Forward Deployed Engineering Tutorial · Discovery and Scoping · Lesson 7 of 24
Working with Stakeholders
Map stakeholders, run effective workshops and demos, handle escalations, and keep sponsors engaged.
Map the people
| Role | What they care about | How to work with them |
|---|---|---|
| Executive sponsor | Business outcome, risk, timeline | Short monthly summary of value and risks |
| Day-to-day users | Their workflow getting easier | Shadow them, pilot with them, act on feedback fast |
| IT / security | Risk, compliance, support burden | Engage early, bring documentation, respect process |
| Data owners | Correct use of their data | Agree scope and access in writing |
| Your own team (product, sales, support) | Learnings, account health | Regular internal updates and feedback |
people = [("CFO (sponsor)", 5, 4), ("Finance analysts", 3, 5), ("IT security", 5, 3),
("ERP admin", 2, 4), ("Procurement", 4, 1)]
print("power/interest grid (1-5):")
for name, power, interest in sorted(people, key=lambda p: (-p[1], -p[2])):
strategy = ("manage closely" if power >= 4 and interest >= 3 else "keep satisfied" if power >= 4
else "keep informed" if interest >= 3 else "monitor")
print(f" {name:18} power {power} interest {interest} -> {strategy}")
Output
power/interest grid (1-5): CFO (sponsor) power 5 interest 4 -> manage closely IT security power 5 interest 3 -> manage closely Procurement power 4 interest 1 -> keep satisfied Finance analysts power 3 interest 5 -> keep informed ERP admin power 2 interest 4 -> keep informed
Workshops and demos
Send an agenda, show working software with their data, ask for decisions explicitly, and send notes with action items and owners within a day.
Escalations
Escalate early with facts and options: what's blocked, impact on the date, what you've tried, what you need. Escalating late is worse than escalating often.
Test yourself
A security review will delay the pilot by three weeks. When should you tell the sponsor?
Now, with the impact and optionsAfter the pilot slipsNever; just work fasterOnly if they ask
Show answer
Answer: Now, with the impact and options
Early, factual escalation with options keeps trust and often unblocks things.