Working with multiple stakeholders: the importance of trusted proxy on the client side

In today’s fast-paced business environment, agencies like ours often find themselves collaborating with a diverse array of stakeholders. From project managers and marketing teams to IT departments and executive leadership, each group brings its own priorities, perspectives, and expectations. Navigating this complex landscape can be challenging, but one strategy has consistently proven invaluable: having trusted proxies on the client side. How multiple stakeholders and proxies impact the project success and how to properly manage them?

Managing projects with three or more stakeholders on the client side can be particularly challenging. Each stakeholder typically has unique interests and priorities. For example, the marketing team may focus on brand messaging and customer engagement, the IT department on technical feasibility and security, and executive leadership on strategic alignment and return on investment. These differing priorities can lead to conflicting feedback and delays if not managed effectively.

In such scenarios, the role of a trusted proxy becomes crucial. The proxy acts as a central point of contact, consolidating feedback and ensuring all stakeholders are heard. This streamlined communication helps prevent misunderstandings and keeps the project on track. The proxy’s ability to understand and mediate between various stakeholders’ needs ensures that the final product meets the collective goals of the organization, not just a single person's wants.

For a project to succeed, it’s essential that the proxy and agency team maintain a strong, trusted relationship. This relationship is built on transparent communication, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to the project’s success. Here’s why this relationship matters:

When the proxy and agency team trust each other, they make decisions as a team and not as a agency and client. They share the same goal - make other stakeholders satisfied and happy without sacrificing the business goals.

Challenges are inevitable in any project. A strong relationship and synergy between agency and proxy ensures that you work together to find solutions quickly and efficiently, minimizing delays and disruptions. Agency team can rely on the proxy to provide accurate and timely information, ensuring the project progresses smoothly.

From a proxy standpoint, their respect for professionalism supports your efforts to convince the proxy and other stakeholders of your solutions. From an agency standpoint, your respect for professionalism impacts how you perceive their feedback and arguments in daily communication.

For a proxy to be effective, they need support from both the client and an agency. Here’s how we ensure our proxies can meet top-management expectations:

We work with the client to clearly define the proxy’s role and responsibilities from the outset. This clarity helps the proxy understand their scope of work and the expectations placed upon them. This way we avoid misunderstandings and conflicts.

Whenever a proxy feels they might get into a conflict of interest internally because of certain decisions - make sure you give all required help and support to take care of their skin and not just yours.

Whatever happens, proxy has to be sure they can trust your team and resolve any potential concerns in other stakeholders expectations by consulting them privately with you to get necessary support.

This one is crucial. Even if you are in a meeting with other stakeholders and they want you to commit to something without having a proxy - don’t do it. By simply saying “We need John to be here since I’m working with him day-to-day” you show respect and trust. This is something that hard to build, but easy to lose in one.

In the complex world of multi-stakeholder projects, having a trusted proxy on the client side can be a game-changer. This approach streamlines communication, provides deep organizational insights, and ensures timely feedback. By building a strong, collaborative relationship with a trusted proxy and supporting them effectively, agencies can navigate the complexities of stakeholder management and deliver exceptional results.

Check out the full case study we created for Z2A Digital and see how we brought this vision to life!