Executive communication
On this page 9 topics
Overview
Topics
- Technical risk translated into business impact
Learn first
3 h of practice (estimate)
Learning outcomes
- Translate technical risk into business impact executives can weigh (revenue, customers, regulators, cost).
- Structure a short executive brief: situation, recommendation, options, ask.
- Answer hard questions concisely and admit uncertainty.
- Secure a decision or funding within a fixed time slot.
Lessons
Lab and exercises
Lab
SRA-019-LAB1 · Funding pitch
Outcomes: 1–4 · Time: ~2 h
- Write the ask for year one of Commerce 2030, with the outcome it buys.
- Translate the top three technical risks into business impact with ranges and assumptions.
- Write the executive brief (situation, recommendation, options, ask) and one page of backup.
- Deliver a 10-minute pitch to role-played executives, handle hard questions, and admit uncertainty where it exists.
- Confirm the decision in writing.
Acceptance: a clear decision is reached within the slot.
Exercises (case-based; six exercises)
| ID | Outcome | Task |
|---|---|---|
| SRA-019-EX01 | 1 | Translate five technical risks (for example untested failover, unowned data, end-of-life services) into business impact with ranges. |
| SRA-019-EX02 | 2 | Rewrite a technical status email into a one-page executive brief. |
| SRA-019-EX03 | 2 | Write the ask for a resilience investment with amount, decision date, and cost of delay. |
| SRA-019-EX04 | 3 | Prepare answers to five hard questions (why now, why this much, what if we wait, who is to blame, how sure are you). |
| SRA-019-EX05 | 4 | Plan the pre-wire for a funding meeting: whom to meet, what to ask each, and how objections change the pitch. |
| SRA-019-EX06 | 3 | Draft the CEO outage brief with known facts, unknowns, actions, and the next update time. |
Show solutions
- EX01 Example: untested failover becomes "up to two hours of checkout outage in a peak event; revenue at risk is X to Y per hour (assumption: orders per hour)"; end-of-life becomes support cost and security exposure by date.
- EX02 Situation in three lines with the key number, recommendation, two or three options, ask; technical detail moved to backup.
- EX03 "Approve 2.1 million for year one by 15 March; delay beyond that postpones the marketplace launch by a quarter" (figures illustrative).
- EX04 One-sentence answers with supporting fact; for "how sure" give a range and what would change it; do not assign blame, describe the cause and fix.
- EX05 Meet the finance lead (cost basis), the product lead (launch), and the CTO (priority) before; revise the pitch to answer their objections; the meeting then decides.
- EX06 Lead with impact and recovery; "cause identified so far: …; unknown: …; next update at 16:00"; actions with cost; one recommendation.
Outcome 2 is also covered by the lab brief; outcome 4 by the lab decision.
Workplace evidence: an executive decision or funding you secured.
Quiz
Outcomes: O1 risk as business impact · O2 the executive brief · O3 hard questions and uncertainty · O4 securing a decision.
A self-check for you: nothing is graded, saved or sent anywhere. Choose an answer, then check it. You can try again as often as you like.
Practical part
Six case exercises SRA-019-EX01 to EX06 plus the lab pitch. Pass: quiz at least 8/10, and a pitch scored on the COM and LEA dimensions in which a clear decision is reached within the slot, risks are stated as business impact, and uncertainty is acknowledged.
Common mistakes
Technical detail first; asking for nothing specific; overstating certainty.
Assessment
Pitch scored on the COM and LEA dimensions.
Workplace evidence
An executive decision or funding you secured.
Career relevance
Executive communication (STF-017) and architecture communication (ARC-044).