How can digital strategists build trust with stakeholders?

Understanding key challenges experienced by stakeholders is vital to the overall process. It’s a great opportunity for open and frank discussion on current and past experiences to help align on a combined roadmap. It’s also a great introductory opportunity to open doors and begin vital two way communication.

Every project of Digital Strategy/ transformation should begin with a brainstorming session/ multiple workshops with key stakeholders & customer research . - Understand the problem statement and set goals accordingly (Tools like Lucidchart, Mind Map, Miro can help enable this) - Identify key challenges in the current scenario - Prioritise the challenges and set short & long term goals with consensus from key stakeholders - Set up a CFT for each project and maintain a regular cadence for key milestones

Building trust with stakeholders hinges on more than understanding their objectives and challenges; it's about active engagement and empathy. Beyond utilizing tools like interviews or surveys, it's essential to foster genuine connections through open-ended dialogue. Active listening, coupled with probing questions, uncovers nuanced insights that other methods might miss. Moreover, acknowledging and addressing assumptions or gaps in understanding demonstrates a commitment to truly comprehending stakeholder needs. This depth of understanding not only aligns strategies with business objectives but also showcases a vested interest in their success and helps you fully understand their situation.

It is important to understand the goals and challenges stakeholders brought you on for. There are three ways to understand their challenges and their expected outcomes: - Interviews: It is an effective way to speak with stakeholders and get more information about the challenges they face and what they expect from you. Using the 'Five Why's Methodology' can help you understand this better. Always jot down and have a recording of this conversation. - Surveys: Surveys help you to tailor information to a direction, it eliminates long discussions and bombardment of information. It is a great way to gather information on challenges and goals that the clients hired you for. It is also a great way to get data when planning your strategy. Enjoy!

Construir a confian?a é um processo que envolve várias etapas, desde a primeira abordagem até o desenvolvimento, que é uma constru??o contínua. é importante alinhar todas as expectativas, objetivos e estabelecer uma comunica??o franca sobre as etapas da estratégia, mantendo todos os envolvidos informados sobre o progresso.

In my experience, transparency is key when communicating with stakeholders. Being able to discuss not only successful milestones but also challenges and setbacks in an proactive way will ensure that projects stay on track. Stakeholders who are well informed will support you and your team with confidence, removing roadblocks when necessary and providing direction and resources to maintain alignment or to course-correct.

I completely agree with the point that the communication has to in simple language. But the communication should be honest and realistic. If you over promise and under deliver you have lost trust. To summarise, the communication should be: - Simple - Honest - Show them Realistic picture - Talk more about strategies and processes, if your line of thought is logical it always works - Data oriented

When providing frequent updates it's important to proactively address risks and issues. It's almost always best to be upfront with stakeholders on potential and existing problems and how you plan to resolve them. This avoid surprises and can actually help build trust.

Communication is a three way loop and it is important to keep it that way at all times. Properly explain how you take to carry out your tasks, timelines and notes. Give updates through a note, voice recording, video recording on key points and directions. Always ask for feedback from stakeholders.

When involving stakeholders in the process it's important to make the goals and desired outcomes of the collaboration clear. For example, in a brainstorming session you might communicate that the goal is to generate ideas, not necessarily to walk out with a full solution. You might also communicate that all ideas are welcome but not all ideas will make it into the final product. Always acknowledge contributions and respect their expertise, but also set expectations and make the framework/expectations of collaborations clear.

Key to great collaboration for strategy execution: - clear and collaboratively signed and shared OKR -challenges and pain point analysis and empathy analysis - keeping in the circle: involved in process & decision control boards -clear organisation wide; value mapping and kick starting value realisation office Created a digital strategy execution model (GROW): G-Governance R-Result O- Objectives W- Standardised ways of working, operational working.

Consistency is key in building trust. This doesn't mean you alway succeed, but it means that you regularly deliver expected results and when you don't you proactively communicate the reasons why.

Be as transparent about your failures as you are about your successes. As much as we as product leaders want to celebrate the things that went well, being transparent about what didn't, why, and what the path forward is can help build an immense trust in you as a digital partner.

It is important to align wit stakeholders, knowing their pains and motivations help you to create a strong bond with them and can guide you to solve problems that arises. Empathetic listening is a core to what we do as digital strategist, you must make sure you are empathetic to their challenges and confident in your solution.

Establishing clear communication, setting realistic expectations, and consistently delivering on promises are key. By providing data-driven insights and transparently discussing potential risks and mitigation strategies, they can establish credibility. Strategists should personalize their interactions to the stakeholder's interests, showing genuine interest in their perspectives. Trust is also built by involving stakeholders in the decision-making process, ensuring their input is valued and considered.Demonstrating empathy towards their challenges and recognizing their contributions fosters a collaborative environment. Regular updates and celebrating shared successes further solidify this trust.

It's crucial not only to continuously enhance your digital strategy capabilities but also to delve into the intricacies of each client and industry. Every client and industry differs, so acknowledging that you were hired for your expertise, while remaining receptive to learning and adapting to unique industry or client-specific differences, is key.