Transitioning to a Product Operating Model requires a fundamental shift in how an organisation delivers value. But the biggest challenge may not be just changing ways of working, it can also be addressing underlying fears. Fear of failure, loss of control, wasted resources, or reputational risk can silently create resistance, stalling progress before it even begins.
Unlike the traditional project-based approach, where teams form around specific initiatives and disband after delivery, the product model revolves around long-term ownership of customer and business value.
To make this transition successful, you must surface and address stakeholder concerns early. Without understanding the context and rationale for concerns, embedding lasting change becomes significantly more difficult.
Without consistent stakeholder engagement, teams operate in silos, each following their own agenda, ultimately slowing down progress and reducing impact.
The strategy may be well understood at a high level but if it fails to translate into day-to-day execution, teams will lack clarity on how their work aligns with overarching business goals. This leads to scattered efforts and competing priorities.
When shifting to a product model, teams accustomed to the project mindset can resist the new ways of working. Business stakeholders often struggle to see the benefits of product thinking and instead continue to push for feature delivery over outcome-driven work.
It's vital that the product teams have the tools to ask questions, such as "what is the problem you are trying to solve?" and consistently bring the conversation back to outcomes.
Traditional project approaches can lead to heavy governance processes, rigid funding cycles, and inefficient work allocation. Decisions made too far upstream without input from those closest to the work often result in misaligned priorities and wasted effort.
Product teams without autonomy to make strategic decisions may rely on top-down prioritisation, which stifles innovation and slows time-to-value.
When engaging stakeholders, one of the most valuable things you can uncover is what they are afraid of. If you don’t take the time to understand their fears, you risk blind spots that can derail alignment, stall progress or create hidden resistance.
Stakeholders rarely state their fears outright. Instead, they might push back on an idea, add hurdles to a process, or slow down decision-making. These behaviours often signal underlying concerns rather than purely rational objections. To navigate this, you need to listen carefully, ask the right questions and sometimes read between the lines.
Once you understand their fears, you can address them directly. This might mean offering a low-risk way to test a new idea, providing data to counteract uncertainty, or framing your proposal in a way that makes sense for their context or priorities.
Before engaging stakeholders, start by identifying who they are, have a perspective on their level of influence and likely concerns. Stakeholder mapping helps teams:
Identify key stakeholders across the organisation who influence or are impacted by the transformation.
Segment stakeholders by level of influence and interest, ensuring tailored engagement strategies.
Understand what they fear most about the transformation—whether it’s loss of control, increased accountability, or uncertainty.
Develop a communication plan that keeps stakeholders informed and aligned throughout the transformation journey.
Mitigate risks early by proactively addressing concerns from high-influence stakeholders.
By visualising the stakeholder landscape and acknowledging their fears, teams can prioritise engagement efforts and foster stronger collaboration.
Without a compelling vision, stakeholders will default to their existing perspectives and experience.
Clearly articulate the product vision and strategy. Strategy communication needs to go beyond leadership to all levels of the organisation.
Tie business goals to product outcomes. Move away from feature-driven roadmaps and towards outcome-based roadmaps that directly support business objectives.
Use real-world examples to show what success looks like.
Rather than treating stakeholders as external approvers, embed them directly into discovery and prioritisation. You don't need to change the structure to work cross-functionally, start by inviting your key stakeholders to a workshop, planning meeting or discovery playback:
Use tools like an Opportunity Canvas or a 1-pager that suits your context to ensure there is a clear goal and work aligns with strategic objectives.
Actively engage with business stakeholders to share knowledge, communicate strategy, and align on priorities. Bring them into the tent!
Listen for hidden resistance. When stakeholders hesitate, ask probing questions to uncover whether fear of failure or uncertainty is driving their concerns.
Experiment safely. Use pilots, prototypes, or controlled rollouts to reduce perceived risk and build trust.
One of the biggest challenges in a product transformation is moving from output-based success measures (e.g. features delivered) to outcome-based metrics (e.g. impact on business goals).
Measure the effectiveness of work based on value delivered, not just completion. Focusing only on predictability can lead to teams working towards delivery targets rather than real customer impact.
Use data to build trust. Regularly share insights with stakeholders on how changes are improving outcomes, whether through reduced support tickets, increased customer satisfaction, or revenue growth.
Encourage cross-functional collaboration. Bring together product, technology, and business leaders to align on priorities. This doesn't mean decision by committee, but you need to walk out of the room with a shared understanding on the priority problems to solve and the desired outcome.
Provide training and coaching. Help peopl understand product thinking, and equip product teams with the right skills.
Co-design solutions. Rather than IT “delivering” what the business wants, engage stakeholders in product discovery to jointly define solutions.
The success of a product operating model requires change across the whole business, it is not just a technology or IT team thing. This requires building a shared understanding of strategy, collaboration, and alignment around what you are trying to achieve. Without intentional and proactive stakeholder engagement, teams will struggle with misalignment, resistance and the change simply won't stick.
Want to ensure your product transformation succeeds? Don't forget stakeholder engagement.