Common Stakeholder Challenges, Part I: Not Including the Right Stakeholders

In my last post, I wrote about the concept of a content review and why you need one. I addressed the topic of stakeholders. However, there’s much more to be said about this group. If you’re working with stakeholders outside of the content department, and chances are you will, there are some common challenges you'll face.

In many cases, the right stakeholders aren’t always involved. In other cases, there are too many stakeholders. And in other cases, the people who should be stakeholders don’t want to be involved in the content creation process at all.

In this blog post, I’ll focus on a common scenario: not including the right stakeholders from the start.

Scenario 1: Not Including the Right Stakeholders

The joint Sales/Marketing meeting is coming to a close. Before it ends, Molly, the content manager, makes an announcement.

“We’re releasing a new report.”

Emily, a regional sales director, raises her eyebrow. “A report?”

“Yeah,” Molly answers. “About industry trends.”

“A report about industry trends,” Emily repeats. “And you didn’t think to run it by the Sales team? We talk to customers all the time. Didn’t you think we’d have some useful feedback to share?”

“Um” is all Molly can say.

Emily folds her hands over her chest. “Can we see this report before it goes live?”

“Yes, of course,” Molly answers quickly, her face flushed with embarrassment.  

Emily and some other regional sales directors read over the report. It’s passed around the sales department, with several senior leaders weighing in. Within two days, it’s filled with red lines and comments such as, “That doesn’t apply to our customers,” and “Our customers don’t do this.”

The report requires extensive rewrites. It was originally supposed to go live at the end of the second quarter, but it doesn’t get published until nearly the middle of the third. The chief marketing officer, Molly’s boss’ boss, isn’t pleased. Moreover, there’s now a rift between the Marketing and Sales department.  

Solution 1: Determine Who the Stakeholders Are from the Start

Molly and the content team could have avoided the embarrassment and the delays by figuring out that the Sales team needed to be involved from the get-go.

“How was Molly supposed to know, though?” you ask.

Well, maybe Molly didn’t know, but someone (ideally the chief marketing officer who commissioned the report) should have known better. And you, dear reader, now also know better.

When you’re sitting down to create a piece of content, especially one as significant as a report, think about who else in the organization needs to see it. For example, the Sales team will share the report with prospects because the report establishes your company as an authority in the field. Legal might need to see it, too, because the team needs to make sure you’re not making any untrue claims. The product team or the customer service department might also need to review it if you’re talking about your product. They have insight into how the product works and what customers want, respectively.

Stakeholders and Content Review: More Stakeholders, More Problems

Maybe you’re shaking your head and saying, “I’ve never had this problem before.” I get it—not having the right mix of stakeholders isn’t the only problem you can face. In the next post, I’ll discuss what happens when you have too many stakeholders involved in the content review process. Stay tuned.