AMA: Snorkel AI Former Director of Product Marketing, Molly Friederich on Stakeholder Management

My top recommendation is to immerse yourself in the prospect/customer experience, document your learnings, and surface insights that are helpful to those around you in discussion. The credibility of a relevant customer quote or anecdote stands on its own and demonstrates your ability (and commitment) to customer centricity. Another is to seek to understand, not to prove—what I mean is it's good to ask genuine questions to speed up your onboarding or ramping; while it may be uncomfortable to "expose" that you don't know something, it shows you're engaged and have a growth mindset. If you ever feel like you're asking a question to prove you know something, pause and find the kernel of the question that's truly anchored to understanding. 

Getting everyone aligned on a decision making framework can definitely be tough, especially in fast-paced environments. I've had my share of projects where we kick-off with a thoughtful RAPID, only to have that fly out the window as we get into crunch time. That said, when decision frameworks have persisted through projects, it's usually because we've 1) had full buy-in from the named Decider (in the RAPID framework I tend to use) and 2) have been consistent in reinforcing the framework with each update and milestone. Item 1 gives you the support you need to hold boundaries around Input/Agree and item 2 helps to reduce bottlenecks by reminding teammates who is accountable for input/perfomrance/decisions on and on what timeline. 

I've been fortunate to work with extremeley talented teammates who have far more expertise than I do against their specialized channels, but as is inevitable, I have experienced conflict when these channel owners must juggle several launch or content priorities. In an ideal world, as a PMM you've provided ample lead time for planning, clear positioning and message strategy, launch goals (including co-created channel goals). In a scenario where channel owners aren't able to invest as much as you are hoping, I'd start with a conversation to create shared understanding of both the launch priorities and the competing demands for the channel owner, brainstorm how to bridge the gap, and document the decisions and trade-offs. This should be a document that both PMM and the channel owners stand behind and are comfortable sharing with broader stakeholders/leaders. By doing the above, you have better odds of making the right choice for the company/business at large, even if it means your prioritized launch sees slower or even lower success. 

While this will depend on the company culture and existing relationships across stakeholders, there are first principles that I always find helpful. 1. Crystalize your story and strategy first. Start by mapping out your goals, critical context, and what you need from each stakeholder end to end (with placeholders for inevitable unknowns). The more buttoned up you are, the easier it will be for your stakeholders to help you. 2. Think from the vantage of each stakeholder you're seeking to build alignment across before you go to them. For example, if your objective is to build consensus on launch positioning, how do you make it tangible to each stakeholder why it's worth their time to weigh in? 3. Create a shared single source of truth for discussion and debate, including roles/responsibilities (e.g., a RAPID framework). Not only does this help you manage input, it creates transparency which can help disparate stakeholders understand all angles more efficiently. 4. Provide clear timelines and regular updates. Rarely is one stakeholder paying as much attention to your priorities as you are. Keep in front of them with digestible updates for both upcoming and achieved milestones (with success metrics as possible!). 5. Celebrate team contributions. As you progress against your goals, always take the time to think through each person who helped you move forward. Provide authentic recognition and gratitude. 

I'd say the foundation lies in communication and meeting commitments. Despite the best intentions, you'll risk eroding trust if you're not on the same page with your teammates about what their top priorities are, exactly how you can/will support, and in what timeframe. Once you have aligned, continue investing in communication both progress and, critically, any changes to as scope or timeframe—the earlier you flag shifts, the better you're able to reinforce trust. Beyond this foundation, you can build trust by building your understanding of Sales priorities and challenges as well as absorbing and amplifying their hard-won market and customer insights.