Awkward Stakeholders

The interview

I interviewed somebody the other day.  I prepared by googling the “Top 10 questions to ask at an interview”.  In at number 4 was the classic awkward stakeholder question.  I tried it out.  This is how it went…

Question 1. How do you influence stakeholders?

The interviewee jumped up, grabbed a white board pen and started to explain:

Answer: First I would find out what was important to them, I’d understand what their objectives and desires were.  When I understood what they wanted I’d look for the overlap with what I wanted to achieve.  Finally I’d focus on making sure we both got what we wanted.

Nice answer I thought, clear and to the point, but begging a follow on…

Question 2. What do you do when you can’t find an overlap?

Answer: It is futile arguing about a disputed objective.  I’d find another person I could work with to meet my goals.  There is no point in wasting time and destroying the emotional capital I have in a relationship.

Also quite good, but I thought it needed poking at a little more…

Question 3. OK, but what do you do if you can’t find somebody else to work with.  What do you do then?

Answer: Walk away.  Find another organisation to work for.  In a good organisation the overlaps are everywhere.  Senior managers have gone to great lengths to make sure that people have common goals.  People may disagree on how something is done, but they are absolutely agree on what needs to be done.

In a poor organisation senior managers divide to conquer.  Objectives and reward structures promote individual accountability and there is little or no overlap.   So there is little or no cooperation.

So you see there aren’t really any awkward stakeholders, just messed up organisations.  Why would you want to work for an organisation like that?

Erh crikey, too clever by half…

Question 4. Who is asking the questions?

At that point I reminded the interviewee that I was asking the questions.  It doesn’t do to look flustered when you are interviewing.  It isn’t terribly managerial.  Besides which, I didn’t really have a good answer to his question.

Why would you want to work in an organisation like that?

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