Navigating Tricky Conversations with Senior Executives

In this guest post, Lesley Worthington offers 5 tips for getting your highly technical message across when communicating with senior executives.

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In the world of QA/RA, every conversation is an opportunity to influence decisions that impact the organization’s future. But when the stakes are high, how we frame those conversations makes all the difference.

Whether you’re addressing compliance gaps, operational risks, or areas for improvement, your ability to connect with senior leadership - and how you align your message with their strategic goals¹ - determines the amount of traction you’ll gain for your ideas.

If we’re not careful and just plough forward with our concerns about risk or compliance gaps, it often feels (to the leaders) a bit alarmist and disconnected from their strategic focus. Instead of seeing our concerns as a roadblock or slowdown, we want our suggestions to position us as partners driving value.

The trick? We need to reframe our messages. Instead of “Here’s what’s wrong”, what if we shift to “Here’s where we can grow”? If we can position quality as a driver of improvement, resilience, and a competitive advantage, there’s a good chance we’ll be able to build trust while also gaining buy-in.

Here are 6 tips to help you focus your messaging for getting results.