How to communicate with stakeholders the right way
🎁 Notion Template: RACI Chart for a Tech Project included!
Intro
I’ve learned a LOT about how important stakeholder communication is by doing freelance projects. And I used the same principles that I have learned with the full-time roles as well.
This has helped me immensely to inspire trust and grow from an engineer all the way to CTO.
I’ve been able to lead countless projects from start to finish while communicating well and now I am sharing the step-by-step guide on communicating with stakeholders the right way!
This is an article for paid subscribers, and here is the full index:
- Who exactly are the stakeholders?
- Notion Template: RACI Chart of a tech Project
- Why should you focus on great stakeholder communication?
🔒 How to communicate correctly with the stakeholders
🔒 1. Make sure that the expectations from the stakeholders are clear and that you thoroughly understand them
🔒 2. Develop a plan and present it to the right people
🔒 3. Have a consistent update-loop
🔒 4. Be transparent as much as possible
🔒 5. Share the release plan and how you will ensure that everything works as expected
🔒 Congrats, you successfully rolled out the feature and communicated with the stakeholders the right way!
🔒 Last words
Resources mentioned in the article:
A good engineer thinks like a product manager (paid article)
How to create great technical specifications (paid article)
How to be a reliable engineer (paid article)
How to be a proactive engineer (paid article)
Let’s get straight into it!
Who exactly are the stakeholders?
We hear the word “stakeholders” a lot and we may think that we understand who the stakeholders are, but in order to communicate effectively, it’s really important to identify the people that have a “stake” in the project.
Stakeholders are people which the outcome of the project affects in a certain way.
Some people are affected less and some people are more. If you wish to communicate the right way, the first important thing to do is to conduct a responsibility assignment matrix e.g. RACI chart analysis.
RACI stands for:
Responsible → People who perform the work to complete the project
Accountable → The person ultimately answerable for the project’s completion
Consulted → People whose opinions are sought for input or feedback
Informed → People who are kept updated on the project’s progress
It’s also important to mention that the responsibilities of individuals change based on which state the project is in.
In order to be very clear about what it means and how to do it, I’ve created a Notion Template of a RACI chart for a tech project.
No matter what role you have, you’ll be able to see where you fit in the specific project in the template.
Notion Template: RACI Chart for a Tech Project
You can use this template to help you define the correct responsibilities for your case.
In the template, you’ll find an example of a RACI Chart for a normal Engineering Team and a project with TODO-type functionalities.
You can get the template here: 🎁 Products for paid subscribers
Let’s define next why it’s important to focus on great stakeholder communication.
Why should you focus on great stakeholder communication?
Being able to communicate correctly with stakeholders can be the difference between a successful and not successful project.
You can do the best work in the world:
write the most simple code,
add all the tests,
create all the documentation.
But if the expectations and perceptions from the stakeholders are not managed properly, it won't come across that way.
Now that we know who the stakeholders are and what are their responsibilities. Let’s focus on proper communication!