How to manage your Stakeholders, mainly internally when you're a Product Manager working in a medium to large organization. Tips on how to be efficient and recognized within your organization.

1. Jean-­‐Yves
SIMON
16
May
2013
@jysim0n
h:p://fr.linkedin.com/in/jysim0n
Stakeholder
Management for
Product Managers

2. POP
QUIZ
The
term
“stakeholder”
refers
to:
A. The
people
chasing
vampires
in
Twilight
B. The
ones
eaOng
steaks
with
their
hands
at
Buffalo
grill
C. Those
who
have
the
interest
and
influence
to
impact
your
product
D. All
of
the
above

3. POP
QUIZ
The
term
“stakeholder”
refers
to:
A. The
people
chasing
vampires
in
Twilight
B. The
ones
eaOng
steaks
with
their
hands
at
Buffalo
grill
C. Those
who
have
the
interest
and
influence
to
impact
your
product
D. All
of
the
above

4. STAKEHOLDER
DEFINED
stake·∙hold·∙er
/ˈstākˌhōldər/
A
person
or
group
who
has
an
interest
in
a
project
and
who
can
be
affected
by
the
results
of
it,
i.e.
a
project
in
which
they
have
a
stake.
The
main
test
of
whether
a
person
is
a
stakeholder
is
whether
or
not
they
have
veto
power,
or
can
otherwise
prevent
your
product
from
launching.

5. WHY
IS
STAKEHOLDER
MANAGEMENT
DIFFICULT?
PoliOcs
ConflicOng
objecOves
ConflicOng
prioriOes
Unshared
vision
Human
communicaOon

6. PRODUCT
MANAGER
RESPONSIBILITIES

7. DNA
Product
Manager
Stakeholder mgmt
HAS to be part of the

8. PRODUCT
MANAGER
RESPONSIBILITIES
⚈ Iden;fy
who
are
the
stakeholders,
⚈ Establish
trust
and
communicaOon
with
your
stakeholders
⚈ Engage
with
stakeholders
conOnuously
⚈ Adapt
your
speech
to
your
stakeholder
⚈ Understand
the
consideraOons
and
constraints
of
the
various
stakeholders
⚈ Bring
stakeholder’s
knowledge
into
the
Feature
team
⚈ Share
very
openly
what
you
learned
in
the
discovery
phases
to
the
stakeholders

9. PRODUCT
MANAGER
RESPONSIBILITIES
If
the
stakeholder
does
not
have
trust
that
you
are
going
to
solve
their
concerns,
then
they
will
either
escalate
or
they
will
try
to
control.

10. IDENTIFY YOUR
STAKEHOLDERS

11. WHO
CAN
STAKEHOLDERS
TYPICALLY
BE?
Product
Manager
Your
boss
The
Execu;ve
team
CEO/Founder,
leaders
of
markeOng,
sales,
and
technology
(CTO),
Sales
Align
the
product
and
the
business
Finance
To
make
sure
the
product
fits
within
the
financial
parameters
and
model
of
the
company,
Legal
To
make
sure
that
what
you
propose
is
defensible,
Opera;ons/
Support
To
make
sure
what
you
propose
is
scalable,
deployable
and
maintainable
Customers
Partners
Internal
External
Analysts

12. ALSO
CONSIDER
THOSE
WHO
HAVE…
⚈ The
ability
to
impact
your
product
⚈ The
ability
to
enhance
your
project
⚈ The
ability
to
slow
down
your
projects
(e.g.,
teams
or
groups
you
depend
on)
⚈ The
ability
to
remove
impediments
⚈ The
ability
to
lead
opinions
⚈ The
ability
to
facilitate
the
change
resulOng
from
your
project
⚈ The
ability
to
provide
“a
voice
of
reason”

13. THE
STAKEHOLDER
MAP
Keep
Informed
Monitor
Keep
Sa;sfied
Ac;vely
Engage
Interest
/
Availability
Low
High
Influence
Low
High
Source:
The
Stakeholder
Management
framework
for
teams,
programs
and
pornolios,
Scaled
Agile,
Inc,
2012

