Effective Stakeholder Communication

🚨 The Email That Made 200 Employees Panic The subject line read: “We need to talk.” That was it. No context. No explanation. Within minutes, the office air felt heavier. You could hear chairs creak as people leaned toward each other, whispering: 👉 “Did you see the mail?” 👉 “Do you think layoffs are coming?” 👉 “Why would he say that without details?” The silence in the cafeteria was louder than usual that day. Coffee cups stayed untouched, half-filled. Some stared at their screens, pretending to work, but their fingers hesitated above the keyboard. One manager later told me it felt like “a ticking clock in the background you can’t turn off.” What was meant to be a simple one-on-one call turned into an organization-wide anxiety spiral. Productivity dipped. Trust cracked. By evening, HR’s inbox was full of panicked questions. ⸻ 💡 When I stepped in as a trainer, the leader admitted: “I just didn’t think one line could create so much fear.” And that’s the truth: Leaders often underestimate the power of their words. A vague message is like sending a flare into the sky—everyone sees it, no one knows what it means, but everyone assumes the worst. We worked together on Crisis Communication Frameworks: • Lead with clarity: “I’d like to connect regarding Project X progress this Friday.” • Add emotional context: “No concerns—just a quick alignment call.” • Close with certainty: “This will help us stay on track as a team.” The difference? Next time he wrote an email, instead of panic, his team replied with thumbs-up emojis. Calm replaced chaos. ⸻ 🎯 Learning: Leadership isn’t just about strategy—it’s about how you sound in the small moments. One vague sentence can break trust. One clear message can build it back. If your leaders are unintentionally creating chaos through unclear communication, let’s talk. Because the cost of poor communication isn’t just morale—it’s millions. ⸻ #LeadershipCommunication #CrisisCommunication #ExecutivePresence #LeadershipSkills #CommunicationMatters #Fortune500 #TopCompanies #CXOLeadership #FutureOfWork #OrganizationalExcellence #StorytellingForLeaders #LeadershipDevelopment #CorporateTraining #ProfessionalGrowth #PeopleFirstLeadership

Most people start with the plan. That’s why they lose the room. When you're trying to bring people along, it feels natural to show your thinking. Lay out the steps. Walk through the logic. But the how only works if people already believe in the where. If they don’t, you’re just explaining a plan no one asked for. Lead with the destination. Paint the picture of the world as it looks when you've arrived — specifically, compellingly, in a way that makes people think: 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. Once they do, the how becomes a conversation they want to join. No one gets excited about a plan. They get excited about what the plan makes possible. Here’s what makes a destination land: 𝟭/ 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗱 Not "we'll improve X." Something specific: "A year from now, a customer can do in 2 minutes what takes them a day today." Specific futures are believable. Vague ones are forgettable. 𝟮/ 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 A destination without reasoning feels like wishful thinking. Briefly name what you looked at — the current pain, the patterns you observed, the alternatives you weighed. It tells the room: this isn't a dream. It's a conclusion. That's what earns the benefit of the doubt. 𝟯/ 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 Cross-functional partners care about their priorities, not yours. Show them how the destination solves something they deeply care about. If they can't see themselves in it, they won't move toward it. 𝟰/ 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗽 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 Once someone believes in the destination, they'll feel the distance between here and there. That tension creates urgency. You don't need to sell the plan — the gap sells it for you. 𝟱/ 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘆 The how will change. It always does. If you're too attached to it, partners feel like they're being handed a plan to execute, not a problem to solve together. The destination stays fixed. The path stays flexible. 𝟲/ 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 Most people rush through the vision to get to the plan. Flip it. The more vivid and compelling the destination, the less you'll need to sell the steps. If you want alignment, don't start with your plan. Start with the picture. Make it real enough that others can see themselves in it. The how will follow. What's one way you've seen someone paint a vision that actually moved people? --- Follow me, tap the (🔔) Omar Halabieh for weekly Leadership and Career posts.

