BA Bites - Top 10 Lies Stakeholders Tell (and How to Decode Them)

BA Bites - Top 10 Lies Stakeholders Tell (and How to Decode Them)

Let’s face it—stakeholders don’t always tell the whole truth. Whether it’s “This will be a quick project” or “The users will love this,” these “little lies” can derail even the best-planned initiatives.

In this episode, I share:

• The top 10 stakeholder lies and what they really mean.
• Real-world strategies to handle tricky conversations.
• Tips for keeping projects on track without calling anyone out.

🎧 Listen now to sharpen your stakeholder management skills and decode the truth behind the lies.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The better. Business Analysis Institute.
Presence the Better Business Analysis podcast.
With Benjamin Walsh. Hi, everybody, and welcome back
to. The Better Business Analysis
podcast with your host Benjamin Walsh.
Happy New year of this is the first podcast you've listened to

(00:21):
in 2025. Today on our BA Byte series,
we're going to talk about 10 lies, stake on his tail and how
to decode. Them.
That's right. Stakeholders lie.
Let's dive in. Stakeholders don't.
Mean to lie? But let's face it, they often
do. From the harmless to the
dangerous, these little. Fibs can.

(00:43):
Make or break a project. If we don't spot them.
Early in this episode, we'll uncover the top ten lies
stakeholders tell, what they really mean, and how.
You as a business analyst can decode them #1 we know exactly
what we need. They want to.

(01:05):
Appear prepared or avoid lengthy.
Discussions or debate? The truth?
They have a vague idea but lack clarity on the details.
Which is why you're there. How to respond?
To that. Great.
Could you walk me through your thought process?
I'd. Like to map out the.
Specifics. To make.
Sure. We're all aligned.

(01:26):
Great move. And I'll draw a process.
Diagram. Along the way. #2 This will be a
quick. Project now.
Stakeholders say this because they're usually trying to secure
buy and they've got limited budget.
And. They don't want to scare anyone
off from. Actually jumping on board and

(01:46):
helping out. The truth is, they've
underestimated the. Complexity they.
Have no. Idea how they're going to
deliver this? So how you respond?
You say that's encouraging. Let's break this down into
phases to validate the timeline.Are there any hidden
dependencies? We should consider.
Or can we just go through? The constraints and assumptions
we're making here. #3 we've already got budget.

(02:11):
For this, hear it all the time. Why they say they're saying it?
Because they don't. Want to risk delays?
By. Admitting that funding.
Might be an issue they're. Hiding it from you.
They think that's management, but it's not.
It's just lack. Of transparency.
The truth is the budget is probably tentative.

(02:31):
They may not have even done a business.
Case it's. Incomplete or there's a risk?
Of it being. Pulled.
How you respond? Fantastic.
We'll review the budget allocation to make sure we've
accounted for every potential cost.
And you know the? Vendors or.
I just need to do some. Numbers on some server costs so.

(02:52):
If you just give me your budget.I'll add this to it.
OK, that's how you respond. #4 is everyone's on.
Board with this. Very arrogant.
Why? Do they?
Say it they don't. Want to deal with?
Conflict or descending opinions on the team.
It's usually. They say that.
If someone. Disagrees with.
What they say or want. A manager might say that when a

(03:13):
Smee is saying don't do it. The real truth is.
There are likely stakeholders. Who haven't been consulted.
Or are. Going to disagree.
So they've gone around them. How you respond.
Again, you start off with, that's great to hear.
Can we? Just confirm who the.
Stakeholders are who will be involved.
So I can loop them into the discussions and who will be

(03:33):
making the sign off. And does anyone else?
Need to feedback into this. And if they say, Oh yeah,
actually, Bob does. But Bob disagrees with.
This piece of work then you knowyou might have an issue that you
need to manage. Upfront #5.
We just need a small change. You've heard it.

