EYN#037 - 4 Questions To Understand Your Stakeholders

If you build empathy for a stakeholder, you can be relevant and effective. If you don't have empathy you will be irrelevant and ineffective.

But empathy is one of those ethereal words. How do you "do" Empathy?

Well a great place to start is to answer these 4 questions for a stakeholder.

• What is the pain they are suffering?
• What outcome are they trying to achieve?
• Why are they trying to solve it now?
• What will the world look like when it’s done?

Ideally, you can actually ask your stakeholder these questions and listen to their answers. But sometimes we need to just do the best research we can.

Pain
What is the pain they are suffering?

Pain takes headspace. Pain needs resolving. Pain gets addressed as a priority. If you can understand the pain of a stakeholder then you are able to empathise with them. If you can take their perspective, you can create relevant solutions for them. If you can resolve that pain you can be relevant and valuable to them.

Outcomes
What outcomes are they trying to achieve?

If you can understand what your stakeholder is trying to achieve, you can understand the direction they are headed. You can understand what success looks like. If you can help them achieve that outcome you can be relevant and valuable to them.

Timing
Why are they trying to solve it now?

Some things need solving now, and some things can wait. Understand why this is a priority now. This will help bring colour and clarity to understanding of their issue.

If it's not a priority now, use that information and focus elsewhere in the short term.

Vision Of The Future
What will the world look like when it’s done?

Do they have a vision of Utopia? If so listen and internalise it. If they don’t can you help them create that vision?

Ask questions and build empathy. From that foundation build relevant solutions. Then craft a story on how you can solve their pain, and what the future could be for them.

Hope this helps.

Ben