“Is that really true or are you joking?”, said the buyer to the account manager.

We were in the middle of a two day workshop, working on scenario’s to get from linear to circular business models in specific product categories. We had representatives of most of the stakeholders in the room and were challenging them to share their stories.

“If I had known that you look at it this way I never ever would have made the service like that!” the story continued. “Why didn’t we discuss that in an earlier stage?”

Even though we were all pretty surprised of the lack of communication and cooperation in this specific situation, it also made us realize that this is more rule than exception, isn’t it? Let’s be honest, most us choose what seems to be the easy, less time consuming option only to realize at the end of a project that the results aren’t quit what we expected.

So the lesson we learn? Talk to one another and avoid assumptions. Don’t come up with excuses that contact isn’t allowed because of rules or laws. There is a way. Always. This is exactly why stakeholder management is an important part of most of our programs.

Curious? Sign up here at our website or follow our socials!

Own it. For better lives.