OUTCOMES
Understand all parties involved in your project and what their relationships are to one another and your product or service
See opportunities for involving new stakeholders in the project
USING THE TOOL
The Stakeholder Map is a tool to help you organise and identify all parties involved in a project and clarify all roles and relationships that surround your product or service. Depending on the specific need, the map can be created as a simple or more complex matrix detailing the relationships between each stakeholder. Its value is it helps to identify important stakeholders and highlight opportunities for new types of relationship or intervention.
Identify the issue: Start by putting the main issue at the centre of the map.
Add all stakeholders: Around the centre, write down everyone connected to it (use post-its).
Choose stakeholder categories: Decide how you want to categorise and group together all the stakeholders - this can be based on whatever is most relevant to your project, for instance:
Group them together based on the stage in which they become involved in the product, service or problem
You could arrange them based on the sector they are in, grouping them based on their similarities
Group them based on how needed they are for your project and how willing they are to engage
Consider if they are: 'gatekeepers', 'channels or outlets', 'supporters' or 'opinion formers'.
Arrange stakeholders: Place each stakeholder into their appropriate category, and (if it is relevant to you), put them into different rings based on their varying levels of connection to the issue - for example, directly connected stakeholders towards the centre, indirectly connected stakeholders in the middle circle, and peripheral stakeholders towards the outside.
GOOD SEQUENCE
Briefing > Stakeholder Map > Research Canvas
Tips
Don’t forget to think of the broader ecosystem your project lives within - it can be easy to miss potential partners and roadblocks
Stakeholder mapping can take many forms so feel free to arrange stakeholders in any type of mapping format that helps you see new opportunities
Stakeholder mapping can also be nicely incorporated into journey maps and system maps
