Every project has its nay sayers. You know them… the difficult stakeholder, the questioning tech lead, the uncertain CMO… if you’ve not met them personally we can guarantee you’ve met someone similar. Living in the detail and slowing the project down, it can be quite easy to dismiss them. After all – everyone else is backing you, there’s nothing stopping you from charging ahead with all that wide support…
Embracing the challenge
But that doesn’t mean you should. No – what you should do is stop and hear them out. Read the situation, use your EQ to recognise the emotions, body language, and tone being used. The time invested now in understanding and knowing the individual and their drivers will be repaid in spades down the track. Building trust with someone so passionate about your project, especially if it impacts an area they are expert in is just a smart play.
Delivering a better outcome
And the earlier you decide to compromise, the cheaper the cost of change. Invariably compromise will result in a better solution and a better relationship with the challenging stakeholder. Listen and learn. You won’t regret it.
