For those of you that remember long British winters playing Cluedo by the fire, this particular murder is at the hands of Colonel Ego, in the boardroom, with the job title. And it’s your content that just got shot down. About the author: Catherine Toole is founder and non-executive director of Sticky Content Ltd (part of the Press Association). She delivered a speech called ‘Stakeholder says no! How to get better content signed off & live’ at #TFM16.

1. Stakeholder says no!
How to get better content
signed off and live
Catherine Toole
Founder & non-executive director, Sticky Content
@catherinetoole #TFM16

3. Download the report

5. 4 worst kinds
of stakeholders
Whodunnit?
Colonel Ego
Where?
In the boardroom
With?
The better job title

7. 4 worst kinds
of stakeholders
Whodunnit?
Dr Frankenstein
Where?
In the feedback loop
With?
The re-brief

8. Frankencontent!
(content by committee)
Source: State of Digital
Copywriting Survey 2013
© Sticky Content Ltd
www.stickycontent.com/survey

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11. 4 worst kinds
of stakeholders
Whodunnit?
Professor Extra
Where?
In the workshops
With?
The opinions

12. Edit from a blog post by Sergio
Nouvel, partner at Continuum, a
UX, innovation and software
boutique.
He’s also co-founder of Get on
Board, a job board for digital
professionals in Latin America
“We have observed a constant
back-and-forth between the team,
where decisions are reversed/
undone until the very end and
noise is introduced as new
stakeholders join late to the
table…
…The underlying assumption
behind deadline creep is ‘this
moment is as good as any other to
pitch my idea.”

13. 4 worst kinds
of stakeholders
Whodunnit?
The Invisibles
Where?
Yes, exactly. Where
are they?
With?
The missed deadlines
and ignored emails

14. Image source: http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2011/01/05/3106791.htm

15. Allsop LLP
Head of Marketing
What do the stakeholders say?
‘Most annoying is a lack of proper
brief. Assisting with (a project) is
time-consuming for the time-poor
agents here and if you can’t make
them understand what you need
and why you need it they will find
meetings/interviews a tad
inconvenient or even annoying as
they will think it’s purely for the
benefit of the marketing team and
not for them.’

16. Stakeholders at a large
international law firm
‘Not giving the bigger picture. It’s
hard to be involved in part of the
project without knowing the overall
objective for success.’
‘Not giving the background. You
can’t write or plan your part if you
don’t understand the user journey.’

17. Allsop LLP
Head of Marketing
What do they most want?
‘Planning and honesty! If people
know timescales in advance, even if
they change, then they’re more
helpful because they feel part of
the project.’

18. “The mistake is to see stakeholders as
gatekeepers. You need to see them as
partners. They are Luigi to your
Super Mario, not Bowser”

19. Stakeholder management V engagement

20. Do you manage? Or engage?

21. Are you engaging your stakeholders?
6 questions to ask yourself…

22. 1. Have I been clear?

23. Image source: www.thinkstockphotos.co.uk

24. UX Researcher at
Google Search
Tomer Sharon
“Long plans or no plans
don’t work for people. You
must be able to boil a UX
research plan down to one
page. If you can’t or won’t,
then you won’t get buy-in.”

25. 2. Do I know my stakeholders –
and their current state of mind?

26. The 3iD method
Influence
Credit: PA Images

27. The 3iD method
Credit: PA Images

28. The 3iD method
InterestCredit: PA Images

29. Cheers

30. Influence Impact Interest Score Rating
Sam
5/5 2/5 3/5
10 H
Woody
1/5 1/5 1/5
3 L
Diane
3/5 5/5 5/5
13 H
Carla
Norm
2/5 4/5 1/5
8 M
Cliff
Frasier

31. 3. Have I put together an action plan?

33. See the video

35. http://www.slideshare.net/craigandshenan/captstone-project-tm699-by-craig-jones-final-draft

36. Source: UK govt archive (from CABE website)

37. value-added
meet ups
What are the best ways to
communicate with your stakeholders?
anything personal/low effort
social media
gamification
storytelling
user insights
data-driven
verbally (?)
Credit: PA Images

38. long documents
What are the worst ways to
communicate with your stakeholders?
email trails
meetings with no
agenda/chair
entirely non-verbally
Credit: PA Images

39. 4. Have I built a strong business case?

40. Download the e-book

41. Download the e-book

42. 5. Am I running well-planned,
inspirational workshops?

43. “The difficulty lies
not so much in
developing new
ideas as in escaping
from old ones.”
John Maynard Keynes
Credit: PA Images

44. P.A.C.E. method for stakeholder sessions
= Prepare
= Agree in advance (scope, process, attendees…)
= Create the right enviroment
= Encourage
P
A
C
E
Credit: PA Images

49. See the video

50. 6. Am I my own worst enemy?

51. Credit: PA Images

52. Hi Claire,
Please review the attached and send your feedback as soon as possible blah blah…
Here’s some fantastic content for your approval which we need by 2pm this Friday at the latest…

54. @stickycontent
@catherinetoole
www.stickycontent.com
emailus@stickycontent.com
‘Engaging stakeholders in content, UX
and design projects’, London UX week,
Nov 2016 see www.nngroup.com
Credit: PA Images