Hi Arnie,
It would be tough to answer such a general question without knowing more of the context of the situation:
Without this information you can only really give a vague answer that probably won't win you any points in an interview. However, asking questions such as the ones above can demonstrate your awareness that your approach to a difficult stakeholder must be tailored to the specific instance, which is usually seen favourably by interviewers.
That said, in general dealing with 'difficult' stakeholders often involves a) understanding why they are being difficult (root cause analysis), b) knowing what their motivators and drivers are, and c) developing a value proposition to get the engagement you need from them.
Quick example - you have a domain subject matter expert that is crucial to ensuring you have captured the current state of the organization correctly. She is a supervisor who spends all day putting out fires and doesn't see how your project will help her in any way, so doesn't make it a priority to help you out. I would speak with her direct reports to understand some of the major pressures she faces on a daily basis and get specific examples. Then you can map those issues to your project's outcomes. Come to her with real examples of what your project is doing that will make her life easier, even if it's something that won't be realized right away. Explain that without a good knowledge of today's operations you can't ensure that what is built in the future will actually help, and in fact it could even make things worse. Usually they'll make time for you at that point; if not find out what she would need to have taken off her plate temporarily to help you out and work through the proper channels to make it happen.
Hi guys,
You most likely will not get any more information or context, beyond the original question.
Your best answer should not be a canned one, it should be a real-life example. Think back to an instance of a difficult stakeholder (and there s/b many), what the issue was and how did you handle/resolve it. If you could not resolve it, say so. Nothing wrong with telling it as it is. In fact, if you attempt to come across as SuperBA who has solved every BA issue faced, you may come across as being less than genuine.
Both Jarett and Engle have raised very good points. As Jarett noted, the context is important to the response you give - so if the interview question doesn't give you enough context then the best approach is probably to choose a context that you're comfortable with and respond from that perspective. So using Jarett's very good example, you could answer "If I have a key stakeholder at a management level who has not been willing to participate as needed...etc.". But as Engle also noted, it's important that your answers reflect your own expertise, and most interviewers prefer examples based on your own experience. So worry less about giving the "right" answer, and try to respond in a way that shows your own personal abilities.
Another context for this question that you might use to frame a response is in a workshop setting. Most BA's can probably share stories of workshops where a participant can't get past his/her own issues, or is just plain confrontational. There are definitely facilitation techniques that help in this type of situation. When I interview BA's and ask this question (and I put it within a workshop context), the response I'm looking for involves acknowledgement of the participant's needs and concerns, then 'parking' individual concerns with a commitment to meet with that person outside of the workshop session. Additional points are given for a response that involves meeting with the participant during a workshop break to try and understand and briefly discuss the underlying problems and concerns - and/or making this effort after the workshop as well (same as Jarett's recommendation).
Sandy
People are generally difficult when they arent getting what they want. Yet what they actually want is not necessarily what they are stating. There is a great book called getting to yes which is about negotiation, we recommend it for all business analysts. The basic premise of the book is to understand interests vs. positions. A position is "I must have this feature" an interest is "without this feature I will probably have to learn something new" or "without this feature I will have to do more work". Work on addressing interests instead of positions and difficult stakeholders can become easy to work with. You focus on solving problems jointly rather than winning and losing a contest.
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