(03:54):
They want to downplay the effortto make the request more
palatable. Or get it on the list because
it's bigger than it. Really appears that small change
probably. Effects multiple systems or
processes or difficult people. How you respond of?
Course, let's. Review the.
Impact on this? Change so we can estimate the

(04:16):
effort accuracy still. Impact Workshop and just
understand all the elements and the scope number six.
The users will love this. That's assumptions there that
they know. What?
The user wants. There's no insight.
They haven't actually asked themor done any user or customer

(04:36):
insight analysis. Users probably haven't.
Been consulted and their. Needs may.
Differ. How do we respond that sounds.
Promising. Can we just gather?
Some user feedback to validate. That assumption or to help with
the UX design and then you make it a bit.
Bigger and ask. Actually, is this problem for

(04:57):
you or is the solution going to solve the problem?
Ask the users that right and then feed that back and say this
is the. Analysis we've.
Done. And this is the feedback we've
got #7. We don't need documentation,
just get it done. I get this often in ABA world
where you put in the BA quote and then it's 20% of the project

(05:17):
costs and they want to. Cut costs, so they say don't we
don't need ABA. We're documenting anything.
It's. Agile, we're just getting in
there. This is when they're in a rush
and saying they see documentation as.
Unnecessary bureaucracy where it's actually.
Getting. Clarity and transparency and.
Making sure that you've got a wall of defence and.
If someone says they don't need documentation, risk risk, risk

(05:40):
alarm bells. Go off.
They'll ask for documentation when things go wrong.
Don't you? Worry.
So you respond by saying I can keep it lightweight.
But we'll just document some of the decisions we're making to
ensure that we can maintain. And scale this effectively and
we'll find the right balance so we can get it through sign off,
through the architectural. Forum or governance forums or

(06:02):
privacy officer? #8.
The vendor says that. Their solution can handle
everything. Usually get this.
After your CE OS gone to Vegas, this is where your.
IT manager. Is taking the vendor's world
view. And they're.
Taking their. Word at face value without
technical validation and. Property in doing all the proper

(06:25):
procurement we should do the solution will have.
Limits everything does. Integration challenges.
It's a. It's not aligned with your road
map. You can respond by.
Saying. Let's.
Create a checklist of the requirements.
Just verify the solution meets. Them.
During the demo. And then any.
Holes. I've experienced this.
Before when we were moving. Or looking for a solution.

(06:49):
To replace no vision. It's a complicated customized
system we were using in Europe and SAP pitched and they said,
yeah, we can do all this. This is like responding to a bit
of a. Request for information.
Very light. And the IT manager.
Was like they can do everything.So I asked for a demo.
I was. Quite young.
And I went through the requirements, just really,
really high level ask. Questions.

(07:10):
And they were like, oh, we can't.
Really customize. It to do that and it was a it
was a flop. The IT manager.
Was grateful to ask the questions.
I don't know how we're in that position in the first place.
SAT. We're trying to sell as the new
product which was SAT. One online at the time and.
It was just a disaster and we walked away from that #9 this is

(07:32):
the top. Priority for everyone in this.
Organization this. Is when they want you to
prioritize. Their project.
Above everything. Else with no talk about
objectives. Or alignment.
With strategic initiatives, other stakeholders may have
conflicting priorities. You've usually got a board of.
Board of. Directors.

(07:53):
CEO for example. Or you'll have like 8 SL team
members. And so.
Them saying that it's important to them using their kind of
leadership position to to. Put pressure on you to
prioritize. Is unhealthy.
You can say. Can we just confirm?
That we're. Mapping this to the strategic

(08:15):
objectives and then we'll I'm happy.
To present. To the senior leadership team
and show them how this aligns and then suddenly you unpack.
Then maybe there is disagreementacross the SLT and number. 10
it's We'll deal with that. Later they want to defer
difficult. Situations of.
Challenges, right? And later often never comes and

(08:38):
those issues will snowball and. They will land on your lap.
You can respond by saying I understand that's.
Not a focus, right? Now, but it might be easier to
tackle this. Earlier, our big ticket.
Items, instead of avoiding bigger challenges down the line,
can we explore a quick solution now, or at least get it?

(08:58):
Into the plan. So there you have it.
There are 10 lies that stakeholders tell.
And how to decode them and deal with them as a BAI.
Hope you learned something, I'm sure you've been in those
situations. In your.
Role and I'll see you next week.