Mapping system actors: identifying roles and influences to orchestrate change
No organization is an island. The success of a project depends on the ability to recognize and relate to all the subjects inhabiting your ecosystem. The Stakeholder Map is the visual representation of all actors involved—internal and external—aimed at clarifying roles, relationships, and decision-making weights.
Using this tool allows you to identify non-obvious subjects who can influence your strategy or be conditioned by it. Mapping stakeholders based on their power and involvement is the fundamental prerequisite for aligning your team's knowledge—what is called "sensemaking"—and designing value propositions capable of generating value for the entire system.
Building a common and shared vision of the people we directly or indirectly involve in our project is the first step to identify the value exchanges in the ecosystem
How to use the Stakeholder Map canvas
Internal Dimension
Start by identifying the operational core from which project relationships branch out.
Step 1: Define the Core Team
Place the work team or business unit directly responsible for the project and involved in daily activities in the innermost circle.
Ecosystemic Dimension
Broaden your gaze outward to populate the map with all system actors.
Step 2: Identify Direct Stakeholders.
Identify the functions and people the team constantly interacts with to deliver value, such as partners, priority customers, or internal departments.
Step 3: Map Indirect Stakeholders
Recognize subjects who have an influence on the system despite not being operationally involved, including regulatory bodies, local communities, or competitors.
Strategic Assessment
Analyze the actors' positions to guide coordinated team action.
Step 4: Analyze Power and Interest.
Evaluate each actor by asking key questions: Who exercises power? Who has high interest but low impact? Who supports and who might hinder change?
Step 5: Final Considerations.
Use the map to define how to engage each stakeholder group in your trajectory toward the desirable future.
Frequently asked questions about the Stakeholder Map
What is a Stakeholder Map?
A Stakeholder Map is the visual representation of all the actors — internal and external — who influence a project or organization or are influenced by it: teams, partners, customers, regulators, communities. It clarifies roles, relationships, and decision-making weight within the ecosystem you operate in.
What is a Stakeholder Map used for?
It helps you spot even the non-obvious actors who can affect your strategy, align the team's knowledge (sensemaking), and decide how to engage each of them. It is the prerequisite for designing value for the whole system, not just the end customer.
How do you build a Stakeholder Map?
Start at the centre with the core team responsible for the project, then add direct stakeholders (those constantly interacting with the team) and indirect ones (those influencing the system without operational involvement). Finally, assess each actor by power and interest, asking who supports the change and who might resist it.
What is the difference between a Stakeholder Map and an Ecosystem Map?
A Stakeholder Map classifies actors relative to a project, typically by power and interest, telling you whom to engage and how. An Ecosystem Map takes the next step: it maps the relationships between actors and the value flows running through them. In sequence: first identify the actors, then read their exchanges.
Where can I download a free Stakeholder Map template?
You can download TIPIC's Stakeholder Map canvas for free from this page, in English and Italian, with guiding questions to inventory actors, assess their power and interest, and plan engagement.
Is this tool right for you?
Tell us about yourself and try it out!
Tell us about yourself and try it out!
