Designing the experience of my stakeholders
Stakeholder management is not too different from creating a better experience
Stakeholder management always seemed like a mysterious skill to me that only those adept at navigating corporate politics could do. Having to “manage up” or “manage down” was a task for social butterflies who could read people and understand how to handle them naturally. For an introvert, it would mean I have to be intentional about it. Yet as a person who believes in genuine relationships, this felt too manipulative and went against my values. This felt too inauthentic. I was conflicted and resistant.
But as I’ve met many genuine leaders and authentic people along the way, I’ve come to realise, it didn’t necessarily have to be so smarmy. “Stakeholder management” was just about finding ways to establish relationships with people, so we could work together in collaboration. And working in UX, this should come naturally as I’m always thinking of ways to make someone else’s experience better – only this time it’s not for my users but for my fellow colleagues.
In order to make it easier for my colleagues to accomplish their tasks or support my idea, I had to make things useful, concise, clear, valuable, findable, accessible, credible for them. And… isn’t that just the UX honeycomb?
Useful - I often think about how an interaction and deliverable would provide real value to people. Does this meeting/document/report help them achieve their goals? Why should they care? TL;DRs can be really useful. Not only does it help stakeholders understand the key points, but it also helps me refine the content and ensure clarity of thought.
Usable - Everyone’s really busy and bogged down by their own tasks, how can I make my communication and processes easy to engage with? Intuitive presentations with a clear purpose, straightforward documentation, efficient meeting structures – these are all little ways to help organise the chaos.
Desirable - Having spent 7 years in advertising, I’ve been trained to make things fun and playful to get clients and customers excited about an idea. So even as I moved into tech, I unknowingly apply the same techniques of narrative storytelling and humour even to my presentations and reports. Facts and data can be get dry, especially in a stuffy corporate environment. I’ve started using Gmail’s newsletter templates to format my reports, giving them fun titles and subject lines to delight whomever is receiving it.
Findable - There’s a million documents always floating out somewhere. By make information easy to locate by organising shared documentation logically, create clear subject lines, and establish consistent places for project updates, it not only helps me stay sane but for my stakeholders as well. Always have a link out to other resources if needed.
Accessible - While it may seem superfluous, I personally like to drop a message to understand their preferred cadence and time; and most importantly, to check if a meeting is truly required or not. Just as how we need to design for the most clueless user, I would try to ensure all stakeholders can access and understand information regardless of their technical knowledge.
Credible - Being transparent, consistent and reliable builds trust in a natural way. I try to provide support the best I can whenever someone asks me for help. But just as importantly, there’s a need to set realistic expectations on when I can’t and why.
Valuable - Sometimes, I play the devil’s advocate by trying to think what’s in it for them. By understanding what are my stakeholders’ problems, I can articulate how my work connects to theirs.
Of course, I’m still learning more about this. People are complex beings and can’t be understood by simplistic framework. Yet, by breaking it down by these principles, I’ve been slowly able to demystify this skill of “stakeholder management” in my very own way.