When I was part of the Global Transformation Team at Kantar, I was asked to take over project management for our CRM and CPQ platform. The product hadn’t had a dedicated project manager for over a year, and the previous product manager had been removed due to performance concerns. There was no clear sponsor, and the project was in disarray—yet it was critical to several commercial, finance, and operational processes.

Although the platform wasn’t part of a formal transformation programme, it was business-critical. My task was to stabilise the project, re-establish governance, and ensure the platform could support evolving business needs.

The first thing I did was identify and engage the key stakeholders. This turned out to be quite complex, as the CFO, CCO, and CTO all had a stake in the platform. I set up structured communication channels with each of their teams and worked to understand their priorities and pain points.
In the absence of a product manager or owner, I stepped into that space—leading the technology team, driving feature prioritisation, and working closely with the principal development lead to improve delivery processes. I introduced a governance framework to manage the roadmap and prioritisation, which helped us balance competing demands and make decisions more transparently. When communicating the roadmap to sponsors and stakeholders, I ensured to provide clarification on why specific items might have been moved up or down in the roadmap and the implications of those changes. I have set up multiple channels (Steering Groups, stakeholder calls, feedback form, Teams Channels) to allow both the stakeholders and sponsors to both stay informed and share feedback.
I also focused on building trust—both with the sponsors and with the wider user base. I made sure we were responsive to user feedback, transparent about what was being delivered and when, and proactive in communicating changes.

The impact was significant. We rebuilt stakeholder confidence and improved delivery speed and quality. Within six months, we delivered two major improvements:
1. A CRM-to-ERP integration, paired with extensive data cleansing and alignment, which transformed sales pipeline reporting from monthly to real-time—dramatically improving data accuracy and decision-making speed.
2. A pricing automation feature that streamlined commercial workflows and enhanced reporting accuracy.
These changes not only improved operational efficiency but also demonstrated the value of the platform to the business.
Although we often had to make difficult decisions regarding product roadmap, we ensured to maintain transparency in that process which helped secure stakeholder buy-in.

This project reinforced how essential clear, consistent communication is when navigating conflicting priorities. By establishing structured channels and being transparent about decisions, I was able to build trust and alignment across senior stakeholders. I also learned the value of stepping into leadership gaps with confidence—balancing competing demands while keeping the team focused and engaged. Most importantly, I saw how clarity and openness can turn a fragmented project into a strategic asset.

• Corporate Governance
• Stakeholder Engagement
• product management