What's the best way to work with cross-functional stakeholders?

Understanding their side of story and their pain points, keeping yourself in their shoes will help in developing a holistic perspective and have a fruitful discussion to arrive at a final solution that will help in putting the business on the fast track.

First, gaining a profound understanding of each stakeholder's role and expectations is critical. This insight empowers you to tailor your communication, feedback, and contributions precisely to suit their context and objectives. For instance, with the sales team, comprehending how they employ brand assets and identifying their obstacles and metrics is essential. Similarly, partnering with the product team demands an awareness of their feature development process, user feedback, and value proposition.

Most of the times, leaders lack a precise understanding of the requirements to uphold an unison brand voice. As a brand manager, your role involves supporting them in uncovering these genuine needs while fostering awareness. This approach aims to provide actionable instruments to leaders and their teams, and prevent choices that might yield immediate gains but potentially undermine the brand’s long-term positioning.

In my work life it is not a difficult puzzle to solve - talk more. Like really talk, in person, face to face if possible, and if using a computer, turn on the video. "Communicate more" is too vague and frankly a poor way of "communicating" the solution. It allows people to put a device or other wall between themselves and the person they're communicating with. In my experience a vast majority of the communication problems come from misunderstandings around email. It can be hard to get up the nerve to actually talk directly to someone, and we are more disconnected than ever, but the actual human connection is worth it. When I am asked about an email and what should be done about it I always ask the same question - did you talk to them?

Create a committee with subject matter experts from each key company department and make sure the strategy is aligned with the company vision and goals. Look at the WHYs first: Why communicating? Why choosing this channel? Why talking in this tone of voice/messaging? Then next step would be to make sure you achieve key Comms requirements: Are you adding value with this message for instance?

Having a clear brief and communicating clearly with final output in mind helps in resolving situation and getting the best outputs from cross functional teams.

Communication is based on your familial patterns and everybody brings different patterns to the workplace. We should be mindful of that. These three things have helped my workplace communication. - Goal of the conversation: Always remember what is the key message that you want to convey. Try not to embellish. - Context setting: In order to bring out the best of a conversation try to set context relevant to the message. - Overcommunicating: It's always better to over-communicate than communicate "enough". It's better to take a minute or two to repeat / summarise.

An example would be to set a weekly/monthly catch up call with the relevant stakeholders, where current and future topics can be discussed. If there is a project in progress, the call can serve as an update so everyone is one the same page. Use this call to address issues any team member might be facing or record feedback. Depending upon the situation, you can also set an agenda and share it before the call so everyone is on board and can prepare if needed.

Apart from goals, objectives and working meetings one of the most important aspects is make the vision of the brand tangible for everyone. As a brand manager you have this vision rooted in your plans and always top of mind. This does not necessarily apply to other functions where priorities and target's are mixed. Therefore it is important to remind the vision frequently sharing examples of what success will look like.

Engaging with cross-functional stakeholders entails showing genuine respect for their expertise and viewpoints. Recognizing their valuable skills and insights can significantly elevate your brand strategy and implementation. Moreover, actively listening to their thoughts, recommendations, and worries, and integrating them into your decision-making, is pivotal. Such actions pave the way for nurturing trust, forging connections, and cultivating a shared spirit of collaboration and innovation within your cross-functional partnerships.

In my experience, asking stakeholders to share their advice is a valuable strategy. It is important to hear all perspectives - this will make your solution better because you uncover some insights you otherwise may miss. Asking for an advice make people want to collaborate rather than criticize.

Totally agree! Cross-functional collaboration depends on getting everyone pulling in the same direction. It can be really tough and it requires understanding where everyone is coming from and fostering support for common goals, building trust and having a spirit of collaboration. And, there really is no such thing as too much communication.

A composed and considerate approach is vital. Open, honest communication is key, coupled with a focus on addressing root causes and finding inclusive solutions. Steering clear of blame or criticism and maintaining a united focus on shared objectives is essential for resolving issues effectively.

In the bustling office of a dynamic company, collaboration was a driving force. A team, comprised of individuals from diverse backgrounds, united in their goal to succeed together. As they journeyed through their cross-functional projects, they came to realize that success wasn't just about completing tasks – it was about appreciating one another.

It's critical to devote time to understanding the true objectives of stakeholders in cross-functional departments. Acknowledging and appreciating that they develop plans that they feel, given their areas of expertise, are best suited to drive the business forward (leads, sales, etc) and achieve their stated goals. Working within these plans, it's the job of the brand marketer to ensure that the brand's integrity is upheld and that its attributes are fused within the plan to not only help the campaign/program succeed, but to also mitigate any potential negative brand implications.

Reiterate and Reinstate Cross functional team members often tend to bypass the Brand Values and Brand Promise in order to gain market share. This results to dilution of Brand elements. As Brand Managers we should always reiterate and reinstate the culture, values and the brand promise in whatever product we launch, whatever camapign we execute and whatever communications we do!

Open and transparent communication is essential when working with cross-functional stakeholders. It is important to create an environment where all stakeholders feel comfortable expressing their ideas, concerns, and feedback. Regular meetings formal and informal should be scheduled to provide opportunities for discussion and collaboration. Building strong relationships and trust among cross-functional stakeholders is crucial for effective collaboration. Actively listening to their input and seek their opinions when making decisions that may impact their area of responsibility. By demonstrating respect for their expertise and involving them in the decision-making process we can foster a sense of ownership and commitment to the project.

I think one needs to read the room. If there are other confrontational people around in other cross functional teams, one needs to take it slow. On the other hand, if you sense that there is a generic need for energy in the room to move the team forward, a bit of confrontational approach helps. To nudge every other cross functional stakeholder to go that 1% up. It is tough in the immediate short term to pull off, but in hindsight, one looks back to the process as a team and realises how far they have come. And how fast.

There are no shortcuts to working effectively in a cross-functional stakeholder setup. But there indeed is the best way - If you are open to receiving ideas, inputs, positive criticism, feedback, etc from your stakeholders and lead them all the while learning from them; then you have hit that sweet spot. Shared learning will take you a long way and will also instil confidence in your stakeholders. Navigate them towards a common goal and reward them once the target is achieved. Plan a happy hour with your teaM and spend some time bonding and understanding what they expect from you. These are some of the soft skills that have worked for me, hope they do for all you reader as well.