---
name: Stakeholder Management
description: Align expectations before, not after.
---
# Stakeholder Management

Stakeholders learn about surprises at the same moment they can no longer influence them — and they hate it. Manage them by bringing them in early, especially when the news is bad.

## Principles
- **Align on the goal first.** Most stakeholder conflict is actually disagreement about what success means. Resolve that up front.
- **Show the roadmap, not just the request.** Stakeholders push their priority because they can't see the others. Make the trade-offs visible.
- **Bad news early.** A slip discovered and raised Monday is a problem to solve together; the same slip discovered Friday is a betrayal.
- **Decide who decides.** Stakeholders input; the PM decides (or whoever owns the area). Confusing the two produces design by committee.

## Cadence
A regular, predictable update beats sporadic deep dives. Stakeholders stop chasing if they trust the rhythm.