Meetings, the Modern Scourge
You’ve just had 3 back to back meetings and while it’s nice to hear how the weather is in another part of the world you are nowhere nearer to aligning the stakeholders to your goal. Before anything can be agreed the most important people drop off the call because they have other commitments are you’re left with the non decision making people talking about their cat.
To get things done in the modern age of remote and semi remote work the worst thing to do is to jump on another unstructured zoom call. Without alignment your team pulls in different directions and no one knows who has the authority to make decisions.
In this article we’ll show you practical ways to get alignment without more meetings.
Why alignment falls apart
It’s easy to assume everyone is on the same page until you realise you’re all reading different books. Alignment doesn’t fail because people don’t care, it fails because everyone’s pulling in slightly different directions, often without realising it.
Different stakeholder alignment priorities
We all know that attention hungry Lisa in marketing wants visibility. Ivan the dev lead want to ship fast as his team want to move on to the next project they think is more important. Frank in Leadership wants something that sounds good in a board report as he really wants his bonus this year.
And you? You just want to hit the deadline without your project turning into a bin fire. The problem isn’t that these goals are wrong, they’re just rarely aligned by default. Without an agreed hierarchy of priorities, decisions get made based on whoever shouts loudest.
Vague briefs or conflicting information
You know the type, a brief that says “We need something clean but eye-catching, aligned to brand but totally different” and everyone just nods like that means something. Or worse, you get five different docs saying five slightly different things. If the brief isn’t clear, the work won’t be either.
Assumptions and silos
People assume others know what they mean. Teams make decisions in isolation. And before you know it, the devs are building one thing while the designers are sketching something else entirely. When the walls go up between teams, alignment quietly dies behind them.
Everyone thinks they own the decision
This one’s a classic. Product thinks it’s their call. Marketing wants final sign-off. The CEO drops in with “just a quick thought” and suddenly the whole thing’s back to square one. If no one knows who’s in charge, you end up in limbo. Or even worse than this, no one things it’s their decision and sits back deferring to others.
The stakeholder alignment checklist of doom
❌ No one knows who’s making the final decision
❌ Conflicting opinions with no process for resolving them
❌ Too many people involved, no clear owner
❌ Multiple briefs or unclear scope
❌ Silence from key stakeholders until it’s “too late”
❌ Important feedback buried in Slack threads or emails
❌ Meeting fatigue, zero momentum
Does this looks familiar? It might be time to try a different approach.
Better ways to align stakeholders (without another meeting)
Let’s cut to it. If meetings were the answer, your team would be flawless by now. Here’s how to actually align stakeholders using clearer communication, better tooling, and a bit of structure.
A. Write a Killer Brief
No waffle. No brand poetry. Just the facts.
- What’s the goal?
- Who’s it for?
- What does success look like?
- What’s out of scope?
- Who signs it off?
Your brief should do what a meeting often can’t: make the direction unmissable. Bonus points for adding a TL;DR at the top.
Want to know more about how to write a brief, check out our article on it.
B. Make asynchronous updates work harder
You don’t need another meeting to tell people what’s going on. You need better updates that don’t waste their time.
- Use Loom videos for quick context (two minutes max)
- Write a short update with clear asks or decisions
- Use comments, not calls to get feedback
If someone really needs to talk about it, they’ll book time. But nine times out of ten, they won’t need to.
C. Visualise the trade-offs
Stakeholders aren’t ignoring you, they just don’t understand the complexity. Help them out.
- Use diagrams, decision trees, or before/after mocks
- Spell out options with pros and cons
- Be explicit about what you’re not doing (and why)
A picture won’t just paint a thousand words. It’ll save a thousand Slack messages too.
D. Define who decides
You’re not a democracy, you’re a product team. Someone has to call the shots.
- Use RACI or DACI frameworks if needed
- Document who’s Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed
- Make the decider’s name big, bold, and unmissable
When no one knows who decides, everyone decides. That’s how you end up with design by committee and no one wants that.
E. Build in feedback loops, not just sign-offs
Stakeholder feedback often shows up after the work is done, at which point it’s too late (or too expensive) to change. Build feedback in before things get final.
- Ask for comments early, not just approval at the end
- Set feedback deadlines: “If I don’t hear from you by Friday, we move forward”
- Be clear what kind of feedback you want, don’t invite rethinking the whole concept
You want useful feedback, not fresh chaos.
When you do need a meeting, make it count
Sometimes, yes, a meeting is the best tool. But treat it like surgery: precise, necessary, and ideally over quickly.
- One clear objective (decide, review, unblock, pick one)
- Shared doc or agenda in advance
- Timebox it and stick to it
- End with clear next steps and ownership
If it starts with “Just a quick sync” and ends with “Let’s pick this up again next week,” you’ve already lost.
Tools that actually help align stakeholders
Not all tools are created equal. Here are a few that can help keep stakeholders aligned without dragging them into another meeting:
- Notion – for live docs, shared briefs, updates
- Loom – for async video walkthroughs
- Figma – for collaborative design feedback
- Trello / Jira / Asana – for clear task tracking
- Miro – for collaborative decision-making, no mess
- Google Docs / Sheets – boring but effective
Whatever you use, keep it visible and keep it simple. No one’s hunting through five tools to find the latest version of your slide deck.
Wrap-up: align stakeholders without the agony
Meetings are a tool, not a strategy. If you’re relying on calendar invites to keep your project on track, you’re already behind and won’t align stakeholders.
The real trick to align stakeholders is clarity:
- Clear briefs
- Clear ownership
- Clear decisions
When everyone knows what they’re doing and why, you’ll find yourself with fewer meetings and better work.
