How can you help a product manager communicate with stakeholders?

If you are providing status updates to customers, it's critical to concentrate on progress, achievements, timelines, key assumptions, and decisions, ensuring customers feel confident about the project's direction. While transparency is key, it's important to avoid oversharing to prevent the customer from micromanaging the project. Always communicate any delays promptly, along with mitigation plans and revised timelines, to build trust. If you have a Project or Program Manager, they can supply the detailed status updates, making it easier for Product Managers to tailor the information for customers.

I can't overstate the importance of periodic in-person meetings with your stakeholders. Ideally, without any agenda. Any partnership will go through its downs: Priorities seldom align perfectly; Promises are often broken despite best efforts; etc. During such downs, the thing that carries a relationship most effectively is inter-personal trust - your stakeholder's faith that you have their best-interest at heart. In this world of remote-working and multi-location teams, people are often only thinking about one zoom call at a time. It's very hard to conduct even a water-cooler conversation. Teams cope in different ways, e.g., remote coffees, but imo PMs should engineer periodic in-person meetings to build this trust.

In Product Management, talking to different groups is crucial. Imagine explaining a tech issue to a non-tech team like Sales or Marketing. Using complicated words can make them lose interest. So, it's important to understand how each group thinks and talks. Tailoring your message to fit what they need and like helps build trust. By doing this, a Product Manager can connect better with everyone involved, making sure everyone is on the same page and working together smoothly for the product's success.

Communicating with stakeholders effectively is crucial for product managers to ensure alignment, gather feedback, and secure support for their initiatives. ommunication is fundamental to the success of product management, facilitating alignment, collaboration, decision-making, and ultimately, the delivery of valuable products that meet stakeholders' needs and drive business outcomes.

To assist a product manager in communicating with stakeholders effectively, it's essential to provide clear and concise updates on project progress, priorities, and challenges. Utilize visual aids such as charts, graphs, or presentations to illustrate key points and make complex information more digestible. Additionally, maintain open lines of communication and actively solicit feedback from stakeholders to ensure alignment and address any concerns promptly. For instance, hosting regular meetings, sending status reports, and conducting stakeholder surveys can facilitate transparent communication and foster productive collaboration throughout the product development lifecycle.

This question is broad in that different communication is done in different ways across different stakeholders. An approach I take in initiation is meeting with all stakeholders and setting expectations through a formalized schedule of operating mechanics. Get everyone aligned on when you're meeting, what you're meeting about, and where communications are stored. Be transparent and manage the rhythm to be as light and efficient as possible.

In addition to researching information pertinent to your audience and connecting with them regularly I would add that understanding their working style helps you engage them where they are at. The Social Styles matrix has always been a helpful tool for me in planning my engagement.

*High power, low interest: Individuals in this category require only routine updates and results to stay satisfied. They prefer a hands-off approach, so it's important to maintain their contentment without necessitating their deep involvement. *High power, high interest: Stakeholders of this nature demand your utmost dedication and should be treated as a top priority. *Low power, low interest: These stakeholders warrant a basic level of engagement. Keep an eye on their perspectives and activities, but prioritizing their demands isn't necessary. *Low power, high interest: Although these individuals have a strong interest in the project, they lack the authority to influence major decisions. Ensure they receive consistent updates.

It's always better to choose the right channel based on the purpose, urgency, complexity and the availability too. We need to use different media depending on different sources and different necessities. On top of that, it's always a necessity to respect stakeholders' preferences and availability while choosing the channel.

Over the years, I’ve learned that the medium of communication can significantly impact its effectiveness. I’ve used emails for detailed updates, face-to-face meetings or video calls for discussions and decision-making, and tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams for quick updates or clarifications. The key has always been to choose the channel that best suits the message and the audience.

Effectively engaging with stakeholders involves employing various strategies. Holding regular meetings allows for updates and discussions, while comprehensive documentation like project plans keeps stakeholders in the loop. Customizing messages to each audience, utilizing visuals, and integrating feedback loops enhance interaction. Leveraging communication tools such as Slack or Teams enables timely discussions. Storytelling and transparency aid in simplifying complex information, and anticipating questions while organizing feedback sessions showcases proactive involvement. Understanding individuals, mastering optimal explanations, and refining communication tone are key aspects of this multifaceted approach.

Product managers can use social styles—analytical, amiable, expressive, and driver—to assess stakeholders by identifying their communication preferences and decision-making processes. By understanding these styles, managers can tailor their approach for each group, ensuring effective interaction. Analytical stakeholders value data and details, amiable ones prioritize relationships and harmony, expressive individuals seek creativity and recognition, while drivers focus on results and efficiency. Recognizing these styles helps in presenting information, negotiating, and collaborating in ways that resonate with each stakeholder's preferences, thereby enhancing engagement and facilitating smoother project progress.

Here are few things which I have found helpful. Story telling techniques for your product stakeholders that are crucial. - Use the frame of reference - Articulate with an analogy - Showing is better than telling - Being open minded and seeking feedback when necessary

They are, Clear, Concise, Correct, Contextual, Concrete and Caring. Becoming adept at harnessing the Six C's also makes you a more compelling individual and not just a compelling communicator.