As geopolitical risks continue to evolve and intensify, it is essential for communication leaders to adapt and respond effectively to these challenges.   Recent geopolitical crises have underscored the importance of proactive and strategic communication. According to the AXA Future Risks Report 2024, geopolitical instability is now the second most concerning risk for experts globally, up from third place in 2023. At the same time, disinformation and misinformation on these crises, mainly led by technology, are expanding their potential consequences. This progression highlights the growing impact of geopolitical events on businesses and the need for robust communication strategies. Here are some key insights and thoughts I wanted to share:   👉 Anticipate and Listen: Setting up an infrastructure for listening and scenario planning is crucial. By strengthening our social listening and predictive capacities, we can better anticipate crisis and understand the different perspectives that exist around geopolitical issues. As one Chief Communication Officer (CCO) mentioned in the latest European Communication Monitor (ECM) report, "We need to be prepared every day to react, and at the same time, we have to be very clear about the frames in which we want to react."   👉 Consolidate and Connect: Strengthening internal discussions and nurturing a network of communication experts with diplomatic skills is vital. In a decentralized company, this helps in ensuring that our communication as a Group is sensitive to the nuances of different geopolitical contexts. As another CCO pointed out, "You also need experienced communicators in different countries who not only have a view of their country but also understand that even in a global company there is a global view that is not necessarily congruent with the view of each country.”   👉 Navigate Ambiguity: In a fragmented and polarized world, managing corporate communications means carefully choosing what to say and how to say it. This involves balancing business perspectives with stakeholder expectations and navigating the contradictions that arise from intensifying geopolitical risks.   👉 Engage Proactively: The expectations of stakeholders, including consumers and employees, are evolving. There is an increased demand for companies to take a stand on geopolitical issues. As highlighted in the ECM report, 58.6% of CCOs agree that the geopolitical context has a very concrete impact on business, and companies need to consider this evolution.   On a more specific note, the AXA Future Risks Report 2024 also reveals that 91% of experts believe insurers have a crucial role in safeguarding against emerging risks. As Chief Communications Officer, this is something I truly believe in, and I am grateful to rely on a network of very professional heads of communications, in all AXA entities, to help us spread the word, build resilience and strengthen trust during uncertain times!

🤔 Useful Questions For Stakeholder Interviews. With good questions to ask when interviewing stakeholders — to understand their needs, key goals, gather requirements and keep them on your side ↓ --- 🔶 1. Design For Listening, Not A Conversation One of the most impactful strategies that worked for me over the years is to design the entire conversation around listening to stakeholders, not speaking about them or even with them. And typically it all starts with only one single question: “Please guide me through the product and explain its key features.” There is no small talk, no introductory questions, no dancing around the topic, no deep-dive into my workflow. I merely explain that in the next 45 mins I'm trying to find severe problems that are worth solving, understand the context about these problems and project goals — and ask for a permission to record the screen for studying it later. This opens the conversation immediately — and then I pay attention to features highlighted, features skipped, and ask plenty of follow-up questions to understand the motivations and the goals that a stakeholder has. --- 🔹 2. My Stakeholder Interview Template Dear Ms. Krajewski, As a UX lead on the project, my team and I are currently in the process of discovery. As we start our work, we’d like to better understand your pain points, expectations and success criteria. 1. What’s the purpose of this project for you? [Interest, engagement] 2. Where does this project fit in your daily work? [Their perspective] 3. What’s the most important thing to get right? [Priorities] 4. How would you describe the target audience? [Their view] 5. If you could understand one thing about users, what would it be? 6. What important insights did you learn about users recently? 7. What does success look like for you and your team? [Metrics] 8. What challenges are top priorities for your team? [Pain points] 9. What’s the success criteria for the project? [Ideal outcome] 10. What constraints or frequent issues should we know about? [Risks] 11. What is your ideal level of engagement for the project? [Max] 12. Anything else you think nobody said to me yet? [Hidden troubles] 13. Is there anybody else who you think I should speak to? [Leads] --- ♦️ 3. The Real Insights Aren’t In These Answers I absolutely love Anton Sten's point that the real insights usually won’t live in answers to all these questions. They live in the follow-up questions and answers — and often in a way of how a stakeholder responds, what they leave out, and what they overstate or repeat a number of times. As designers, too often we see our clients and stakeholders as adversaries. Yet we rarely know how our stakeholders work, so we shouldn’t expect them to understand what we need either. The crucial part is to be genuinely curious, positive and engaged to elicit useful insights. “The other person will only stay engaged as long as you do, and they can sense when you check out.” Useful resources ↓

