How often matters more than What

You have to talk with your stakeholders. It’s part of the role of a data leader.

Interactions between business teams and data teams are fundamental to the success of any data team. When trust or collaboration breaks down between these groups, it’s hard for either side to confident when they have to work together.

Often, the advice to data teams is about WHAT to say or not say in a conversation. Yet, in spite of having great scripts for approaching our stakeholders, things still break down.

Instead, I’d argue HOW you have the conversation is more important than any of the WHAT you say. Here are key elements that go into the HOW of a conversation.

• Context: This is the timing (morning/afternoon, busy season, etc), location (conference room, desk drive-by, break room) , and medium (in person, virtual, on-video/off-video)

• Tone: Regardless of what you are saying, the tone of you words are a powerful communicator. Do you take on a tone of curiosity or boredom? Encouragement or frustration? Empathy or condescension? This is communicated in your facial expressions, body language, word choices, and volume.

• Purpose: Who is centered in the conversation? Is the purpose for you to get what you want/need from the other person? Is it for them to share about their wants/needs? Is the purpose to encourage, inform, control, or challenge the other person?

• Parties: What other people are in the conversation? Are managers or skip-managers present? How many peer team members are present? How much space in the conversation is there for each person to safely contribute?

There are many more factors you could probably list out as well, but these can serve as a starting point.

Context over content.

How over what.

They don’t care what you know or what you say if they don’t first know how much you care or know about them. Context is the solution.

I’m here,

Sawyer