# Stakeholder Communication — Status Updates That Actually Help

<!-- hint:slides topic="Stakeholder communication: audience mapping, pyramid principle, RAG status, power-interest grid, and update templates" slides="5" -->

## Know Your Audience

Different stakeholders want different information:

| Audience | Cares Most About |
|----------|------------------|
| **Executives** | Outcomes, timeline, risks, decisions needed |
| **Engineers** | Technical blockers, dependencies, scope |
| **Product** | Scope, priorities, trade-offs |
| **Customers** | When, what's new, what's fixed |

Tailor your update to who's reading. An exec doesn't need Jira ticket IDs; an engineer might. One update can have sections for different audiences, or you send different versions.

## The Pyramid Principle

**Lead with the conclusion.** Put the most important point first, then support it.

**Weak:** "We ran tests. We found some issues. We're fixing them. We might slip by a week."

**Strong:** "We're at risk of slipping the release by one week due to integration test failures. We've identified 3 blockers and are addressing them; next update in 48 hours."

Executives and busy stakeholders skim. If they read only the first line, they should get the takeaway.

## RAG Status (Red / Amber / Green)

| Status | Meaning |
|--------|---------|
| **Green** | On track. No major issues. |
| **Amber** | At risk. Issues exist; we're working on them. Needs attention. |
| **Red** | Off track. Significant problem. Intervention may be needed. |

Use RAG consistently. If everything is always green, you lose credibility. If everything is red, you create alarm fatigue. Amber is your workhorse—"we're managing it."

## Effective Status Update Structure

A good status update answers four questions:

1. **What happened?** — Completed, shipped, decided.
2. **What's next?** — Planned for this period.
3. **Blockers** — What's in the way?
4. **Risks** — What might go wrong? (and what we're doing about it)

Template:

```markdown
## Status — [Project/Release] | [Date]
**RAG:** [G/A/R]

### What happened
- [Completed item 1]
- [Completed item 2]

### What's next
- [Planned item 1]
- [Planned item 2]

### Blockers
- [Blocker + owner/ETA]

### Risks
- [Risk + mitigation]
```

## Communicating Bad News Early

Bad news does not improve with age. Surface delays, risks, and problems as soon as you have reasonable certainty. Early = more options. Late = fewer options and damaged trust.

**How to deliver bad news:**
1. State the fact clearly: "We're slipping the launch by 2 weeks."
2. Explain why: "Integration with the payment gateway took longer than estimated."
3. What you're doing: "We've parallelized the remaining work and added a second developer."
4. What you need: "We need a go/no-go on scope by Friday."

Don't bury it. Don't wait for the "perfect" moment. Communicate early.

## Managing Expectations

- **Under-promise, over-deliver** — Better to surprise with early delivery than late.
- **Set checkpoints** — "We'll know by Wednesday whether we're on track."
- **Be explicit about assumptions** — "This assumes no further API changes from the vendor."
- **Call out dependencies** — "We're blocked until Legal approves the contract."

When stakeholders have clear expectations, they're less likely to be surprised or frustrated.

## Stakeholder Mapping (Power / Interest Grid)

```mermaid
quadrantChart
  title Stakeholder Power-Interest Grid
  x-axis Low Interest --> High Interest
  y-axis Low Power --> High Power
  quadrant-1 Manage closely
  quadrant-2 Keep informed
  quadrant-3 Monitor
  quadrant-4 Keep satisfied
  "Executive Sponsor": [0.9, 0.9]
  "Engineering Lead": [0.8, 0.7]
  "End Users": [0.6, 0.3]
  "Legal": [0.2, 0.5]
```

| | Low Interest | High Interest |
|---|--------------|---------------|
| **High Power** | Keep satisfied | Manage closely |
| **Low Power** | Monitor | Keep informed |

- **Manage closely** — Regular, rich updates. Involve in decisions.
- **Keep informed** — Periodic updates. Don't overwhelm.
- **Keep satisfied** — Don't annoy; ensure no unpleasant surprises.
- **Monitor** — Light touch. Watch for changes.

## Meeting Cadence

| Stakeholder Type | Cadence | Format |
|------------------|---------|--------|
| Core team | Daily / every other day | Standup, Slack |
| Product / Eng leads | Weekly | Written + sync |
| Executives | Bi-weekly / monthly | Written (pyramid); optional 15-min call |
| Customers | Milestone-based | Release notes, blog, email |

Match cadence to need. More frequent = more overhead. Less frequent = more surprise risk.

## Written vs Verbal

| Written | Verbal |
|---------|--------|
| Asynchronous, scalable | Real-time, interactive |
| Permanent record | Nuance, Q&A |
| Good for: status, decisions, specs | Good for: alignment, sensitive topics, complex trade-offs |

For status: **written first**. Follow up with a call for anything sensitive or contentious. Written updates create a paper trail and let people read when ready.

## Avoiding Information Overload

- **One page max** for exec summaries.
- **Bullet points** over paragraphs.
- **RAG + key points** — Let them drill down if interested.
- **Link to details** — Don't put everything in the email.
- **Consistent format** — Same structure every time so people know where to look.

## Status Update Template (Full)

```markdown
# [Project] — Status | [Week of DATE]
**RAG:** [G/A/R] | **Next milestone:** [Date]

## TL;DR
[One sentence: on track / at risk / off track + why]

## Completed
- [Item 1]
- [Item 2]

## In Progress
- [Item + owner]
- [Item + owner]

## Next
- [Item 1]
- [Item 2]

## Blockers
- [Blocker] — Owner: [Name] — ETA: [Date]

## Risks
- [Risk] — Mitigation: [What we're doing]

## Decisions needed
- [Decision] — By: [Date]
```

## Communicating Delays

When you need to announce a slip:

1. **Lead with it** — "Release delayed by 2 weeks. New date: March 28."
2. **Cause** — "Integration testing revealed issues we're fixing."
3. **Impact** — "Q1 target unchanged; we're compressing the next phase."
4. **Plan** — "Added QA capacity; daily standup with vendor."
5. **Ask** — "Need approval to descope analytics from this release."

Clear, direct, with a path forward.