# Stakeholder Communication — Resources

## Books

- **Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High** by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler — Masterclass on difficult conversations, including delivering bad news and managing expectations.
- **The Pyramid Principle** by Barbara Minto — The classic on structuring communication: lead with the conclusion.
- **Never Split the Difference** by Chris Voss — Negotiation and communication from an FBI negotiator; useful for high-stakes stakeholder conversations.
- **Thanks for the Feedback** by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen — Receiving and giving feedback; applies to status and reviews.

## Articles and Readings

- [The Pyramid Principle in Practice](https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/public%20and%20social%20sector/our%20insights/the%20pyramid%20principle%20and%20the%20art%20of%20communicating%20on%20purpose/the-pyramid-principle-in-practice.pdf) — McKinsey. Applying the pyramid principle to business communication.
- [How to Write a Project Status Update](https://www.atlassian.com/blog/inside-atlassian/how-to-write-project-status-updates) — Atlassian. Templates and best practices.
- [RAG Status Reporting](https://www.apm.org.uk/resources/find-a-resource/earned-value-management-rag-status-reporting/) — APM. Red/Amber/Green in project management.
- [Stakeholder Analysis and Mapping](https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_08.htm) — Mind Tools. Power/interest grid and analysis.
- [Communicating Bad News to Stakeholders](https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/communicating-bad-news-stakeholders-7097) — PMI. Delivering difficult updates.

## Tools

- [Notion](https://www.notion.so/) — Status pages, project wikis, shared updates.
- [Confluence](https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence) — Status reports, meeting notes, stakeholder pages.
- [Jira](https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira) — Status via dashboards, filters, and release reports.
- [Linear](https://linear.app/) — Cycle updates, project status.
- [Slack](https://slack.com/) — Async updates, channels per project or stakeholder group.
- [Loom](https://www.loom.com/) — Short video updates for async stakeholder communication.

## Templates

- [Project Status Report Template](https://www.smartsheet.com/content/project-status-report-templates) — Smartsheet. Free status report templates.
- [Stakeholder Map Template](https://miro.com/templates/stakeholder-map/) — Miro. Power/interest grid for collaboration.
- [RAG Status Dashboard](https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/status) — Jira. Built-in RAG and status tracking.

## Podcasts

- [Manager Tools](https://www.manager-tools.com/) — Communication, feedback, and managing up.
- [The Look & Sound of Leadership](https://www.manager-tools.com/podcasts/look-sound-leadership) — Executive communication.

## Videos

- [Barbara Minto on the Pyramid Principle](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pyramid+principle+barbara+minto) — Search for Minto's presentations.
- [Crucial Conversations Summary](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=crucial+conversations+summary) — Summaries of the book's key ideas.