Three myths about stakeholder buy-in

The version of this that works is simpler than the version most people imagine. A few things about stakeholder buy-in that get repeated more often than they get checked.

Strategy work is mostly deciding what not to do, and writing it down so it stays decided. If it only works because one person remembers to do something, it does not work yet.

“It only matters for big sites”

Late objections cost the most. None of that requires a large budget, only a decision and someone to own it. Write the reasoning down alongside the decision, because the reasoning is what changes first.

“We can deal with it after launch”

Sometimes true, usually expensive. That sounds obvious written down. It is still the thing most often skipped.

“Our platform handles it”

Frame decisions in their terms, not in design terms. None of that requires a large budget, only a decision and someone to own it. If it only works because one person remembers to do something, it does not work yet.

How to tell if yours is fine

The projects that go badly are rarely the ones with the hardest technical problems. Three things worth confirming about stakeholder buy-in before you move on:

• Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
• Involve the sceptics early rather than presenting to them — and you know whether that is true here
• There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped

None of this needs a rewrite. Most of it is a morning's work once someone decides to do it.