How to Extract Information from Stakeholders 🎯 Getting accurate information from stakeholders can make or break your financial planning process. Each stakeholder speaks a completely different language and focuses on totally different metrics. The secret? Knowing exactly what to ask and how to ask it. ➡️ CEO CONVERSATIONS CEOs think big picture, so focus on strategic direction and vision. You want company strategies for next quarter, budget allocation expectations, risk tolerance levels, and market positioning goals. The money question: "What are the top 3 strategic priorities that should drive our Q4 planning?" ➡️ HEAD OF SALES Sales leaders live and breathe pipeline projections and customer acquisition costs. Get those sales pipeline projections, customer acquisition costs, territory performance data, and resource requirements for targets. My go-to approach: "What's the realistic revenue projection for Q4, and what support do you need?" ➡️ MARKETING DIRECTOR Marketing lives for lead generation and brand metrics. You need campaign performance metrics, lead generation forecasts, brand awareness initiatives, and marketing budget requirements. Hit them with: "How many qualified leads can marketing deliver to support the sales targets?" ➡️ HR MANAGER HR thinks talent and workforce planning 24/7. Grab headcount projections, recruitment timelines, employee retention rates, and training and development needs. Start here: "What's our hiring timeline to support the growth plan, and any retention concerns?" ➡️ ENGINEERING LEAD Engineering leaders obsess over product development roadmaps. Collect that product development roadmap, technical debt priorities, infrastructure requirements, and team capacity information. The must-ask question: "What features can be delivered by Q4, and what technical investments are critical?" ➡️ ACCOUNTING MANAGER Accounting thinks financial health and compliance every single day. Get cash flow projections, budget variance analysis, financial compliance requirements, and cost optimization opportunities. The essential question: "What's our cash flow outlook, and are there any financial constraints for our growth plans?" ➡️ UNIVERSAL BEST PRACTICES These six practices work with EVERY stakeholder: Be Specific: Ask for concrete numbers, dates, and measurable outcomes rather than vague commitments. Respect Their Time: Come prepared with focused questions and provide context upfront. Speak Their Language: Use terminology and metrics relevant to their department and priorities. Validate Understanding: Repeat back key points to ensure alignment and avoid miscommunication. Follow Up: Send summaries of key decisions and next steps within 24 hours. Close the Loop: Show how their input directly influences decisions and outcomes. === What's your approach to stakeholder communication? Share your best practices in the comments below 👇

Ever presented rock-solid research only to hear "Thanks, but we're going with our gut on this one"? Securing stakeholder buy-in is rarely about the quality of your work. It's about something deeper. When you’re dealing with a research trust gap, ask yourself 5 questions. 👽 Are you speaking alien to earthlings? When you say jargon like "double diamond" or "information architecture," your stakeholders hear gibberish. Business leaders didn't learn UX in business school—and most never will. Translate everything into business outcomes they understand. Revenue growth. Customer retention. Cost savings. Competitive advantage.  Speak their native language, not yours. ⏰ What keeps them awake at 3am? Behind every skeptical question is a personal fear. That product manager who keeps shooting down your findings? They're terrified of missing their KPIs and losing their bonus. Have honest conversations about what they're personally on the hook for delivering. Then show how your research helps them achieve exactly that. ❓Are you treating assumptions as facts? You might think you know what questions matter to your stakeholders. You're probably wrong. Before starting research, explicitly ask: "What questions do you need answered to make this decision?" Then design your research to answer exactly those questions. ⚒️ Are you dying on the hill of methodological purity? Sometimes you have 8 hours for research instead of 8 weeks. Being dogmatic about "proper" research methods doesn’t always pay off. Focus on outcomes over process. If quick-and-dirty gets reliable insights that drive decisions, embrace it. 🍽️ Are you force-feeding them a seven-course meal when they wanted a snack? Executives need 30-second summaries. Product managers need actionable findings. Junior team members need hands-on learning. Tailor your approach to each one. You can also use my stakeholder persona mapping template here: https://bit.ly/43R7wom What’s the best advice you’ve heard about dealing with skeptical stakeholders?

How many times have you come back from a conference or event and thought, “I should’ve done more to maximize that experience”? Not just attending the sessions or showing up at the dinners, but turning it into something meaningful for your visibility, your relationships and your business development efforts. Me too 🙋🏼♀️ It’s easy to get caught up in the travel, the meetings, the panels and then move on to the next thing without following up. But the days after the event are when you can actually turn conversations into relationships and visibility into opportunity. Here are some ways to make the most of it: ✔️ Add new contacts to your LinkedIn network with a brief personal message ✔️ Follow up with a quick note or article relevant to what you discussed ✔️ Set up a coffee or Zoom with someone you want to get to know better ✔️ Thank the organizers and tag them in a post that shares why the event was valuable ✔️ Share a thoughtful takeaway from a session or speaker and connect it back to your work ✔️ Turn a question you were asked at the event into a LinkedIn post ✔️ Make a short list of people you want to stay in touch with and schedule reminders to check in ✔️ Look at the attendee list and identify one or two people you didn’t meet but want to and reach out to them saying that ✔️ Update your contacts or tracking sheet so you don’t lose momentum ✔️ Review your notes and pull out insights or trends that could spark future content or outreach You already invested time and energy to be there, and a few intentional steps afterward can help that investment pay off. Which of these tips are you going to do first? #LegalMarketing #ClientDevelopment #LinkedInTips #BusinessDevelopment

