Are All Relevant Stakeholders Involved in the Planning Process to Ensure Comprehensive Coverage of Business Needs?

As businesses grow, especially in the tech-driven space, ensuring that all relevant stakeholders are involved in the planning process becomes more than just a tick-box exercise—it’s an essential strategy to maintain alignment, drive innovation, and support sustainable growth. In the scaling stages of a startup or SME, where the focus is on refining product-market fit and increasing operational efficiency, leaving key stakeholders out of the loop can have far-reaching consequences.

From the entrepreneurs I’ve worked with, I’ve observed that the most successful ones make it a point to bring the right people into the room, ensuring that the business can adapt swiftly to market changes, secure further investment, and optimise technology investments. In this article, I’ll unpack why stakeholder involvement is crucial, the risks of failing to engage all the necessary voices, and practical strategies to ensure comprehensive coverage of business needs.

The Case for Inclusive Planning

At its core, stakeholder involvement is about building a complete picture of the business landscape. From the boardroom to the product development team, every group within the organisation has unique insights into the business's strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. When planning becomes a collaborative effort, the business benefits from:

Holistic Strategy Formation: No single department can fully encapsulate the business's broader needs. A tech team may focus on scalability, while marketing may be more concerned with customer acquisition and retention. It’s only by bringing these perspectives together that you can develop strategies that work across the business's many facets.

Better Alignment Between Technology and Business Goals: One common fear I see, particularly with companies lacking senior technology leadership, is the risk of misalignment between tech investments and business objectives. This misalignment can lead to wasted resources and missed opportunities​. By involving both tech and business teams early in the planning phase, you ensure that technology serves the broader business vision, rather than becoming an isolated silo.

Improved Risk Management: Different stakeholders are attuned to different risks. For instance, while your CTO (or fractional CTO) might be focused on cybersecurity and compliance risks​, your COO will be more concerned with operational bottlenecks. Inclusive planning helps surface all potential risks, allowing for more proactive management.

Boosting Team Engagement and Ownership: Involving various teams in the planning process fosters a sense of ownership. Teams that have a say in the strategy are more likely to be engaged and motivated to see it through. This sense of ownership drives accountability and increases the likelihood of success.

The Risks of Leaving Stakeholders Out

The reverse is equally true—failing to involve all relevant stakeholders in the planning process can lead to several problems, including:

Fragmented Decision-Making: When stakeholders aren't included, decisions tend to be made in silos, which leads to fragmentation. For example, the tech team might decide to implement a new tool that enhances backend performance, only to discover later that it doesn’t integrate well with the existing marketing platform. A lack of cohesive decision-making not only delays progress but can also incur unnecessary costs.

Resource Misallocation: Without stakeholder input, companies may find themselves investing heavily in projects that don’t serve their overall business goals​. This is particularly risky when tech and business teams aren’t aligned—leading to tech developments that look impressive on paper but don’t deliver tangible returns.

Missed Strategic Opportunities: When stakeholders aren’t involved in planning, valuable insights can be overlooked. Perhaps your product team has a great idea for a new feature that could capture a previously untapped market, but without their input, that opportunity is missed. As a result, the company could lose out to competitors who are more attuned to internal and external market signals.

Demoralised Teams: Excluding key voices from the planning process often leads to disengagement. Teams feel disconnected from the company’s strategy, which can foster frustration and, in turn, lower productivity. In extreme cases, this can even lead to higher turnover, particularly in tech teams where talent is often in high demand.

Identifying the Right Stakeholders

One of the first challenges is identifying who the relevant stakeholders are. It’s not always obvious, especially in a fast-growing company where roles and responsibilities are in flux. That said, there are several key groups that should almost always be part of the planning process:

C-Suite and Senior Management: This is obvious, but it’s worth repeating: senior leadership needs to be involved from the start. Not only do they provide strategic direction, but they also ensure that planning efforts align with the company’s long-term vision.

Tech Teams (Including External Experts): In scaling companies, technology is often a critical driver of growth. Whether it's a permanent CTO, a fractional CTO, or senior engineers, bringing in tech leadership ensures that infrastructure, security, and scalability are factored into the plan​.

Product Development and UX Teams: These teams have direct insights into what customers want and how they’re using the product. Their involvement helps ensure that the business continues to deliver a product that meets market demands, rather than veering off-course with features or solutions that aren’t relevant.

Marketing and Sales: These teams are crucial for aligning the business with market opportunities. Marketing provides insights into customer behaviours and trends, while sales can offer a direct line to customer needs and pain points.

Operations and HR: As a company grows, operational efficiency becomes increasingly important. These teams help ensure that the business can scale without breaking down, while HR provides insight into talent management and resource allocation—both of which are essential to long-term growth.

Strategies to Ensure Comprehensive Stakeholder Involvement

Now that we’ve established why and who should be involved, the next step is determining how to ensure comprehensive involvement without bogging down the planning process in endless meetings. Here are some strategies I’ve found to be effective:

Create a Structured Planning Framework: Rather than inviting everyone to every meeting, structure the planning process around key phases and assign stakeholders accordingly. For instance, during the strategic phase, the C-suite and senior management take the lead. As you move into tactical planning, involve product teams, tech leads, and marketing.

Use Technology to Facilitate Collaboration: Tools like Slack, Trello, or Asana can streamline communication and collaboration across departments. They also ensure that everyone has visibility into the plan’s development and can provide feedback in real time.

Hold Regular Cross-Departmental Check-ins: These don’t need to be lengthy, but a monthly or quarterly check-in across departments can help identify issues early, ensuring that everyone stays aligned. Make sure these meetings have a clear agenda to avoid devolving into unproductive discussions.

Empower a Cross-Functional Steering Committee: In some cases, it makes sense to create a steering committee made up of representatives from key departments. This group can oversee the planning process, provide guidance, and ensure that no major decisions are made without input from the relevant stakeholders.

Solicit Input Early and Often: Don’t wait until the final stages of planning to bring in certain stakeholders. By soliciting input early on, you ensure that everyone feels heard and that the final plan reflects the diverse perspectives of your organisation.

Conclusion: A Collaborative Future

Involving all relevant stakeholders in the planning process isn’t just a “nice-to-have” strategy; it’s fundamental to ensuring that your business is prepared to meet future challenges and seize opportunities. For scaling startups and SMEs, the pressure to move quickly can sometimes lead to a more top-down approach to planning. However, the risks of leaving stakeholders out far outweigh the short-term benefits of faster decision-making. By fostering a collaborative environment where everyone has a voice, you not only ensure comprehensive coverage of business needs but also create a more engaged, motivated, and aligned team—one that’s ready to drive the company forward.