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Execution · Plan

Stakeholder map

Works out who actually decides, who can block, and what each of them cares about. Strategies fail on this more often than on analysis, and it is the least documented work in the discipline.

The printable canvas and the handoff into Claude Code are part of a paid plan. See what a plan includes. It needs the Claude desktop app on this machine, and your team and the prompt library already installed in that project — we cannot see your disk, so open it there.

Stage
04 Plan
Works at
All levels
Maturity
Scaling → Large organisation
Time
Two hours, and never circulated

What it is

A structured assessment of who can affect a decision or a change, how much influence each has, where they currently stand, and what they actually want. It is political analysis, and it is the work most often skipped by people who find politics distasteful — which is why their strategies stall.

Stakeholders
Everyone who could materially help or hinder, including those with no formal authority but real influence.
Influence
How much they can affect the outcome. Frequently unrelated to seniority — the person who has to implement it often has more than the person who approves it.
Current position
Where they stand now: champion, supporter, neutral, sceptic, opponent. Assessed honestly rather than hopefully.
Underlying interest
What they actually want. Stated objections are usually proxies for concerns about budget, status, workload or risk.
Required position
Where they need to be for this to succeed. Not everyone needs to be a champion; most only need to not block.
Engagement approach
Who speaks to them, about what, addressing which interest, by when.
The mistake people makeThis document should never be circulated. Written down carelessly it reads as a manipulation plan and does real damage if it leaks — keep it to the few people who need it and destroy it afterwards.
What it’s forThe strategy needs people to back it and you are unsure who actually decides.
What it’s not forYou are the only decision-maker.

How you run it

  1. List everyone who could affect the outcomeDecision-makers, influencers, blockers, and the people whose cooperation is needed for delivery. Include the ones without formal authority.
  2. Plot influence against current positionInfluence on the vertical, support-to-opposition on the horizontal. Position is where they are now, not where you need them.
  3. Work out what each actually wantsTheir interest, not their stated objection. Objections are usually proxies for something about budget, status, workload or risk.
  4. Prioritise high influence and low supportThat quadrant decides whether this happens. Everyone else is a communication task.
  5. Plan a specific approach per personWho talks to them, about what, addressing which interest, by when. Generic engagement plans achieve nothing.

The prompt

Two ways to run it

Run this tool in your own Claude

The short prompt starts your partner against the library on your disk. The long one carries everything with it and needs nothing installed.

🔒 Prompt locked

Everything above is free — what this tool is, what it is for, what it is not for, and how to run it as a workshop. Three tool prompts a month are free with an account; beyond three, and for the printable canvas, it is the paid part.

See plans — from £19 a month

Your playbook

It lands in the earliest stage this tool suits. Move it on the Playbook page.

You’ll need

  • The decision or change being pursued
  • Honest knowledge of the informal power structure
  • A small, trusted group — this cannot be a workshop

You’ll end up with

  • Stakeholders plotted by influence and by position
  • What each actually wants, as opposed to says
  • A specific engagement approach per key person

Runs well with

AI risk classification and governanceAlliance and partnership designAssumption logBackcasting