How to Correct Lack of Communication and Buy-in For Initiatives

In my experience to correct the lack of clear communication and stakeholder buy-in in programs, organizations can take a structured approach focused on early engagement, transparency, and consistent updates. Here are my proven techniques that has worked over the years:

1. Involve Stakeholders Early and Often

• Solution: Engage key stakeholders at the onset of program planning and include them in goal-setting and decision-making processes. Host initial workshops or planning sessions with cross-departmental teams to co-develop goals and align on the program’s value.
• Benefit: Early involvement helps stakeholders feel a sense of ownership and investment, making them more likely to support and advocate for the program.

2. Establish a Clear, Unified Vision with Defined Goals

• Solution: Create a unified vision for the program that connects to the broader business objectives. Provide clear documentation that outlines the program’s purpose, its anticipated impact on the business, and the specific goals it aims to achieve. Keep this document visible and accessible.
• Benefit: When all stakeholders can see how the program aligns with the company’s strategic goals, it fosters understanding and motivation across teams.

3. Communicate Program Objectives in Multiple Formats and Touchpoints

• Solution: Use varied communication channels (e.g., team meetings, email updates, dashboards) to keep stakeholders informed of program progress. Tailor the communication format to fit the audience, ensuring that both high-level overviews and detailed insights are accessible.
• Benefit: Regular, clear communication reinforces program goals, provides transparency, and helps prevent misunderstandings. It keeps stakeholders aware of their roles and responsibilities in supporting the program’s success.

4. Designate a Stakeholder Liaison or Program Champion

• Solution: Appoint a program champion or stakeholder liaison who can bridge communication between the program team and stakeholders. This person can provide regular updates, address concerns, and ensure that stakeholder feedback is integrated into program decisions.
• Benefit: Having a dedicated contact helps stakeholders feel supported and engaged, and it reduces the likelihood of delays due to unresolved issues or miscommunications.

5. Implement a Feedback Loop and Act on Input

• Solution: Set up regular check-ins and feedback sessions with stakeholders to gauge their ongoing support and gather input. Acknowledge and act on constructive feedback, and provide updates on how stakeholder input has shaped the program.
• Benefit: When stakeholders see that their feedback has a direct impact, they’re more likely to remain engaged and supportive throughout the program’s lifecycle.

6. Tie Stakeholder Engagement to KPIs and Accountability

• Solution: Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for stakeholder engagement and assign accountability to specific team members or departments. For instance, measure how many key stakeholders attended initial planning sessions, how often they participate in reviews, and the extent of their feedback.
• Benefit: KPIs create a tangible measure of stakeholder buy-in and engagement, helping leadership to proactively address any signs of waning support.

7. Celebrate Milestones and Recognize Stakeholder Contributions

• Solution: Publicly recognize stakeholders and teams that contribute significantly to the program’s success. Host milestone celebrations or send program progress updates that highlight key contributions.
• Benefit: Acknowledging stakeholders reinforces their buy-in and creates a positive feedback loop, motivating them to stay engaged in future phases of the program.

Steps on How To Correct

Tying stakeholder engagement to KPIs and accountability requires a clear plan for tracking, measuring, and adjusting stakeholder involvement throughout a program's lifecycle. Here’s a breakdown of how I do this and eliminate this problem forever:

Step 1: Define Specific Program KPIs

• Identify Key Program Metrics: Choose KPIs that accurately measure the success and progress of the program. Common metrics include:
  • On-Time Completion Rate: Measure the percentage of tasks or milestones completed on schedule. This reflects the program’s ability to stay on track and meet deadlines.
  • Budget Adherence: Track actual spending compared to the allocated budget to ensure financial control throughout the program.
  • Quality of Deliverables: Assess the quality of completed tasks or deliverables using specific standards (e.g., error rates, user satisfaction scores, or defect rates in software).
  • Scope Change Frequency: Monitor how often the program scope changes. A high frequency may indicate a need for clearer planning or requirements.
  • Risk Mitigation Effectiveness: Track how well identified risks are managed. This can include metrics like the number of risks resolved within target timeframes or the percentage of critical risks mitigated.
• Set Realistic Targets for Each KPI: Define what success looks like for each KPI. For example:
• Target: Complete 95% of milestones on or ahead of schedule.
• Target: Adhere to within 5% of the initial budget allocation.
• Target: Achieve a quality rating of 4.5/5 on deliverables based on user feedback or quality assessments.
• Target: Limit scope changes to a maximum of two revisions per quarter.
• Target: Mitigate or resolve 90% of critical risks within two weeks of identification.

