Skill: Stakeholder Communication

Purpose

Format and deliver communications to the stakeholder, including escalations, status updates, decision requests, and summaries.

When to Use

• Agent needs a business decision
• Workflow completes with deliverables
• Blocker requires stakeholder action
• Status update requested
• Risk needs to be communicated

---

Communication Types

Type	Trigger	Format
Decision Request	Business decision needed	Question + Options
Status Update	Milestone or request	Summary + Details
Escalation	Blocker or risk	Problem + Impact + Ask
Completion Report	Workflow finished	Deliverables + Next Steps
Risk Alert	Risk identified	Risk + Impact + Mitigation

---

Decision Request Format

When a business decision is needed:

📋 **Decision Needed**

**Topic:** [Brief topic]

**Context:**
[1-2 sentences on why this decision is needed]

**Question:**
[Clear, specific question]

**Options:**
1. **[Option A]** - [Brief description]
   - Pros: [Benefits]
   - Cons: [Drawbacks]

2. **[Option B]** - [Brief description]
   - Pros: [Benefits]
   - Cons: [Drawbacks]

**Recommendation:** [Agent's recommendation if any]

**Impact:** [What this affects]

**Tracking:** Created [PROJ-XXX] for tracking

Example Decision Request

📋 **Decision Needed**

**Topic:** Password Reset Identifier

**Context:**
Defining the password reset flow for the authentication feature.

**Question:**
Should users reset their password using email only, or email OR username?

**Options:**
1. **Email only**
   - Pros: Simpler implementation, more secure (verifies email ownership)
   - Cons: User must remember which email they used

2. **Email or username**
   - Pros: More user-friendly, multiple recovery paths
   - Cons: More complex, potential security concerns

**Recommendation:** Option 1 (email only) for MVP, with Option 2 as future enhancement.

**Impact:** Affects MDDEV-103 acceptance criteria

**Tracking:** Created MDDEV-150 for tracking

---

Status Update Format

For milestone completions or requested updates:

📊 **Status Update**

**Topic:** [What this is about]

**Summary:**
[2-3 sentence overview]

**Completed:**
- ✅ [Item 1]
- ✅ [Item 2]

**In Progress:**
- 🔄 [Item 3] - [Status]

**Blocked:**
- 🚫 [Item 4] - [Reason]

**Artifacts:**
- Jira: [Links]
- Confluence: [Links]

**Next Steps:**
[What happens next]

---

Escalation Format

For blockers requiring stakeholder action:

🚨 **Escalation**

**Issue:** [Brief description]

**Impact:**
- [Impact 1]
- [Impact 2]

**Blocked Items:**
- [PROJ-XXX]: [Summary]
- [PROJ-YYY]: [Summary]

**Root Cause:**
[What's causing this]

**Required Action:**
[What the stakeholder needs to do]

**Deadline:** [When this needs resolution]

**Fallback:** [What happens if not resolved]

Example Escalation

🚨 **Escalation**

**Issue:** Third-party API access credentials not available

**Impact:**
- Cannot integrate payment processing
- Blocks 3 stories in current sprint
- 8 story points at risk

**Blocked Items:**
- MDDEV-201: Process credit card payments
- MDDEV-202: Handle payment failures
- MDDEV-203: Generate payment receipts

**Root Cause:**
Waiting for vendor to provision API access (requested 5 days ago)

**Required Action:**
Contact vendor directly to expedite access provisioning

**Deadline:** Need by Wednesday to complete sprint

**Fallback:** Move payment stories to next sprint, pull in other backlog items

---

Completion Report Format

When a workflow or major task completes:

✅ **[Workflow/Task] Complete**

**Summary:**
[What was accomplished]

**Deliverables:**

**Jira:**
{{#each jiraItems}}
- [{{key}}]({{url}}) - {{summary}}
{{/each}}

**Confluence:**
{{#each confluencePages}}
- [{{title}}]({{url}})
{{/each}}

**Key Decisions Made:**
{{#each decisions}}
- {{decision}}
{{/each}}

**Ready For:** [What can happen next]

**Questions for You:**
{{#if questions}}
{{#each questions}}
- {{question}}
{{/each}}
{{/if}}

Example Completion Report

✅ **Requirements Analysis Complete**

**Summary:**
Analyzed the "Dark Mode" feature request and created all necessary documentation.

**Deliverables:**

**Jira:**
- [MDDEV-100](link) - Epic: Dark Mode Support
- [MDDEV-101](link) - Story: User can toggle dark mode
- [MDDEV-102](link) - Story: System preference detection
- [MDDEV-103](link) - Story: Persist dark mode preference

**Confluence:**
- [BRD: Dark Mode Feature](link)
- [ADR-015: Dark Mode Implementation](link)

**Key Decisions Made:**
- Use CSS custom properties for theming
- Logo remains unchanged in both modes

**Ready For:** Sprint planning - stories are refined and estimated

**Questions for You:**
- Would you like to prioritize this for the next sprint?
- Any additional screens that should NOT support dark mode?

---

Risk Alert Format

When a risk is identified:

⚠️ **Risk Alert**

**Risk:** [Description]

**Probability:** High | Medium | Low
**Impact:** High | Medium | Low

**Affected:**
- [What this impacts]

**Indicators:**
- [How we detected this]

**Mitigation Options:**
1. [Option 1]
2. [Option 2]

**Recommendation:** [Suggested action]

**Decision Needed By:** [Date if time-sensitive]

---

Communication Best Practices

DO:

• Lead with the ask or key information
• Be specific about what's needed
• Provide options when seeking decisions
• Include links to relevant Jira/Confluence
• Set clear deadlines when time-sensitive

DON'T:

• Bury the important information
• Present problems without options
• Use technical jargon unnecessarily
• Escalate without attempting resolution
• Send updates without value-add

---

Jira Ticket for Decisions

Create tracking ticket for stakeholder decisions:

Atlassian:createJiraIssue({
  cloudId: "{{jira.cloudId}}",
  projectKey: "{{jira.development.projectKey}}",
  issueTypeName: "Task",
  summary: "[DECISION] {{decisionTopic}}",
  description: `## Decision Required

**Question:** {{question}}

**Options:**
{{#each options}}
{{number}}. {{option}}
{{/each}}

**Context:**
{{context}}

**Impact:**
{{impact}}

**Requested By:** {{agent}}
**Deadline:** {{deadline}}`,
  labels: ["needs-stakeholder-decision"],
  assignee_account_id: "{{ATLASSIAN_ACCOUNT_ID}}"
})

---

Used By Agents

Agent	Communication Types
Orchestrator	All types - primary stakeholder interface
Business Analyst	Decision requests, completion reports
Product Owner	Priority decisions, status updates
Project Manager	Status updates, risk alerts, escalations
Software Architect	Technical decision escalations

Response Handling

When stakeholder responds:

1. Log decision in Jira ticket
2. Update Confluence Decision Log
3. Transition ticket to Done
4. Notify requesting agent
5. Continue workflow with decision