Effective Ways to Share Engineering Updates with Stakeholders

Don't just share project status Share insight. Most project updates sound the same. → Task completed → Tasks in progress → Risk on the horizon Useful? Sure. Valuable? Not necessarily. Stakeholders don't need a play-by-play of what happened. They need clarity on what it means. This is the difference between being a project calendar and a leader. How do you turn your updates into insights stakeholders actually care about? 👇 ✅ Connect progress to impact "We finished testing early, meaning we're 2 weeks ahead on launch readiness." "We've encountered 3 bugs. Fixes are already in place, but we're going to lose 2 days that we'll have to make up in the sprint starting next Monday." ✅ Translate risks into choices Don't just flag a problem. Show what's at stake and frame options. "We can hit our deadline with reduced testing OR extend for higher quality. Which matters most right now?" ✅ Tie updates back to business goals Keep reminding them WHY the project matters. "This phase brings us 30% closer to reducing manual work for the sales team to prospect potential customers." Above-and-beyond PMs don't just deliver updates. They deliver understanding. Which leads to clarity. Which gets/keeps things moving. Go further. 🤙

You might as well be speaking “Klingon” Just dropped from a meeting where the IT Director provided his update to the leadership team. The c-level folks and non-technical leaders had no clue what he was talking about… From my experience this is the #1 mistake technical professionals make when meeting with business stakeholders I'll be blunt… business stakeholders don’t care about your technical architecture diagrams, your configuration details, or how cutting-edge your solution is. They care about outcomes. They care about results. They care about impact. BUT most technical professionals go into meetings armed with technical jargon & acronyms and leave the room wondering why no one bought in. If you’re presenting to business leaders, here’s the reality check… you are selling and you’re not selling technology - you’re selling business value. I don’t like to present a problem without a solution – so let’s try this… Step 1 Start every conversation by answering this “How does this solve a business problem?” If you have a technical solution that reduces costs, increases revenue, mitigates risk, or makes life easier for users, lead with that. Everything else is just details that nobody cares about. Step 2 Translate technical features into business benefits. Instead of saying, “We’re implementing zero trust,” say, “We’re reducing critical risks to our top revenue producing critical business functions.” Step 3 Stakeholders want to hear about how your solution will reduce downtime, increase productivity, save $$$, or improve client satisfaction. Make your impact measurable and relatable. Step 4 Can you reframe your message using an analogy or better yet a story. Numbers are great, but stories are sticky and resonate. Frame your solution in the context of a real-world scenario, like something stakeholders can visualize and connect with. Step 5 No one likes a squeaky wishy washy technical expert. Take a position, back it with evidence, and be clear about the path forward. Confidence inspires trust. Stop talking about the “how.” Start owning the “why.” And STOP speaking “Klingon” When you shift your focus to business value, you’ll see interest, buy-in, alignment, and support. #ciso #dpo #msp #leadership

To become a great tech leader, you have to communicate meaning. Are you saying something meaningful or only providing data? While leaders love "data driven," it is critical to communicate why the metrics matter. All leaders give status updates; strong leaders connect them to the big picture. Here is how successful executives deliver status updates: As a busy leader, it’s easy to fall into the habit of sharing updates that focus on tasks and metrics, like: ▪️ “We’re 70% done” ▪️ “X feature is live.” But great executive communication isn’t just about what is being done, it’s about why it matters. Without that connection to purpose, your team will lose focus, motivation, and alignment. When we delivered streaming for the Paris 2024 Olympics at Warner Bros. Discovery, our deadlines were fixed and the stakes were global. We couldn’t just share milestones to keep everyone engaged and in sync; we had to make sure everyone understood WHY the milestones were important in the grand scheme of the project. This involves providing answers to questions like: ▪️ Why is X feature critical to the audience experience? ▪️ Why does it matter to the business? ▪️ Why are certain trade-offs necessary to meet deadlines? For the Olympics, communicating the “why” ensured that the engineers, product teams, and operations staff shared a common purpose: delivering an excellent experience for millions of viewers across 47 markets. When done right, creating a shared purpose makes the work your team does about more than just “getting it done.” To create that shared purpose for your team, here are three lessons tech leaders can use: 1) Frame communication around purpose and impact. Help your teams see how their work drives customer value and/or advances business goals. It’s not enough to tell them what to do, tell them why it matters. 2)Ensure alignment across cross-functional teams. Different teams bring different perspectives, so bridge those gaps and make sure everyone is moving in the same direction. 3) Use regular updates to reinforce the bigger vision. Status updates should provide objective benchmarks, but they should also anchor progress back to the larger goals. Many leaders mistake communication for a “soft skill.” In reality, it is a strategic advantage. Master telling the story of the broader initiative and your team will outperform anyone who simply follows orders. Leaders - How do you communicate broader purpose to your teams?