(2018-06-06) Torres Art Of Managing Stakeholders Through Product Discovery

Teresa Torres: The Art of Managing Stakeholders Through Product Discovery - Product Talk

Just as in the Syria debate, you aren’t going to influence the President with your opinion.

The only way to influence a more senior stakeholder is to bring new information to the table.

Thankfully, if you are doing good discovery work, you should have plenty of new information to bring to the table. Share what you are learning in your customer interviews, summarize the feedback from your prototype tests, communicate the results of your product experiments.

you need to help them digest what they need to know quickly

We expect our CEO to trust us. We want to own our product decisions. But we shouldn’t.

The team made a common mistake. They knew their stakeholders were busy so they updated their stakeholders after they finished their research, after they drew their conclusions.

I recently argued in “Stop Validating and Start Co-Creating” that we need to co-create with customers. We also need to co-create with our stakeholders. (Co-Creation)

Don’t start with your conclusions: Share every step of the way with your stakeholders

Synthesize what you are learning into a customer journey map or experience map.

Share and get feedback from your stakeholders. Ask them, “What’s missing?

Share interview snapshots (one-page visual summaries).

Use an opportunity solution tree to chart your path toward your desired outcome.

Help them understand why you chose one opportunity over another. Show them the set of solutions you are exploring.

Remember These Tips When Managing Stakeholders

Favor short, frequent updates over long, infrequent updates

Be visual

Integrate the feedback you get

Get feedback one on one.