How to Engage Busy Stakeholders - Mike Cohn

We often find ourselves reliant on others outside the team.
For example, an agile team may get stuck waiting for feedback on the latest features or input on what to build next because a key stakeholder has never shown up for a sprint review. Without that stakeholder’s feedback, the team is impeded: unable to determine if what they’ve created is what’s needed.
The team nags, pleads, and cajoles. But still they’re left waiting because stakeholders are often busy, and they just can’t (or won’t) find the time.
You’ve tried moving the sprint review meeting to more convenient times. You’ve sent agendas that make it clear the stakeholder’s most desired feature is the one being discussed in the review.
But time and time again, something comes up at the last minute and the stakeholder is a no show.
In these instances, it’s time to take the meeting to them.

When a stakeholder won’t (or can’t) show up for the team, it’s time for a different approach:

Schedule time on the stakeholder’s calendar for a meeting a few days before sprint planning.
Use that block of time to work together on what the team needs.

Schedule a Non-Meeting Meeting Tip within the Tip: Want more help with team dynamics and stakeholder management? Try my free Scrum Team Reset training. It’s three videos from me that will help you find new ways to take your team from good to great.
When I schedule the meeting, I’ll sometimes be very clear what the meeting is about: “I want to go over such-and-such with you before the review.” Other times, I’ll be more vague: “I need to chat about the project.”
Use whatever language you need to secure time on the person’s calendar. Why? Because we are all more willing to cancel appointments with ourselves than we are to cancel an appointment with someone else. By putting time on their calendar that they’re reluctant to cancel, you’ve secured enough time for them to actually do the work.
Get the To-Do to Done
During the meeting, explain to them the work you need them to do (look at the feature and give feedback or clarify how the feature should work.) Then, use the time to step through the implementation (or plan) with them.
This results in two things: the team gets the information it needs. The stakeholder finds that the thing they’ve been putting off really wasn’t so bad once they focused on getting it done.
Why This Works
When stakeholders show an inability to get work or answers to you at appropriate times, it’s time to intervene. Maybe they’re worried their time will be wasted in a review where their feature is one of many being discussed.
Maybe “review the xyz feature” has been on their to-do list and keeps getting bumped down. Or maybe they haven’t actually scheduled a specific time to work on it.
No matter the reason, the work the team needs done is not happening. And your best chance of helping the stakeholder do that work is to schedule time with the stakeholder directly. And then use that time to make it happen.
Should stakeholders be able to do this on their own?
Sure.
But we all struggle at times. My experience is that after doing this a handful of times with a stakeholder, most stakeholders will form a new habit and be able to continue without you.
In other cases, you and the stakeholder will discover it actually is more efficient when done together, and you’ll keep a recurring meeting on their calendar that isn’t the review. That’s perfectly fine, too.
Stakeholders are often busy. And that can cause them to take longer to respond than a fast-moving agile team might like. Finding creative solutions that keep the team moving (even if it’s not something Scrum prescribes) is the best way to help advance a team from good to great,

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