**5 tips for active listening to be more neuroinclusive Active listening is a crucial skill for building neuroinclusive workplaces, classrooms, and communities. Many neurodivergent individuals process information differently—whether through delayed processing, needing more structure, or preferring specific forms of communication. Here are five simple but impactful ways to ensure your listening is truly inclusive: 1. Pause and allow for processing time Not everyone can respond immediately. Giving extra thinking time without interrupting or rushing allows people to process and articulate their thoughts. Silence isn’t discomfort—it’s space. 2. Use multiple communication modes Not everyone communicates best through spoken conversation. Offer alternatives like chat, email, or visuals to support different needs. Checking in with, “Would you prefer to share in writing?” can make a big difference. 3. Check for understanding—not assumption Rather than assuming someone has understood (or that you have understood them), ask open-ended questions like, “Would you like me to clarify anything?”. This avoids miscommunication. 4. Minimise distractions Background noise, bright lights, or a busy environment can make listening and processing harder for some people. Where possible, create quieter, low-stimulation spaces. 5. Respect different conversational styles Some neurodivergent people may speak in detail, go off-topic, or use different pacing. Be patient and focus on the key messages. True listening isn’t just about hearing words—it’s about understanding and making space for diverse ways of communicating. Small changes can lead to a big impact on inclusion.

Making People feel Heard Active listening is promoted widely these days - rightly so. And, how can you go beyond active listening when you need to handle challenging situations. When someone is very angry (especially at you 😊), it becomes challenging to tackle the issue. Recently a colleague was very upset with me for doing (or actually not doing) a task he was expecting me to to do. My gut reaction was to give a snarky reply. Then I suddenly remembered a mantra shared by my mentor. We often tend to go into solution mode and offer our way of resolving the problem. In my experience, frequently, others do not expect you to provide a solution. They just need to feel heard. This is the process I followed: 1.     I imagined the person was in a plastic bubble and his words did not impact me. Had I got triggered and responded angrily, this technique would not have worked. 2. Asked him how he felt and what his thoughts were on the issue. I empathized with his condition. 3. Paraphrased his words, while prefacing with “My understanding is” and re-used some of his words. I also added my perception of his feelings of anger and being upset. Subtly tried to use similar body gestures and pace of voice, without appearing to mimic him. 4. Asked him “Have I expressed you correctly”? If he had agreed, we would have had a common understanding. But when he said “Not really”, I went to the next step. 5. Repeated step 2 of asking him how he really felt and his thoughts on the matter and listened much more attentively. I paraphrased my response again. He felt I had expressed his feelings well. I would have continued this process till he agreed with my interpretation of his thoughts and feelings. By them, the core issue was clear, and my colleague felt himself being heard and was in a position to discuss the issue calmly and logically. In other cases, I have found that the issue has already been resolved at this stage. Being present with the other person and feeling heard is a great gift you can give to others. What technique do you use to handle such situations? Do share in the comments below. #CareerCoach #LifeCoach #Leadership

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 One of the most underappreciated challenges in leading data initiatives isn't the technology, it's effectively engaging with multiple stakeholder groups who each need different information, presented differently. Success can be best supported by tailoring your approach across three distinct audiences: 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞/𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 These stakeholders need the 30,000-foot view focused on: 🔹 Business impact and ROI 🔹 Risk mitigation strategies 🔹 Resource allocation justification 🔹 Clear timelines with defined milestones When presenting here, focus on outcomes rather than methods, using business metrics they already value and understand. 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 Department leaders and business partners require: 🔹 How the project will affect their operations 🔹 Specific benefits to their teams 🔹 Required involvement and resource commitments 🔹 Timeline of when they'll see tangible results Ensure you translate technical concepts into functional benefits, always answering their implicit question: "What's in it for my team?" 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐬 / 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐫𝐬 These specialists need: 🔹 Architectural decisions and their rationale 🔹 Technical dependencies and integration points 🔹 Clear technical requirements and acceptance criteria 🔹 Roadmaps for implementation and technical debt management With this group, go deeper into the "how" while still connecting it to the "why." The true art lies in maintaining consistency across these different views. The timeline shown to executives must align with what the technical team is building and what business stakeholders are expecting. The promised business outcomes must be technically feasible. Successful data leaders don't just understand data, they understand people and can adapt their communication to bring everyone along on the journey. What challenges have you faced when communicating complex data initiatives across different organisational levels? #DataLeadership #StakeholderManagement #DataStrategy #TechnicalLeadership