This is one of those factors that makes the stakeholders depend on your communication and product descriptions. If you are not clear on what you want to communicate, The product vision is not seen and confusion will be created between stakeholders and the developers/team. This is not the right thing to do. Always use tools like charts, mock-ups, diagrams, etc to illustrate your concepts and designs and make use of technology to make sure that the idea is communicated successfully.

Avoid jargon and acronyms unless you’re sure the audience understands them. Keep your message concise and to the point, but make sure to include all necessary details. Using visuals like diagrams or charts can help convey complex information more easily.

Assist the product manager in distilling complex product concepts and updates into clear and concise messages that are easy for stakeholders to understand. Use visuals, examples, and storytelling techniques to make the communication more engaging.

Leading from empathy is most important. A feature not delivered on time may make a difference in your user’s lives and it’s not enough to just have a wall of text without an open dialogue on how things can be done better for the future.

Active listening is an act of strategic engagement that unlocks the nuanced understanding of stakeholders' perspectives. Engaging in this manner signals to stakeholders that their contributions are not only heard but are pivotal in shaping the outcome. Consequently, this practice cultivates a deeper sense of ownership and alignment among all parties involved, leading to more robust and effective solutions, aligned with stakeholders' needs and expectations. Often at a new company, it can take time build trust with stakeholders, but actively listening and asking relevant questions is an essential skill that demonstrates not only your engagement, but genuine curiousity.

If we use our awkwardness or silence in the confusing situations, we can't build good products. Always listen and ask questions. It's always good to have questions though one might feel like "I'm asking so many questions, I might make him feel uncomfortable". Don't ever feel that way since it is making you have a vision in your mind and that vision is making you build a product.

I’ve learned that communication is a two-way street. I always encourage stakeholders to share their thoughts and feedback. I ask clarifying questions to ensure I fully understand their perspective. This not only helps me gather valuable insights but also makes the stakeholders feel valued and heard.

Always good to follow up since it helps the team to know where we went wrong and which part made them feel good about the development. It is always good to have a meeting with the stakeholder after the sprint and before the end of the sprint since it helps us know where we went wrong and what we can develop in the coming sprint before releasing or deploying the product.

The follow-up is a crucial piece of demonstrating that you are taking in and understanding what stakeholders are saying. It also develops your ability to restate problems concisely, and long-term, helps you write and communicate clearly. Along side the follow through, it's important to build trust through updating stakeholders on any issues that arise. Be punctual, be clear, be succinct, and most of all avoid surprises. Addressing problems early and proactively builds trust and internal reputation as someone who gets things done.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is the importance of following up on any action items or commitments. This shows stakeholders that I take their input seriously and can be trusted to deliver on my promises.

Regular Updates: Coordinate regular updates and status reports to keep stakeholders informed about the progress of the product. Schedule meetings, workshops, or email updates to share key milestones, achievements, and challenges. Feedback Gathering: Facilitate feedback sessions with stakeholders to gather input, insights, and concerns about the product. Use surveys, focus groups, interviews, or feedback forms to collect feedback from various stakeholders and incorporate it into product decisions.

A regular cadence for stakeholder meetings promotes communication, alignment, and reduces potential conflicts by keeping everyone informed and on the same page. It enhances collaboration and ensures that important topics are addressed collectively.

Remember that communication is not a one-time activity but an ongoing process. Regularly update your stakeholders on the product’s progress and any changes to the plan. Also, be open and honest when things don’t go as planned. Transparency can help build trust and foster a stronger relationship with your stakeholders.

Our team hosts Weekly Syncs with leadership and stakeholders to discuss: 1) Product Roadmap 2) Recent Releases 3) Product Metrics 4) User Satisfaction 5) Roadblocks / Risks 6) Accomplishments 7) Roundtable Items There should be a constant line of communication with stakeholders to build alignment, trust, and collaboration. A feedback loop should be integrated to address concerns and determine next steps. These weekly meetings have allowed us to keep stakeholders engaged during the entire product life cycle.

Beyond what's been discussed above, consider the importance of aligning communication with strategic objectives. Ensure that every interaction with stakeholders reinforces the overarching goals of the project or product. Additionally, foster a culture of transparency, keeping stakeholders informed about progress, challenges, and future plans. Proactive and strategic communication strengthens relationships, instills confidence, and enhances collaboration with stakeholders.

Always make sure that information flows both up and down in your organisation. Far too many companies still insist on reports to management but don't provide information back down into the organisation. This creates huge amounts of overhead, and a disconnect between product managers and stakeholders. Unless there's a good reason not to, make sure to share information both ways. You can create targeted views that are easy to digest for stakeholders, but never keep information from the people who need it.

Stakeholder Mapping: Assist the product manager in identifying key stakeholders, including internal teams, executives, customers, and external partners. Create a stakeholder map that outlines each stakeholder's interests, concerns, and influence on the project. Tailored Messaging: Help the product manager tailor their communication to different stakeholder groups based on their interests, priorities, and level of understanding. Craft messages that resonate with each audience and highlight the specific benefits or impacts of the product.