How can you use problem-solving skills to manage difficult stakeholders in Culture Change projects?

Culture change is about people! When you understand people and value them you naturally usher in an authentic mood that garner trust and respect. People want to be heard and feel value, start with listen before giving your perspective. Ask the simple question, what's on your mind? And let them share freely.

In problem definition it is important to recognize that the same problem can manifest itself differently in different parts of the organization, equally important is to recognize that the solution will also manifest differently in different parts of the organization. I have found having a gaining an understanding of how the difficult stakeholder sees and feels the current problem is important. Asking them how they would solve the problem helps, and finding out their fear with regards to a solution is vital. Most push-back comes from a fear of how a potential solution will impact the stakeholder, i.e, more work for them, less authority or control, negative impact on the customers they provide for etc.

For example, a tech company aims to shift its culture towards more remote work flexibility. They identify key stakeholders: employees who may value flexibility but fear isolation, managers concerned with maintaining productivity, and IT staff tasked with implementing necessary technologies. They use stakeholder mapping to discover that managers are high influence/high interest, requiring regular updates and involvement in decision-making. Employees are high interest but varied in influence, necessitating tailored communication to address concerns and benefits. IT staff are high influence/low interest, needing clear directives and resources to support the change.

Culture is always led from the top. It's how leaders behave in the worst of times, not just the best, that counts. So I'd always start with developing the beliefs and behaviours of the leaders first. Role model the cultural change you want to see. Then you can accelerate it with stakeholder identification, collaboration and buy-in, and embed it through words, visuals (values, behaviours, examples) and rewards & consequences.

Be sure to understand what their personal motivations are. What are their pain points and what are their fears? Once you know those, it will be much easier to manage your stakeholders.

Before negotiating, try to define a MVP. Define together with the stakeholder to implement a small initiative that solves a pain point for their organisation. Once you have solved it, you have made a positive impact and it is more likely the stakeholder will want to continue. Don′t negotiate a change scope that doesn′t address any real needs or pains, you′ll face too much resistance.

But do it from a position of strength. I'm not talking about positional strength. In one instance, I remember meeting with a particularly hardheaded peer who had been in his position for over 5 years and he had every "reason" under the sun to not negotiate. I was able to raise awareness in other stakeholders that then saw my approach as a plausible solution set and they put pressure on him to come to the table. Be prepared, know the stakeholder, their values, justifications and position. Seek to gain an understanding of how they came to their current perspective as they may not have access to information that you do and be willing to do the same. Map out and be able to go on a "learning journey" alongside them without patronizing them.

This is always a cyclical process. Get feedback from the system early and often to make sure you prioritise the right actions that address the needs from your stakeholders.

When reason, these suggestions and all else fails. Go above their heads. I had developed a new way of working and needed to gain buy-in from 10 director level stakeholders to implement. I prepared, pitched and persuaded 6 right away. 3 had reservations that we worked through and the last one, no matter what I tried, was unwilling to support. I understood his concern that my proposal would negatively impact the quality that he had a right to be proud of. No amount of risk management, no consensus building, no negotiation would change his perspective. I was confident that this change would be successful, but it was a system change and I needed his people too and was able to convince my boss' and his that this was the right course of action.