Step 2: Assign Accountability

In all my programs, initiatives, and projects, I take on the responsibility for assigning and maintaining accountability as follows:

• Personally Monitor and Report on KPIs: I take direct responsibility for tracking program KPIs, ensuring that all goals, timelines, and stakeholder engagement metrics are met. I actively reach out to stakeholders, encourage their participation, and maintain regular updates on our progress to keep everyone aligned.

• Collaborate with Department Heads When Necessary: For larger programs, I work closely with department heads to ensure their teams are fully engaged and accountable. I make certain that each department impacted by the program, such as marketing or sales, has designated representatives who consistently participate in review meetings and contribute meaningfully to the program's objectives.

Step 3: Track Engagement Data

• Create an Engagement Dashboard: Use a dashboard (in software like Excel, Tableau, or a project management tool) to track attendance, feedback quality, response times, and participation over time. This dashboard should be accessible to program leadership and executives. Remember the simpler the better, there is no need to get fancy here.
• Regularly Update KPIs: Keep KPIs updated in real time, or at least after each major meeting or review cycle, to maintain an accurate view of engagement levels.

Step 4: Review KPIs Regularly and Address Issues

• To ensure consistent alignment and engagement, especially in the critical early stages of a program or project, I establish frequent touchpoints that gradually adjust in frequency as the program matures and achieves a steady cadence:

  Early-Stage Touchpoints: Weekly or Bi-Weekly Reviews

  • Weekly/Bi-Weekly Engagement Reviews: In the initial phase, I hold weekly or bi-weekly reviews with program leadership and key stakeholders. These frequent check-ins allow us to closely monitor engagement levels, promptly address any emerging issues, and keep momentum high as the program gains traction.
  • Focus on Early Alignment and Active Participation: During these sessions, I focus on setting clear expectations, discussing early challenges, and encouraging active contributions from all team members. Any signs of low attendance, minimal feedback, or missed deadlines are flagged immediately, with specific plans to re-engage stakeholders as needed.
  • Immediate Action on Feedback: By gathering feedback regularly, I can act quickly to make any necessary adjustments to ensure that the program is both on track and aligned with stakeholder needs and goals.

  Transition to Bi-Monthly or Monthly Reviews as Cadence Establishes

  • Bi-Monthly or Monthly Engagement Checkpoints: Once the program is running smoothly and stakeholders are consistently engaged, I gradually reduce the frequency of meetings to bi-monthly or monthly. This transition maintains oversight while allowing team members to focus more on execution rather than frequent meetings.
  • Ongoing KPI Monitoring: Even with reduced frequency, I continue to track engagement KPIs closely to identify any signs of declining involvement. At this stage, meetings center on higher-level progress updates, reviewing KPIs, and discussing major milestones or risks.

  Quarterly Strategic Reviews for Long-Term Alignment

  • Quarterly Strategic Engagement Reviews: As the program matures further, I hold quarterly sessions with program leadership and executive stakeholders. These strategic meetings focus on long-term alignment with business goals, reviewing program impacts, and refining future phases or goals based on lessons learned.
  • Celebrate Milestones and Recognize Engagement: To reinforce ongoing engagement, I highlight program milestones and recognize key contributions from team members. This recognition reinforces positive engagement behaviors and sustains commitment across teams.

Step 5: Adjust Engagement Strategies as Needed

• Adapt Communication and Involvement Strategies: If certain KPIs are consistently low, consider changing the meeting format, increasing direct communications, or providing executive sponsorship to emphasize the program's importance.
• Celebrate Wins and Recognize Stakeholders: When KPIs are met, recognize and thank engaged stakeholders. Public recognition, such as in team meetings or newsletters, reinforces their positive behavior and motivates them to remain involved.

Example of KPI-Driven Stakeholder Engagement in an IT Integration Project

Here is a real life example. This is a high level overview as specifics are not provided due to I am limiting this to one article. But enough information is provided so you get the idea.

