When it seems like stakeholders have aligned on a decision or direction, it’s time to finalize.

Have you ever left a meeting thinking everyone was on board, only to have the plan unravel when one stakeholder reverses course afterward? Here’s a technique to surface those hidden misalignments:

Some companies seem to think AI will do away with product managers. Andrew Ng says the opposite, that AI might flip the product-to-engineer ratio, with more renaissance product people, and fewer engineers per project. I mean, what is a requirements doc but an engineering prompt? 

When leading a stakeholder meeting, consider starting with an intentionally flawed idea. Invite the group to evaluate it dispassionately and agree on why it doesn’t work.

When you are trying to gain alignment between stakeholders, and you are unsure of how close you are, try using the Fist of Five technique. Ask each participant to hold up a number of fingers between zero (no confidence) and five (complete confidence). Then ask low scorers to articulate their doubts.

Shuttle Diplomacy is when you have one-on-ones with key stakeholders to understand their priorities and perspectives. During these meetings, share a draft of your roadmap and invite their feedback. This helps avoid unpleasant surprises and grumpy stakeholders when the roadmap is unveiled.

The common language of roadmaps is value. But not only value to the customer. To gain buy-in, identify the key value to each department and make it explicit. UX cares about value to users. Account managers care about retention. The language of sales is cold hard cash. This is what you were hired to do: to translate around the organization so you can create alignment.

Smaller teams spend less time on internal communication and coordination. In fact, adding a seventh person to a six-person team can actually reduce overall efficiency; the extra coordination costs outweigh the benefits of another contributor.

I believe America is strongest when — and because — it welcomes diversity, including immigrants, international students, and LGBTQ+ folks. That belief, to me, is deeply patriotic. Happy 4th.

I’ve written before about the value of mining for conflict, especially when stakeholders say they’re aligned, but you want to be sure. One effective technique is to go around the room (or their screens) and ask each stakeholder, “What could go wrong with this plan?”