Product Therapy — "Coaching Stakeholder Collaboration"
Podcast: Product Therapy
Host: Christian Idiodi (A), with Leah Hickman (B), both SVPG Partners
Date: September 26, 2024
Episode Focus: Navigating Stakeholder Collaboration in Product Management
Episode Overview
This episode dives into the often-overlooked craft of working effectively with stakeholders in product organizations. Christian Idiodi and Leah Hickman break down what makes stakeholder relationships so complex and crucial, share real-world examples, and offer tactical advice for elevating collaboration beyond “managing” to true partnership.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Defining Stakeholders: Voice vs. Vote
[00:00–04:28]
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Common struggles: Many product managers find stakeholder engagement to be the hardest, least enjoyable part of their job.
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Who is a stakeholder?
- “Everyone in the organization can have a point of view. But just because they have an opinion... doesn't necessarily mean they have a vote.” — Leah [01:54]
- Stakeholders aren't all people with vested interest; the key distinction is veto power.
- Voice = Anyone with an opinion or feedback
- Vote = Those who can say “no” and actually halt progress
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Practical advice:
- Differentiate between who has a voice and who actually has a vote.
- “If everybody thinks they're a stakeholder, you are literally managing a whole company. The bigger the company, the more people you have to keep happy.” — Christian [03:22]
Real-World Example: Navigating Stakeholders in M&A
[04:28–08:12]
- Leah’s story: Acquiring a company with key online storefront technology
- Stakeholders included Finance (profitability), Legal (compliance, PCI), Executive Committee (veto power), and other Product Teams (influence but not a vote).
- Lessons:
- Legal appeared to block the deal due to non-compliance, but further diligence revealed a two-year window, turning a “stop sign” into a “yield sign.”
- “Identifying who has a veto, who has a voice... and what's a pure stop sign versus a yield sign — that's the art and science of stakeholder engagement.” — Leah [07:47]
- “Stakeholders are not people to manage, they’re people to partner with.” — Leah [07:58]
Embracing Constraints & Proactive Partnership
[08:12–12:01]
- Constraints aren’t blockers:
- “It has never been hard to make customers happy... It’s actually the constraint, the box in which we have to solve the problem.” — Christian [08:42]
- Anecdote: Christian recounts a legal obstacle launching in China, only to find legal eager to solve the problem creatively — reframing stakeholders as enablers, not blockers.
- “I always used to be afraid of stakeholders looking for a way to stop me... [but] it was my first career experience to see a stakeholder look for ways to enable an outcome.” — Christian [10:59]
The Power of Early & Frequent Collaboration
[12:01–15:38]
- Be proactive, not reactive:
- “If you're proactive... and you actually ask [stakeholders] for help in solving that problem, that's a completely different dynamic.” — Leah [11:13]
- Never let stakeholders chase you for information — reach out “early and often.”
- True collaboration:
- “The best way to know if something is legal in your company is if legal built it with you.” — Christian [12:21]
- Don't rely on “PowerPoint briefings” or documents; real trust and understanding are built through conversations and whiteboarding.
- “The purpose of those documents is to capture the conversation, not be the conversation.” — Leah [13:51]
One-on-One Engagement vs. Group Meetings
[15:38–20:29]
- Why one-on-ones matter:
- Group meetings can trigger “hippo effect” (highest paid person’s opinion dominates), “Star Wars effect” (departments clash), or other unproductive dynamics.
- “I have not seen any more effective way to collaborate with a stakeholder than a one-on-one.” — Christian [17:27]
- Sales as critical stakeholders:
- Sales’ livelihood depends on commissions and product marketability.
- “Collaborating with sales is not an option — you have to solve for… how do we sell this, how do we talk about this, what do customers say into this?” — Christian [19:05]
The Pitfalls of Stakeholder-Driven Roadmaps
[20:29–23:36]
- Input is welcome, but...
- “Just because [stakeholders] have ideas doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to build or the right problem to solve. But it’s a great input.” — Leah [20:36]
- Always test stakeholder ideas through evidence-based discovery.
- Feature delivery ≠ business results:
- Leah shares a cautionary tale of delivering every item on a stakeholder-driven roadmap but having zero business impact.
- “That’s the danger of stakeholder-driven roadmaps: the team views success as delivering the feature, not achieving the results.” — Leah [22:48]
- Align on shared objectives (OKRs) rather than a feature checklist.
Using Evidence & Creating Psychological Safety
[23:36–28:18]
- Evidence trumps opinion:
- “Evidence beats opinions... Most ideas that you might see are just an opinion of what somebody thinks will solve the problem.” — Christian [23:36]
- Take stakeholders on the journey:
- Involve sales and executives in the discovery process; seeing customer feedback firsthand builds trust and understanding.
- If stakeholders see you working with evidence, they’re less likely to drop “random” features on your list.
- “Good stakeholder collaboration requires us to... get good at communicating where things are, what problems we’re solving.” — Christian [26:12]
- You are not the only source of ideas:
- “When a stakeholder comes with an idea, employ the rule of improv: Yes, and... ‘Tell me more about that.’” — Leah [27:27]
- Blend the “Rule of Improv” with 5 Whys to uncover real motivations and context.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
On Defining Stakeholders
“If you truly want to identify a stakeholder, it’s not by the voice. Everybody should have a voice... but who truly has a vote?... Vested interest is the veto power.”
— Christian [02:36]
On Partnership vs. Management
“Stakeholders are not people to manage, they’re people to partner with.”
— Leah [07:58]
On Early Collaboration
“If you’re proactive with stakeholders... and ask them for help, that’s a completely different dynamic.”
— Leah [11:13]
On Whiteboarding & Artifacts
“The purpose of those documents is to capture the conversation, not be the conversation.”
— Leah [13:51]
On Navigating Sales
“Collaborating with sales is not an option—you have to solve for the constraints of how do we sell this, how do we talk about this, what do customers say into this?”
— Christian [19:05]
On the Rule of Improv
“When a stakeholder comes to them with an idea, employ the rule of improv. The rule of improv... is 'Yes, and.'”
— Leah [27:27]
Structural Tips & Tactical Takeaways
- Identify stakeholders with veto power, not just voices.
- Build trust with early, organic, and frequent conversations.
- Favor one-on-one engagement. Avoid “grand update” group meetings where politics dominate.
- Test all ideas (including your own) with real customers and data.
- Align on shared outcomes and evidence, not feature lists or opinions.
- Encourage and embrace ideas from every corner—but use discovery, not dogmatism, to decide priorities.
- Use “Yes, and...” (the rule of improv) plus “5 Whys” to dig deeper into stakeholder suggestions.
Episode Highlights by Timestamp
- 00:00–04:28 — Framing the challenge: voices vs. votes
- 04:28–08:12 — Real-life M&A example, stop sign vs. yield sign
- 08:12–12:01 — Embracing constraints, early partnership
- 12:01–15:38 — Proactive stakeholder engagement, collaboration over conversation
- 15:38–20:29 — One-on-ones vs. group meetings; sales as stakeholders
- 20:29–23:36 — The risks of stakeholder-driven roadmaps
- 23:36–28:18 — Using evidence, reinforcing trust, rule of improv
Final Thoughts
Christian and Leah offer an honest, practical look at stakeholder collaboration that moves the topic from headache to high craft. Their advice champions partnership, empathy, and evidence—urging product leaders to build trust early, communicate openly, and treat stakeholder relationships as a source of strength, not friction.
For more resources and discussion, visit svpg.com.