stakeholder-map

Reference Files

• references/stakeholder-strategies.md - Engagement strategy lookup for each Power/Interest Grid quadrant: communication frequency, channels, typical concerns, and engagement actions. Read this in Step 4 when building the engagement plan.

Overview

Based on Business Analysis Techniques by James Cadle, Debra Paul, and Paul Turner - the Power/Interest Grid, Stakeholder Wheel, and Onion Model for systematically classifying stakeholders. Also draws on The Business Analysis Handbook by Helen Winter for Stakeholder Engagement Planning with influence strategies per stakeholder type. The key insight from Cadle: stakeholder mapping is not a list of names. It is a strategic tool that determines who to engage, how deeply, and how often. Misclassifying a high-power stakeholder as low-interest guarantees project risk.

Workflow

Step 1: Identify all stakeholders

Cast a wide net using BABOK's categories:

• Sponsor: Funds and champions the initiative
• End users: People who will use the solution daily
• Domain experts: Subject matter experts with deep knowledge
• Regulators: External bodies with compliance authority
• Implementation team: Developers, testers, operations
• Affected parties: People whose work changes even if they don't use the system