Getting Stakeholder Alignment by Staying Curious
+ By defining high level objectives and reflecting on what others value
One of the most common questions when interviewing for product roles is how to convince other people of an idea, like a roadmap, and get alignment. To underscore how frequent this is, the most popular product management interview book, "Cracking the PM interview," has a section that tells you to prepare five anecdotes where at least one should be in "Leadership / Influence."
Before interviewing, I had never thought concretely about this question: I had just done what made sense to me. Now having answered this question dozens of times, I've had the opportunity to reflect on alignment and identify why I hadn't considered it "convincing" or "influencing."
Stay curious
The number one reason I never thought of alignment as influencing is that my approach is not to convince people of my idea. I share information and then see what holes others can make in my argument.
For example, when pitching a need for more resourcing, I always try to remember that I don't have perfect insight into other parts of the organization and their resourcing needs. When I pitch, I explain why I'm asking for resourcing and then stay curious.
My approach partly comes from how I prefer someone to convince me: I always want to be heard and for another person to acknowledge new data. In addition, I've been lucky to work with brilliant people, and I value their opinion and know they often see things I don’t.
Lastly, approaching alignment through curiosity makes me the least stressed out. Trying to convince people and feeling like you need to convince people is incredibly tiring. Having the mindset of presenting my case but staying curious takes some of the pressure off.
Define high level objectives
I didn't explicitly state this in the previous section, but it's critical to clarify objectives and assumptions. In my experience, most disagreement around execution stems from disagreeing on higher level principles.
For example, during roadmapping, I'll usually start by stating specific objectives. I give context on the importance, how they align with the company goals, and what assumptions I made. Once there is agreement on these, I walk through the specific deliverables on the roadmap and connect each deliverable to an objective. I've found by doing this, there is far less dissension since folks either agree or disagree and commit because they understand the intent.
I think the biggest mistake I make and see others make is not making the objectives and assumptions clear enough and not linking each piece of a plan to an objective. To clarify the objectives, I often display objectives on a written document, voice over the objectives, and then pause to ask if anyone has any questions. It may sound over the top, but it creates clarity.
Reflect on what others value
Even after level-setting, most folks will value certain things more and it's always important to factor in what they value. Sometimes this is because the person has veto power or is the one I need convince to get something I want. More often, I've found alignment is important because it creates shared excitement over goals.
For example, in the middle of one quarter, I was switching roadmap focus and needed to inform my engineering team. When I shared the news with the team, I tailored the message to include what motivated each team member. Some engineers were inspired by customer impact, and so I shared why this new direction was best for the business, specific customers who would benefit, and how this fed into our long-term vision. I also knew that some folks on the team were motivated by the type of work they got to do, so I also clarified that there were similar technical challenges in our new roadmap.
In another example, one executive I worked with placed a high premium on customer excitement through ongoing marketing campaigns. When I switched roadmap directions one quarter, I included a marketing roadmap alongside the new product roadmap with press releases and publications we could do every quarter. When I presented the new plan, the executive fully supported me, and, I think, I was able to get that level of support because I took the time to think through a less intuitive piece that was important to them.
I'm always curious if this resonates with your experience or if there are other strategies that you use. Let me know below!