14. EXAMPLE
PRODUCT
INFLUENCERS
Product
Managers,
Voice
of
Customers
C-­‐Level,
VP
Professional
Services
Support
Product
MarkeOng,
MarkeOng
Channel
&
Strategic
Alliances
AcquisiOons
Vision,
BoD
APIs,
bug
fixes,
back-­‐
office,
provisioning
tools
PrioriOze
tools
and
performance
Integrate
partner
soluOons
Customer
feedback,
compeOtors
ideas
Surveys,
trade
shows,
analysts,
compeOtors
Planorm
Engineering
&
Deliverability
Integrate

15. ENGAGING
WITH YOUR
STAKEHOLDERS

16. SOME
TECHNIQUES

17. ⚈ Review
the
product
strategy
⚈ Update
since
the
last
product
council
(what
have
we
done
since
then)
⚈ What
are
we
currently
working
on?
⚈ What
is
ahead
of
us?
⚈ Review
product
roadmap
⚈ PresentaOon
of
any
conflicOng
prioriOes
⚈ Final
decision
on
prioriOzaOon
⚈ Review
Product
Scorecard
1.
ORGANIZE
A
PRODUCT
COUNCIL
Quarterly
MeeOngs,
can
be
monthly
Chaired
by
Head
of
Product

18. 2.
LEVERAGE
INNOVATION
GAMES©
Use
InnovaOon
games
in
Workshops,
product
councils,
steering
commi:ees.
Makes
it
fun
and
engaging
and
ensures
there
is
a
deliverable
at
the
end
of
the
session.

19. INNOVATION
GAMES©:
PRUNE
THE
PRODUCT
TREE
+
MOVIE
POSTER
PRUNE
THE
PRODUCT
TREE
For
Roadmap
definiOon
(STORY
of
CEO
showing
it
to
investors)
THE
MOVIE
POSTER
For
priorizing
features

20. INNOVATION
GAME©:
BUY
A
FEATURE
⚈ Buy
a
feature
➩ 24
cards
(features)
➩ Each
feature
has
a
price
from
15
to
130
credits
➩ Each
parOcipant
is
given
100
credits
⚈ ObjecOve
➩ Define
Minimum
Viable
Product
➩ Roadmap
prioriOzaOon

21. INNOVATION
GAME©:
THE
SAIL
BOAT
⚈ Speed
boat
➩ Reach
the
island
➩ Anchors
slow
you
down
➩ Wind
helps
you
go
faster
⚈ ObjecOve
➩ Engage
a
team
to
reach
a
target
➩ IdenOfy
impediments
that
can
slow
the
team
down

22. INNIVATION
GAME:
STAKEHOLDER
ANALYSIS
Objec;ve:
Be
in
the
shoes
of
your
Stakeholders.
Describes
the
degree
to
which
a
stakeholder
will
be
affected
by
the
project.

23. INNOVATION
GAME©:
CONTEXT
MAP
+
WHOLE
PRODUCT
Objec;ve:
Define
a
Minimum
Viable
Product
(Story
of
parOcipaOon
of
the
CEO)

24. 3.
AVOID
PRODUCT
MANAGER'S
OPINION
VS.
STAKEHOLDER'S
OPINION
• Know
your
customers
and
give
real
use
cases,
that’ll
change
the
conversaOon
• Move
the
discussion
from
opinions
to
data
and
facts

25. Data
beats
opinion- Google
“

26. 4.
LEARN
TO
SAY
NO:
LEAVE
THE
FIREFIGHTING
TO
PROFESSIONALS
• The
PM
job
is
to
be
strategic,
not
be
in
Sales
or
Product
support
• For
Ome
management,
PMs
have
to
choose
their
ba:le

27. 5.
CREATE
&
PUBLISH
A
ROADMAP
• Agile
does
not
prevent
you
from
creaOng
a
Roadmap
• Publish
your
Roadmap
internally
• Review
your
Roadmap
to
stakeholder
at
least
quarterly
• Create
a
public
and
shareable
“themed”
Roadmap
to
remove
the
recurrent
quesOons
from
your
daily
job

28. 6.
ROADMAP
TRADE
OFFS
• You
can’t
do
everything,
you
have
to
prioriOze,
even
CEO
“shower
Ideas”
• Every
new
feature
request
pushes
a
Roadmap
feature
out.
LIFO

