How do you balance short-term and long-term goals when communicating with diverse stakeholders?

In addition, at the risk of stating the obvious but often is overlooked, is to "know" your audience for the communications. Seek to understand from THEIR POV, not just yours. Example: If the stakeholder is Board-level, likely your comms should be strategic. If CFO, better know and be able to back up your quantified/financial points. If stakeholder is a community member, what is most important to them based on their constituents? Etc. I see this often overlooked, even in the C-suite; particularly when sales-oriented or product/tech- oriented leaders/staff are communicating they are not taking the stakeholders POV and rather falling into the trap of just pushing their own thoughts.

One of the most overlooked tactics is asking what stakeholders want. Individuals communicating often start with what they are most excited about and miss their opportunity by not simply asking the needs of the stakeholders. If one has completed thorough prep work they should be prepared to express their desired initiative, proposal, or actions that leans into whatever the stakeholders priorities are. This approach accounts for different general ideologies, functional areas, and diverse cultural views.

Research and understand the cultural backgrounds of your stakeholders, focusing on their time orientation – some cultures are more short-term focused, valuing immediate results. In contrast, others place more emphasis on long-term planning and outcomes. Adjust your communication to reflect this understanding. For short-term oriented stakeholders, emphasize immediate benefits and quick wins. For those with a long-term orientation, discuss the sustained impact and future vision. This tailored approach ensures that your communication resonates with the varied time perspectives of your stakeholders, facilitating more effective and inclusive engagement.

Beyond short and long-term goals, each culture falls somewhere on the high vs. low-context spectrum. High-context cultures will tend to read between the lines a lot, they’re less focused on recapping discussions, providing extra details and repeating information. In business cultures where both high and low contexts are present, it’s best to operate in a low-context setting. It’s always better to over communicate than leave information on the table. This can lead to misalignment. Here are some best-practices I follow: 1. If someone is sharing a strategy with you and you need more clarity, ask some additional questions and assign owners. 2. Make sure you’re all defining key words in the same way (success, failure, follow-up, urgency…)

When engaging with stakeholders, clearly define and communicate both the immediate objectives and the overarching long-term goals of your project or initiative. This clarity helps stakeholders understand how their immediate contributions fit into the broader, long-term vision. Additionally, outline your expectations for their involvement and support in both contexts. This approach ensures that all parties are aligned and can see the value of their participation in both the short and long term, facilitating better collaboration and support across different time horizons.

In my experience, using the SMART criteria helps ensure that everyone understands the goals and expectations from the start. Additionally, actively engaging with stakeholders to discuss their goals and expectations, and how they align with ours, has been crucial for building consensus and maintaining focus on both short-term milestones and long-term objectives.

What do you want to achieve today? What do you want to achieve next week? Or next year? It helps to paint a picture of that roadmap for your employees and stakeholders.

Outside of language one must review cultural expectations or customs before setting up important businesses discussions. For example, in cultures where business deals are negotiated during a dinner together, but one counterpart believes work should only be done in an office setting, the misunderstanding of each others culture may prevent any negotiation or discussions. Becoming familiar with cultural norms before setting appointments is an important step to successful negotiation.

When negotiating/trying to come to an agreement on strategy and priorities, it’s important to establish risk profiles for all involved. The biggest blocker in achieving alignment or successfully compromising is different levels of risk appetite and definitions of risk. It’s more complex in diverse teams as our cultural background, family history and childhoods strongly influence this. Try doing the follow in meetings where you’re struggling to find a compromise. -Ask with a show of hands which one sounds riskier: driving a race car (active)or not saving for retirement (passive). Aim to get buy-in from passive risk takers first. -Define uncertainty (unmeasurable) vs. risk (measurable/predictable) and aim to align on a risk threshold.

Encourage open discussions where stakeholders can express their short-term and long-term priorities. Aim to find common ground and mutually beneficial solutions. For instance, propose compromises that address immediate needs while contributing to long-term objectives. This could involve prioritizing certain short-term actions that align with the long-term strategy or adjusting timelines to accommodate different stakeholders' immediate concerns.

Set up a system of periodic reviews where you can monitor the progress of both short-term tasks and long-term goals. During these check-ins, evaluate whether short-term actions are aligning with and contributing to the long-term objectives. Use these sessions to adjust strategies as needed, ensuring that immediate achievements are not at the expense of long-term success. This continuous monitoring and evaluation process keeps stakeholders informed, aligned, and engaged with both the immediate and future directions of the project or initiative.

Another point I’d like to add is the importance of transparency and adaptability. When communicating with diverse stakeholders, it’s crucial to be open about how short-term and long-term goals are balanced and why certain decisions are made. This helps build trust and alignment. At the same time, being adaptable allows you to adjust plans as priorities evolve, ensuring that both short- and long-term goals remain in focus, even when compromises are necessary.

Create a mechanism to regularly gather and analyze feedback from stakeholders regarding both short-term and long-term initiatives. Use this feedback to understand what is working well and what needs improvement. Apply these insights to refine your communication strategies, ensuring that they remain effective and responsive to the needs and expectations of your stakeholders. This approach of learning from feedback and making ongoing improvements helps in aligning both short-term and long-term goals, fostering a more collaborative and adaptive stakeholder engagement process.