“I can’t move forward because I am waiting on a response from a stakeholder. What should I do?”

I get this question a lot. And I understand, I’ve been there. 

Being at the mercy of someone else’s decision to participate can leave you feeling helpless.

Here’s what I recommend: 

• Reach out to your stakeholder and communicate exactly what you need, why it is important, and when you need their response. 

  Remember to make it easy for the stakeholder to respond. 

  If you are feeling especially generous, you can even offer to do some of the heavy lifting for them. 

  In most cases, all it takes is a firm nudge. 

• If you have been checking in regularly with no response or if you are already behind on a deadline, now is the time to loop in your manager (if you haven’t already). 

  This step is important because your manager/project sponsor needs to be aware of any bottlenecks that are significantly impacting the project. It’s also important to bring attention to your efforts to resolve these issues. 

PRO TIP: An appropriately placed CC on the email thread can do wonders to move things along (but please don’t use this as an everyday passive aggressive strategy).

If you don’t get anywhere with the above tip, this now becomes a managerial or team issue, depending on how your organization is structured.   

The important thing to remember is that you aren’t responsible for someone’s lack of participation. You are responsible for doing the best you can to move the project along.  

Need help navigating your ambiguous position or project? Head over to my Services page to book a time to chat.