In some accounts, we come across few stakeholders who just ask the question they want to ask to showcase to their managers that they are working and tracking.
These people don't check emails. These people don't remember the facts. They have most likely never tracked enterprise-level delivery properly in their careers. They will most likely never represent you in a positive light in their internal meetings and will try to tell negative facts only.
How can I overcome and still deliver?
* You need to continue doing what you are doing as if you are both the client and the vendor and take e2e ownership and responsibility.
* Ensure these stakeholders are marked in the emails.
* Send meeting invites on demo's.
Ensure the above are done, so that when it never comes back to you and that you have data points and are covered
Why do these stakeholders act like that?
Some stakeholders watch carefully what is going on and ask relevant questions and help the team to deliver their best. They track the project better than you and there is a give and take relationship and trust here.
But some stakeholders just come once a blue moon and just ask what is in their mind, not being in sync with what is going on the ground. They conveniently forget the facts, emails, demo's, decisions made, issues teams faced for the delays and try to do WhatsApp management or email management looping in their managers that they are working, they are tracking, and they are strict on the vendors.
Any way out?
No, these guys will continue to exist. Forcefully ingest them with the status where possible and schedule weekly/monthly calls. And use stakeholder management principles to the best of your abilities ad