A large B2B payment solutions provider is acquiring a smaller payment processing company to expand its market reach and consolidate its technology infrastructure. As part of the integration, the acquired company’s IT systems, including sensitive financial data and proprietary transaction processing applications, will be migrated to AWS. This integration impacts all departments, such as finance, risk, compliance, customer support, and sales, each of which needs to remain closely engaged throughout the transition to ensure alignment and minimize service disruption.

Defining Program KPI

• Milestone Completion KPI: Each department must complete key integration milestones according to the timeline established at the beginning of the project. This ensures the alignment of all teams around the high-level integration goals, such as consolidating financial systems, aligning compliance protocols, and migrating data. If departments fail to meet early milestones, the program is at risk, and intervention may be required to re-evaluate commitments before proceeding further.

• Risk and Compliance Strategy KPI: Each department is responsible for defining and documenting specific strategies for risk mitigation, compliance protocols, and data security as they relate to the integration. This KPI ensures that these critical considerations are embedded in each phase of the integration. The goal is to capture each department’s high-level milestones and align on a unified strategy, which will later be detailed for execution within each team.

• Defined Milestones and Timeframes KPI: Each department must collaborate with the program team to clearly define integration milestones, assign specific timeframes, and commit to completion dates. Each milestone should have a defined timeline and accountability structure, ensuring departments are synchronized in their efforts and can track progress toward the overall integration goal.

• Migration Completion KPI: For each department, the completion of data and system migration to AWS must reach at least 95% by the designated deadline, ensuring minimal downtime and continuous service for both companies’ customers. This KPI is critical for measuring the program’s overall progress and stability during the transition, safeguarding business continuity and service reliability.

Assigning Accountability

• Program Integration Coordinator: This role handles reminders for all meetings, tracks attendance, records feedback, and follows up on unresolved issues after each session. They ensure that both companies’ unique IT and compliance requirements are accounted for and facilitate regular updates to program leadership.
• Department IT Leads: Each department head (e.g., Finance, Compliance, Customer Support) assigns an IT lead responsible for ensuring their team’s participation. These IT leads work directly with the Program Manager in bi-weekly meetings to review KPIs, resolve cross-department dependencies, and provide updates on key integration milestones.

Tracking Engagement

• Dashboard: The Program Integration Coordinator maintains a centralized dashboard, using AWS CloudWatch or a project management tool like Jira, to monitor attendance, feedback quality, response times, and migration progress. Each KPI is color-coded to reflect status (e.g., green for meeting targets, red for below-target), giving executives a clear, real-time view of program health.
• Real-Time Monitoring for Migration KPIs: AWS monitoring tools such as AWS CloudTrail and AWS Config enable real-time tracking of system migrations, compliance protocols, and data transfers, making it easier to oversee sensitive data and secure financial systems throughout the integration.

Reviewing KPIs and Addressing Issues

• Weekly Engagement Reviews in Early Phases: During the first two quarters, weekly reviews are held to assess each department’s progress on engagement KPIs. For example, if the compliance department consistently has low attendance, the program coordinator schedules a meeting with the compliance head to address bandwidth challenges, ensuring participation and alignment on critical compliance issues.
• Monthly Engagement Checkpoints as Cadence Develops: As the integration stabilizes and processes become routine, engagement reviews shift to a monthly cadence. These reviews continue to monitor critical metrics like migration completion and quality of feedback, ensuring that teams remain engaged and responsive as the project advances.

Adjusting Engagement Strategy

• Recognizing High-Performing Departments: The program manager publicly acknowledges departments, such as customer support or finance, that show consistent engagement and meet migration KPIs. This recognition fosters morale and sets a positive example across departments.
• Providing Additional Support Where Needed: In cases where engagement challenges persist, the program manager may deploy additional resources, such as AWS-certified consultants, to support departments like risk or compliance. This ensures that technical obstacles are resolved efficiently and that the program stays on track.

By employing KPI-driven engagement and accountability, this approach ensures that departments across both companies remain aligned, engaged, and responsive during the complex integration process. 

Regular check-ins, dedicated accountability, and real-time tracking via AWS enable a smooth, coordinated transition, minimizing disruption and ensuring secure, compliant system migration in a highly regulated B2B environment.