Going one-on-one with individuals — rather than in a group setting — either because they won't voice disagreement publicly, or to privately gather advice and pre-build buy-in ahead of a big meeting where a decision must be finalized.
The name borrows from the diplomatic technique of a mediator traveling between parties who won't meet directly. Applied to stakeholder management, it means talking to skeptical or powerful stakeholders privately — before or alongside group sessions — so their real objections surface before the decision meeting, not during it.
From Bruce McCarthy & Melissa Appel's Align (Stakeholder Management as the "Secret Lubricant" of Product Success). Works alongside Mining for Conflict (Testing Apparent Consensus) and Fist of Five as another way to detect disagreement a group setting suppresses, and overlaps with Asking for Advice as Buy-in as a way to pre-build support before a decision point.
Из тем: Stakeholder Power and Trust