How To Get Alignment With Tough Stakeholders

Too often we start our projects with a brief and vague direction, and without even understanding what our stakeholders really want.

Who is a Tough Stakeholder?

The SCARF model is a framework that describes the five domains of human social experience.
Every human has a basic set of needs: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness
These needs are constantly being judged in our relationships with others
Stakeholders are particularly affected by three of these needs: status, certainty, and relatedness

Status refers to the social hierarchy or pecking order, where individuals rank higher or lower than others.
People are constantly dealing with the threat of losing status or the reward of being higher than someone else.
Threats to status, such as rejection or exclusion, activate the same pathways in the brain that physical pain does.
When someone’s status is threatened, they can react very negatively.
One way to increase a person’s sense of status is by publicly recognizing them. This generates a positive reward and can resonate for years.

Stakeholders want predictability and stability
They may feel threatened by uncertainty or change
Ways to increase certainty: provide clear expectations, communicate progress regularly, be transparent about risks and challenges
Providing access to more information can help put a stakeholder’s mind at ease

Relatedness refers to the need to feel a connection to other people and to belong to a group.
When people feel a sense of relatedness, a reward is generated in the brain, and they want to keep it coming.
When there is an absence of relatedness, it generates a threat response.
Allowing more time for casual conversation or more opportunities to participate with the team can help increase a stakeholder’s sense of relatedness.

Use a vision meeting to manage certainty, relatedness, and status.
A vision meeting provides a big picture and fosters team-relatedness. All voices are heard and everyone gets a chance to contribute
Make sure that key players are involved in the meeting. Participants feel like they are part of the team, There is a commitment to the project over the agreement
Ensure there is strong facilitation.
Start the meeting by building rapport and having an agenda.
When you have a vision meeting, you equalize the voices and reverse the influence.
You’re earning buy-in by having everyone feel like they’re contributing and involved.

Increase their status by recognizing their expertise, seeking their input, and involving them in decision-making
Hierarchy and status are relative and depend on the situation.
Being aware of the corporate politics and pecking order of a company is important when dealing with tough stakeholders.
Giving a stroke or complimenting stakeholders can help increase their sense of status.
Providing a third-party story can help defer to their status.

Ask questions of stakeholders to get them to come up with ideas that are aligned with your own.
The goal is to make stakeholders feel like the idea is their own, rather than feeling like they’re being told what to do.

Increase certainty by providing clear expectations, communicating progress regularly, and being transparent about risks and challenges
Increase relatedness by building rapport and trust, involving stakeholders in social activities, and showing appreciation for their contributions
Address issues head-on and have difficult conversations if necessary