How to answer stakeholders' business questions when they are busy?

Sometimes your boss or your stakeholders ask a financial/ business question, and often they do not have time to walk-through your insight in detail afterwards. All they want is an easily digestible summary with some graphs/ charts and details calculations as a backup if needed.

Don’t underestimate these tasks, as it’s one of the key channels to build rapport with your stakeholders and reputation within the company. Both are important if you want to be a successful FBP.  

These requests usually require us to perform a quick financial analysis/calculation, and here are some steps I would usually do:

 💡 Before the analysis

▸Clarify the scope and the rationale behind the request. It is a VERY important step as it make sure both you and requester’s minds are synced and no extra time is wasted in later stage

 📝During the analysis

▸Build an easy-to-follow excel with clear labelling of each part

▸Pay attention to Formatting and use simple formulas

▸Building error checking formula to avoid unnecessary careless mistakes

▸If you are in doubt: gather your thoughts and clarify with the requester. Don’t be shy!  

 📧 Share the Findings

▸Reply in email with a top-level summary

▸One to three side-observations in point form which worth mentioning

▸Attach the excel spreadsheet calculation/ BI report/ other reports as supporting

▸Follow up in a few days if you didn’t hear any feedback

What do you think? Share your thoughts below!