29. 7.
MEASURE
YOUR
PROGRESS
AND
SUCCESS
Measure
and
Report
to
Stakeholders
your:
• Key
Performance
Indicators
• Product
adopOon
&
Usage
metrics
• ROI
• Your
Scorecard
“What
gets
measured
gets
done”

30. Priority
Objec;ve
Indicator
Target
Status
beginning
of
quarter
Status
now
Achieved
?
1
Increase
product
line
revenue
by
50%
Revenue
(in
€)
5M€
2M€
2.5M€
2
Increase
Customer
saOsfacOon
#
of
reference
customers
3
4
5
3
End
Of
Life
Product
X
Product
availability
DD/MM/
YY
On-­‐track
Delayed
4
Ensure
product
compeOOveness
and
quality
#
of
beta
customers
30
0
10
5
Reduce
applicaOon
on-­‐boarding
Ome
Time
spent
on
setup
48h
5d
2h
EXAMPLE
PRODUCT
SCORECARD
• Product
Manager:
XXXX
• Scrum
Master:
XXXX
• UX:
XXXX
• QA:
XXXX
• Developer:
XXXX
• Developer:
XXXX
• Developer:
XXXX
• Developer:
XXXX
Product
Team:
N
persons
full-­‐Ome
done
in-­‐progress
not
done
Legend

31. 8.
PLANT
SEEDS
TO
INFUSE
YOUR
IDEAS
“Work
with
stakeholders
unOl
they
know
the
story
so
well
they
are
constantly
telling
and
retelling
it
themselves.”
-­‐ Dane
Howard,
eBay

32. 9.
USE
IDEATION
TOOLS
• Allow
stakeholders
add
and
vote
for
Ideas
• Tools:
Salesforce
Ideas,
get
SaOsfacOon,
UserVoice
• Publish
the
Idea
lifecycle
to
ensure
anyone
can
contribute
and
it’s
not
another
blackhole

33. 10.
ORGANIZE
YOUR
STAKEHOLDERS
REQUIREMENT
“HARVESTING”
INTERNAL
STAKEHOLDERS
MARKET
Product
Opportunity
Backlog
Feedback
from?
How?
Frequency?
Customers/Users
• On-­‐site
visit
• Conf
call/Webex
• Customer
reference
program
10
visits
per
quarter
per
Product
Manager
• Salesforce
Ideas
ConOnuous
Prospects/
Buyers
• Sales
support
• Trade
shows
Ad
hoc
Partners
&
ISVs
• Sales
support
• Trade
shows
Ad
hoc
Analysts
• On-­‐site
visits
• Conf
call/Webex
Ad
hoc
CompeOtors
• Webinars,
web,
trade
shows,
win/
loss
analisys
ConOnuous
Quarterly
compeOtor
cards
Feedback
from?
How?
Frequency?
C-­‐level/VPs
• Informal,
Product
council
Min.
monthly,
can
be
quarterly
Product
MarkeOng
• MeeOng,
on-­‐
site
or
remote
Monthly
MarkeOng
Com
• PR
opportuniOes
Ad
hoc
Sales
• Sales
support
• Trade
shows
Ad
hoc
Pre-­‐sales
• Product
Update
WebEx
• Informal
emails
Monthly
Client
services
• Client
visits
• Informal
emails
Weekly
Professional
Services
• Conf
call/
Webex
Monthly
Support
• WebEx
MeeOng
Monthly

34. SUCCESSFUL
STAKEHOLDER
ENGAGEMENT
⚈ Success
=
your
stakeholders
respect
you
and
your
contribuOon
⚈ Your
Stakeholders
trusts:
➩ You
understand
their
concerns
and
will
ensure
soluOons
work
well
for
them
too
➩ You
will
keep
them
informed
of
important
decisions
or
changes
➩ They
give
you
the
room
to
come
up
with
the
best
soluOons
possible

35. QUESTIONS?

36. HAPPY?
UNHAPPY?
IDEAS?

38. RESOURCES
USED
• Stakeholder
Management,
Marty
Cagan,
2013
• Some
PracOcal
Tools
For
Stakeholder
• The
Stakeholder
Management
Framework,
Drew
Jemilo,
2012
• Management,
Esther
Ham,
2011
• Managing
Stakeholders
expectaOons
via
Product
Council,
Gopal
Shenoy,
2010
• h:p://innovaOongames.com
• h:p://www.gogamestorm.com