Balancing competing priorities from various stakeholders is a common challenge when developing internal-facing technology. Often, each stakeholder group has its own needs and expectations, making it difficult to satisfy everyone without a strategic approach.
Below, 19 Forbes Technology Council members suggest tips for managing competing stakeholder priorities. From using specific frameworks to aligning priorities, here’s how they recommend ensuring that the most critical needs of all parties are met.
1. Strive For Collaboration
Embrace the opportunity for rapid collaboration! Unlike with traditional tech, your users are sitting virtually in the room next to you. Use open communication channels (e.g., Slack, Teams) to surface feature requests and understand your stakeholders. In addition, try to use no- or low-code tools to build these, as you can compromise a bit on the looks and benefit a lot from the faster time to market. – Gil Hoffer, Salto
2. Prioritize Investments Based On Results
Prioritize technology investments based on the expected business results achieved, and ensure that there is clear accountability for achieving those results. Results-driven tech investment normalizes decision-making and rationalizes investment. When demand outpaces resources routinely, then it is important to check the total technology investment at the firm strategy level. – Timothy Britt, Synoptek
3. Communicate Openly
Balancing priorities in internal tech development requires fostering open communication and collaboration among stakeholders. Encourage sharing needs, concerns and goals, find compromises and keep stakeholders updated to ensure transparency and alignment, creating solutions that meet diverse needs. – Suman Narne, Adherehealth
4. Embrace A Long-Term Portfolio Strategy
Adopt a portfolio-building mindset. That may mean shorter-term friction for one stakeholder group that leads to more long-term wins. – Cal Al-Dhubaib, Further
5. Prioritize With A Strategic Framework
Implement a robust prioritization framework. This should include stakeholder input and align with strategic business objectives. – Jaspreet Singh, Grant Thornton LLP
6. Assess Dependencies
One way to evaluate competing priorities is to inquire into dependencies. Often, two things will be given similar priorities, yet one will unlock more features or unblock more teams. It is best to then reprioritize favoring those that open the most subsequent opportunities. – Matt Butcher, Fermyon Technologies
7. Develop A Transparent, Systematic Framework
One crucial tip is to establish a clear and transparent prioritization framework, which should be rooted in the organizational goals and include input from all relevant stakeholders. By implementing a systematic approach, such as scoring features based on their impact on strategic objectives, teams can make informed decisions that align with the broader vision of the company. – Tao Zhang, Caktus AI
8. Determine Needs And Wants
Ruthlessly prioritize the must-haves and nice-to-haves. Communicate the selection criteria and then make those criteria transparent so the stakeholders can appreciate the decision baseline. – Mithun A. Sridharan, Think Insights
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9. Use Outcome-Oriented Metrics
Use outcome-oriented metrics even for internal-facing technology. Most internal teams end up using internal metrics like number of employees that use a tool, but what is more important is to tie it to an outcome such as time saved, cost reduced or shipping velocity increased. That way, it’s easier to make trade-offs on a level playing field – Pranav Kashyap, Central
10. Consider The Value
Priorities and features should be ranked based on the value they bring to the business, the employees and more. Value should be assessed against business strategy and priorities. – Volodymyr Lebediev, Triangu
11. Help Stakeholders Find Common Ground
Finding common ground among stakeholders by uniting them around a single objective is key to gaining buy-in from across departments. The recent uptake of AI has shown how organizations can rapidly introduce new functionalities aligned with common goals. Similar considerations should be adopted when building any internal-facing tech—defining a clear outcome and encouraging collaboration. – Martin Taylor, Content Guru
12. Establish And Follow A Principle-Driven Approach
Adopt a principle-driven approach rather than the traditional priority tug-of-war. Establish clear, nonnegotiable technology development principles on scalability, security and user-centric design. By aligning every decision with these principles, you transcend individual stakeholder demands, aiming instead for solutions that best serve the organization’s broader operational needs. – Robert Napoli, Agile Tech Advisors
13. Let Data Drive Your Decision-Making
Avoid emotion-based decision-making and use data. Link the priorities to the collective strategy and try to use objective prioritization criteria based on value, making sure there is confidence in the likely outcome with indicative evidence of the decision’s impact. Then, ensure what gets deprioritized is recorded and goals are adjusted so that the impact from such decisions is fair and communicated. – Craig Strong, AWS
14. Implement Teams To Focus On Stakeholder Engagement
Having teams that focus on deep and long-term stakeholder engagement is key. This way, when you implement technology, you have those go-to people who have that big-picture view of the problem being solved. – Ainsley MacLean, Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group | Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States
15. Prioritize Streamlining Workflows And Processes
We prioritize improvements that streamline organizational efficiency, focusing on enhancing workflows and decision-making processes. Security tools are a top priority—without robust security, our business cannot thrive. – Mia Millette, Skyline Technology Solutions
16. Understand Your Customers’ Needs
The key to balancing competing priorities is to center your strategy on knowing what the customer needs and wants. By aligning tech development with the voice of the customer, and continuously iterating and innovating to drive value, organizations can gain a competitive advantage, foster deep customer loyalty and dynamically adapt with their customers as market pressures and challenges evolve. – Jennifer Nuckles, R-Zero
17. Hold Stakeholder Meetings Regularly
Prioritize regular stakeholder meetings to align on goals and adjust priorities dynamically. Utilizing an agile framework allows for iterative progress reviews and flexible adaptations to changing needs, ensuring all voices are heard and critical priorities are addressed efficiently. – Nolan Garrett, TorchLight
18. Put A Governance Mechanism In Place
Managing competing priorities in internal tech development relies on a robust governance mechanism. This involves a clear understanding of end outcomes and regular communication with stakeholders to ensure they can voice their concerns and stay updated. For evolving priorities, there is a need for a transparent prioritization process aligned with initial goals and accountability for directional change. – Sanjay Jain, WNS Global Services Pvt. Ltd
19. Encourage Empathy
Try fostering empathy among stakeholders by encouraging them to put themselves in each other’s shoes. This approach can help them understand and appreciate the perspectives and priorities of others, leading to more collaborative decision-making. – Amandeep Midha, Hybrid Greentech Energy Storage Intelligence
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