Managing Difficult Stakeholders

Summary

Some stakeholders are chronically unavailable, indecisive, or resistant to change — recognizing the underlying cause (busy, uncertain, threatened) helps choose the right approach rather than reacting purely to frustration.

• 1Identify 3 common 'difficult stakeholder' archetypes and a strategy for each.
• 2Practice a scenario where you need a decision from a chronically unavailable stakeholder.
• 3Learn to escalate appropriately when direct engagement genuinely isn't working.