Courses/Technical Leadership/Quality vs. Speed: A False Dichotomy?/Practice: The Tradeoff Conversation
✏️Exercise•5 min
Practice: The Tradeoff Conversation
Practice: The Tradeoff Conversation
Practice making technical reality visible in stakeholder terms.
Instructions
Imagine you need to communicate a technical concern to a non-technical stakeholder. Work through framing the conversation.
1
Identify a technical issue in your current work that stakeholders may not understand. Describe it technically first.
2
Now translate it: What is the business impact of this issue? How does it affect timelines, costs, risk, or user experience?
3
What options exist? List at least two approaches, with the tradeoffs of each in business terms.
4
What would you recommend, and why? Frame the recommendation in terms of what the stakeholder cares about.
5
Draft your opening: How would you start this conversation in a way that's likely to be heard?