A customer-centric approach to innovation and solutions development is key… there’s no point having a great idea, and in thinking you are being innovative, whilst not including your core audience in the process… too many times I’ve seen what was believed to be “the next big thing” developed, then not landed as expected… So when you talk stakeholders, it isn’t just the ones who pay the bills, or sign off on the costs to pay, or the internal teams and how they all work together to deliver the innovation plan… the key stakeholders is, and always should be - The Customer… without them, their insight, their involvement, their buy-in, and sense of shared-ownership… it won’t fly…

Actually I disagree that structure and internal alignment is that important. These are aspect you always need to consider. But if the Product is new to both organization and market there is other things to consider. - Awareness, communicate beyond traditional prodcom. Don’t assume stakeholders understand the key selling points, purpose or values - Proof of Concept, setup up smaller projects with low threshold.. Need and value needs to be proven, specs won’t suffice - Seeing is believing, take steps to show early prototypes and make it tangible -Embrace competition, If you like to reach a larger market, make sure the markets is mature. Standardization, industry events and partnerships can help developing the market for a new product.

We need to create a cross functional team (CFT) with all stakeholders with clear accountability defined for different functions, for example – Finance to Vet Gross Margins, Sales to do Competition Benchmarking and Business Projections for New Products. This Project Team led by R&D should plan and present a Project Review on a Weekly Basis to the Management where a “Go Live” Date Is presented and all critical path line items discussed to obtain Special Approvals (if any). This is a time-tested process which works across Product Categories across Organizations. It ensures joint ownership and Cross Functional Working with different functions working together towards a common goal.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of Research & Development (R&D), the success of a product launch hinges on effective stakeholder alignment and communication. The complexity of R&D projects, driven by innovation and the need for speed, makes it essential for all stakeholders to share a common understanding of objectives and expectations. Without this alignment, even the most promising projects can falter, resulting in missed opportunities, wasted resources, and a failed launch.

Best ways to handle power dynamics esp. on new product development / new projects mainly involve aligning the team (across functions) on the common quantified business goal and the benefits to each of the stakeholders in the project very clearly. A NPD document to state the role of each stake holder very clearly and expectations on the project is to be officially recorded. Managing different individuals is an art as it involves understanding the strength and weaknesses of them and therefore making best possible use of their skills to the project. Consistent and frequent review of the project is quintessential to bring in operation efficiencies apart from tracking the progress towards the business goals.