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Stakeholder Map

Map influence against interest, then generate the engagement plan each quadrant implies.

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Interest
High power
Keep satisfied2
    Manage closely4
      Low power
      Monitor1
        Keep informed2
          PowerLow interestHigh interest

          0 entries, 0 of them scored. Highest score on the grid: 0.

          What this grid is telling you

          • Nothing on the grid yet. Write the entries down first and score them afterwards.

          Frequently asked questions

          The questions people actually ask about this document.

          What is a stakeholder map?
          A two by two that places everyone with a stake in something by how much power they have over it and how much they care about it. The four quadrants carry four different instructions, which is the whole point: the people you brief monthly and the people you involve in decisions are not the same people, and treating them the same is how projects get surprised late.
          How do I judge power and interest?
          Power is whether they can stop it or change it, not their place on an org chart. Somebody two levels down who controls the only integration has power. Interest is whether the outcome actually affects their work or their numbers, not whether they have been polite about it in a meeting. Both are judgements about this piece of work, not about the person in general.
          Everyone seems important. What then?
          Then the map has not been filled in honestly, and it is the most common failure of this exercise. If everybody is powerful and interested you have no plan, because you cannot engage fifteen people closely and you will end up engaging whoever shouts. Force the ranking: if two people are in the top corner and one of them has to be dropped, which one. The answer is usually obvious and nobody wanted to say it.
          What do I actually do with each quadrant?
          Manage closely means they are in the room when decisions are made. Keep satisfied means they hear from you before they have to ask, which is what stops a late objection from someone who could have stopped the project at any point. Keep informed means regular detail, because these are the people who notice the problems first. Monitor means a line at each milestone, and nothing more.
          Should the map be shared?
          Not with the people on it, and not in a shared drive. A grid that says somebody has low power and low interest is accurate, useful, and unforgivable to read about yourself. Keep it with the core team, and share the engagement plan it produces rather than the map that produced it.
          When should it be redone?
          At the start, and again whenever something structural changes: a reorganisation, a new sponsor, a budget moving. Power shifts faster than people update these, and a map from six months ago describing an organisation that no longer exists is worse than none, because it is believed.

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