How to Tell if Your Stakeholders Are Happy With You?

January is almost behind us. You may wonder where I’m going with this series of stakeholder articles. I aim to simplify data project management and organize all my learning experience into Data Concierge Agile Playbook. You’re witnessing the making of a book, and it’s gradually taking shape. I'm also setting up a website.

This week we’ll discuss how you know your stakeholders are happy. As silly as it sounds, people spend a lot of time coming up with ROI or KPIs to measure their success. If you’re asked to provide that, you already lost. That is, they want you to prove your worth because they can’t feel it.

People argue that metrics are necessary to scale. Really? Direct communication can scale too if you plan it right. Let's dive into it now.

I’ve been in many conversations where people in tech complain they don’t know what people think about their work. Yet, they never have meetings with their stakeholders or ask for any feedback.

It’s time to take proactive actions. 

On Twitter, I came across a really long thread about how they could measure the value of a data analytics project. This group agreed on a very complicated system to calculate the “happiness index” of their stakeholders.

In that thread, no one mentioned the approach of direct communication.

How do you know if your leaders are happy with your data team and the value you provide?

Ask them.

You’ll run into two types of stakeholders.

Honest Stakeholders

They’re completely honest with you. This is the best scenario, even if it’s a criticism, because you know where you stand. Although it’s no fun to be on the receiving side of negative feedback, this is definitely better than a meltdown later on, leaving you no time to correct any issues.

Sugar-coated Stakeholders

They’re too nice to tell you what is wrong, although this rarely happens in my case. People are quick to complain when they don’t have the data they need. Ask them what data issues they face at work when they don’t give feedback. You’ll know if your team provides enough support and value to them.

The Importance of Regular Meetings

It’s crucial to have regular meetings when you deliver data projects. Agile methodologies are at the heart of software engineering development cycles. Most of them have a strong focus on regular communication, such as stand-ups, product demos, etc.

The data field recently followed suit. Although not as comprehensive, the importance of regular communication remains. 

A data project is like a home remodeling project. Can you imagine that your contractor just stopped talking to you as the project kicked off? And you wouldn’t be able to see the progress until it was done. Imagine the things that could go wrong!

Have regular meetings on your progress. Keep your stakeholders in the loop. Ask them to provide feedback. If there is not much progress, replace a meeting with an update email or an IM.

Never stop communicating with your stakeholders. Don’t let poor communication kill your good data projects. The more you communicate, the more likely you provide value to them.

I know it’s extra work. However, it’s the best insurance for your projects, which protects you from delivering the wrong products.

If you need more personalized help, I also provide consulting services here.

If you'd like to give better presentations at work and hone your public speaking skills, let Christopher transform you into star speakers. 

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• Great podcasts on communication here.

• If you're into finance, check out below. I've learned so much from her.