Conduct a Stakeholder Mapping Exercise
Operations · Half day · Beginner
The job
Map stakeholders by influence and interest to design an engagement strategy.
What the sponsor gets
Each canvas and map from this playbook — Stakeholder Map, Empathy Map — exports as a PDF, or as PowerPoint on Pro, straight from the session, and the whole run exports as one PowerPoint for the sponsor. Nothing is redrawn.
The method
Define the initiative and list all stakeholders
Clearly state the initiative or decision that needs stakeholder engagement. Brainstorm every person and group who is affected, has influence, or holds a veto. Cast the net wide — you can always narrow later.
Tip: Include people who can block progress passively (by not engaging) as well as those who can block actively.
Map influence and interest
Create a Stakeholder Map and place every stakeholder by their level of influence over the initiative and their level of interest in its outcome. This reveals who to manage closely, who to keep informed, and who to monitor.
Tip: Plot where stakeholders are today, then mark where you need them to be — the gap is your engagement work.
Understand your key stakeholders
Create Empathy Maps for the 2–3 most critical stakeholders (high influence, uncertain support). Understand what they think, feel, and need before designing your approach.
Tip: The question isn't "how do I convince them?" — it's "what do they need to be true before they'll support this?"
Design the engagement plan
For each stakeholder quadrant, define the engagement approach: message, channel, frequency, and who owns the relationship. High-influence stakeholders need one-to-one conversations, not group emails.
Tip: Assign each key stakeholder a single relationship owner — shared responsibility means no responsibility.
Execute and track
Begin stakeholder engagement according to the plan. Track sentiment shifts and update the stakeholder map monthly. Stakeholder positions change — your map should change with them.
Tip: The first sign of stakeholder drift is cancelled meetings — if someone stops showing up, have a direct conversation before it becomes opposition.
The canvases and maps
- Stakeholder Map
- Power against interest in four quadrants, so engagement effort goes where it matters and nobody important is handled by accident.
- Empathy Map
- The goal first, then what the person sees, says, does, hears, thinks and feels, so the room separates what it has observed from what it is guessing.
What it doesn't do
It doesn't run the room for you or decide for the client. The steps, canvases and duration are a starting point you adapt; the judgement stays yours.