Aligned

In this session, Melissa shares insights from her new book, Aligned, co-authored with Bruce McCarthy, which focuses on stakeholder management—one of the top challenges product managers face. Melissa breaks down stakeholder management into key steps:

1. Identifying Key Stakeholders
   • Go beyond the org chart to uncover hidden influencers and power players through observation, conversations, and understanding organizational dynamics.
2. Building Relationships and Trust
   • Stakeholder management starts with curiosity, empathy, and human connection. Build rapport through personal interactions, shared experiences, and consistent communication.
3. Understanding Goals and Incentives
   • Treat stakeholders like customers—learn their goals, problems, and what success looks like for them. Align on outcomes, not just tasks.
4. Creating Alignment
   • Alignment doesn’t mean full agreement but involves ensuring everyone feels involved, understands the plan, and commits to working together. Tools like roadmaps, OKRs, and documented decisions help facilitate alignment.

Melissa emphasizes that building trust is critical to successful stakeholder management. Trust is earned through dependability—delivering on promises, clear communication, and taking ownership. She also highlights practical tactics for connecting with difficult or hard-to-reach stakeholders, including building relationships with executive assistants and leveraging informal opportunities like un-meetings.
For product managers, Melissa encourages practicing alignment within their immediate teams to gradually expand their influence. She notes that effective stakeholder management combines strategy, psychology, and communication skills, with human relationships at its core.
The session wraps up with practical advice, emphasizing that creating psychological safety, understanding stakeholder goals, and finding common ground are key to building strong, lasting alignment in organizations.