Free Printable Stakeholder Map Templates [PDF, Word, Excel]

Establishing the success of a project is no small task. A successful project has several factors that must come together to make it work, and one of the most critical is stakeholder management. When we talk about stakeholder management, two elements are essential in creating a successful venture – defining who the stakeholders are and then engaging them on an ongoing basis throughout the project’s life.

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Stakeholder Map Templates

Effectively analyze and engage stakeholders with our comprehensive collection of Stakeholder Map Templates. These customizable and printable templates provide a visual representation of key stakeholders involved in your project, organization, or initiative.

By mapping stakeholders based on their level of influence and interest, our templates help you prioritize your engagement strategies and ensure effective communication and collaboration. With sections for stakeholder names, roles, objectives, and communication preferences, our Stakeholder Map Templates offer a comprehensive view of your stakeholder landscape. By utilizing these templates, you can identify potential allies, manage risks, and foster positive relationships with key stakeholders. Streamline your stakeholder management efforts, enhance decision-making processes, and drive the success of your project or organization. Download our Stakeholder Map Templates now and harness the power of stakeholder engagement.

Stakeholder Definition

Stakeholders are the internal and external people to the project who make or influence the project decisions.

For example, customers, sponsors, employee organizations, public institutions, etc.

Project stakeholders need to be identified as soon as the project charter is published and managed throughout the entire project lifecycle. A Project Initiation Document is a document issued by the project initiator or sponsor, formally confirming the project’s existence and authorizing the project manager to allocate the organization’s resources to project activities. This document includes high-level project objectives, budget, timeline, assumptions, constraints, name of the sponsor, project manager and names of relevant stakeholders, etc. information is included.

Things to consider in determining the stakeholders are as follows;

If the project started with a contract, relevant stakeholders (suppliers, etc.) may be involved in the contract.

By examining the organizational structure, you can see the stakeholders that will be affected or will be affected by the project.

Stakeholders can be identified from records of past projects and documents related to lessons learned.

Experts with similar project experience can be consulted.

Laws, rules, etc., concerning the project. Relevant stakeholders can be identified.

Stakeholders can be identified by brainstorming with various experts and departments.

Types of stakeholders

Stakeholder mapping is a simple way to understand everyone involved in your product or program. Many types of stakeholders carry different information, weight, and impacts on your product or program. By understanding the different types of stakeholders and how you can reach them, you can influence the program to better suit your organization’s needs instead of problems down the road.

Internal and External Stakeholders

You can understand internal stakeholders as partners with an internal presence in the business world. An initiative, task, or project directly affects them, and the best examples are employees.

On the other hand, external stakeholders have interests in the success and growth of a business; but they are not directly related to the project or assignment. Suppliers can be understood as external stakeholders.

Primary and Secondary Stakeholders

Primary stakeholders create the highest level of enthusiasm for the outcome of a particular project or task because the outcome directly affects them.

They effectively add value to an enterprise. Team leaders or customers fall into this category.

Secondary stakeholders also help complete an initiative or project while doing so at a lower and more general level. Partners who assist with financial, administrative, and legal processes fall into this category.

Direct and Indirect Stakeholders

The third category relates directly to stakeholders who are engaged in the day-to-day tasks of an initiative or mission. Employees can be seen as direct stakeholders.

On the other hand, indirect stakeholders focus on the outcome of completed tasks rather than the way of completion. Consumers may fall into this category. They care about things like packaging, pricing, and accessibility.

Difference Between Stakeholder and Shareholder

As far as the difference between both of these terms is concerned, you need to understand that a stakeholder is any individual who owns any stake in a business, whereas a shareholder is like an investor who owns shares. Is in the business and accordingly includes an equity interest in the industry.

What is meant by stakeholder mapping?

The stakeholder’s map template is a graphic organizer that aids in grouping stakeholders based on their level of interest in a project and their level of influence over key decisions in the life of the project. If your organization plans and manages projects, then having a highly involved project sponsor and other high-level stakeholders will help ensure effective management of the project.

There are many things to consider when creating a stakeholder map. The most important of these (when it comes to stakeholder management) are interest and influence levels. A level of influence is the power of a stakeholder to set and modify the project requirements. One of the main areas that you must focus on is satisfying the expectations of your stakeholders, who have high levels of influence in your project. For the other stakeholders, who have high levels of interest in your project, all that you have to do is to keep them updated in terms of the status of your project.

Why is stakeholder mapping important?

Creating an effective stakeholder map is crucial in the Project Lifecycle Management (PLM) process. A thorough project stakeholder map is essential to identify an organization’s key stakeholders and help team members understand the relationships between stakeholders and their departments.

Also, using a stakeholder map will help you see how different groups with different interests, value systems, and issues interact with one another. This can help you understand how to best engage with them for better business outcomes. The point of mapping your stakeholders is to develop an action plan for how to engage with them.

Conclusion

If you have plans to launch a new product or service in the market, then drawing out a plan before determining your stakeholders will get you the best results. As time passes, the market changes, and you’ll be compelled to change with it; if you don’t change in time, it might cost your business really big.

FAQs

How do you create a stakeholder map?

To create a stakeholder map, list all your key stakeholders and group them into categories like internal, external, high influence, etc. Then visualize the relationships between stakeholders using a chart, diagram, or map. Place central stakeholders in the middle and connect related stakeholders.

How do I create a stakeholder map in Excel?

In Excel, list stakeholders vertically in the first column. Add columns for stakeholder type, influence, interest, etc. Color code rows for different stakeholder groups. Use a scatter chart to plot stakeholders by influence and interest. Connect related stakeholders with arrows or lines.

How do you create a stakeholder matrix?

To create a stakeholder matrix, make a table with stakeholders as rows and assessment criteria like influence, interest, position as columns. Score each stakeholder on the criteria. Optionally, color code cells or give weighting scores to visualize priorities and relationships.