Stakeholder analysis
A stakeholder analysis template that maps each stakeholder's influence and interest, and pairs every quadrant with a matching engagement strategy.
About this template
Treating every stakeholder the same way wastes effort on the ones who don't need it and under-manages the ones who do. This template sorts stakeholders into four groups by influence and interest, so the engagement plan matches who's actually at risk of becoming a blocker.
Influence and interest aren't the whole picture, though. Two stakeholders can share the same score and still need opposite handling if one is actively supporting the project and the other is quietly resistant to it. Track each stakeholder's stance (leading, supporting, neutral, resistant, or unaware) and their actual concerns alongside influence and interest, so the engagement strategy responds to something specific instead of a generic quadrant label. Tag internal vs. external too — a resistant department head and a resistant vendor need very different engagement approaches even at an identical influence/interest score.
Fill in influence, interest, stance, and concerns, then define an engagement strategy and track the last time you actually talked to them. Revisit the map at major milestones — influence, interest, and stance can all shift as a project moves forward, especially on change-management or cross-functional work.
Feeds naturally into a communication plan once the engagement strategy is set — this template answers who, why, and how; the communication plan handles when and how often.
What’s inside
Columns included
Task types
Custom fields
Key features
- Influence × interest scoring for clear prioritization
- Four-quadrant grouping via task types
- Stance field (leading/supporting/neutral/resistant/unaware) to catch stakeholders who need opposite handling despite an identical score
- Internal/external tagging so client, vendor, and cross-department stakeholders don't get the same playbook
- