Stakeholder management and communication — Team Lead, Managerial & Agile Interview

8. Stakeholder management and communication

Intermediate★ Must knowLesson 8 of 13

Identify stakeholders (client, PO, users, other teams, management) and what each cares about.
Regular status reporting: progress vs plan, RAG (red/amber/green) status, risks, decisions needed, next steps — short and factual.
No surprises: share bad news early with a plan ("We're 1 week behind on the payment module because the gateway sandbox was down for 3 days; options: A) cut feature X from this release, B) add one developer for 2 weeks, C) move the date to the 20th. I recommend A.").
Say no (or "not now") with reasons and alternatives; protect the team from constant scope changes — route them through the backlog/change request process.
Manage expectations in writing: scope, assumptions, acceptance criteria.