Your relationships with your stakeholders will improve significantly when you start asking more and better question.
Today I want to share an idea to help you improve your work consistently and with intention. Enter: the question toolkit.
The Situation
You’re unsure what your stakeholders really need compare to what they asked for.
Often, business users ask for data products and solutions to answer their questions. They may go as far as requesting specific dashboard designs, chart types and colours.
When you really drill into their challenge, however, the solution often looks very different to what they originally requested. But how do you achieve that clarity? How can you figure out what they need?
The Solution
The key is to ask questions deliberately to get all the information that helps you create those data solutions that deliver outstanding value for your stakeholders.
Start by understanding the following:
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How do your stakeholders currently get this information?
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What do they use this information for?
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Once they’ve made a decision based on this information, what actions do they take?
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What’s the impact on the business? What value do these actions drive?
For each of these questions you can create a list of more detailed ones that help you drill down further. Add follow-up questions to find out who is impacted, what decisions are driven and what dependencies exist in the business.
An extra step I recommend is that you spend time with your key stakeholders and observe (literally look over their shoulder or ask them to share their screen) so you can see how information and data are used in their day to day work.
The Next Step
Don’t make this a one-off exercise. Take the questions you created and add them to a list that you keep expanding. Use every opportunity, e.g. in meetings and with every new project, to expand your list. You’ll build your toolkit over time and it will grow into a very handy resource you can use again and again.
I promise this will improve how you work with your stakeholders and will help you deliver outstanding value to them through the information and insights you share.
Have a great week!
Eva