You're a Business Analyst working with a Scrum Master. How can you learn to manage stakeholders?

2 Communicate with your stakeholders

The second step to manage stakeholders is to communicate with them regularly and effectively. You need to establish a communication plan that defines the frequency, format, channel, and content of your communication with each stakeholder group. You also need to tailor your communication style and tone to suit your audience and context. For example, you might use more technical language with developers, more business language with sponsors, and more user-centric language with customers.

3 Align your stakeholders

The third step to manage stakeholders is to align them with your project vision, goals, and scope. You need to ensure that your stakeholders share a common understanding of what you are trying to achieve, why, and how. You can use various techniques to facilitate alignment, such as vision statements, user stories, value proposition canvases, or prototypes. You also need to manage stakeholder expectations and handle any conflicts or disagreements that might arise during the project.

4 Involve your stakeholders

The fourth step to manage stakeholders is to involve them in your project activities and decisions. You need to create opportunities for your stakeholders to provide feedback, input, and validation throughout the project lifecycle. You can use various methods to engage your stakeholders, such as focus groups, user testing, reviews, demos, or retrospectives. You also need to acknowledge and appreciate your stakeholders' contributions and celebrate your achievements together.

5 Collaborate with your scrum master

The fifth step to manage stakeholders is to collaborate with your scrum master, who is responsible for facilitating the agile process and ensuring the team's performance and delivery. You need to work with your scrum master to plan and prioritize your backlog, define and refine your requirements, monitor and report your progress, and resolve any issues or impediments. You also need to support your scrum master in promoting agile values and principles, such as transparency, collaboration, feedback, and adaptation.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?