathy and active listening: Practice empathy, ask questions about stakeholders' fears, hopes and concerns, even if you know the answers in advance.
Stage 6: Overcoming crises and adapting to change
No journey is complete without unexpected challenges. It is important to be able to cope with crises and adapt to changes without losing the trust of stakeholders.
Transparency in times of crisis: When a team is caught in a storm, it is important to immediately inform stakeholders of the problems and plans to resolve them. Transparency builds trust and helps avoid panic.
Flexibility in decision making: Plans can change and it is important to be prepared for course corrections. Consider the views of key stakeholders to ensure that decisions are informed and supported by all participants.
Celebrating small victories: Celebrate every small success as if you won the lottery – it motivates everyone to move forward!
Each stakeholder is an active participant in your journey, and the success of the entire team depends on how well you can work together. Lead your ship to success, and all the heroes will be happy!
Example of interaction matrix:
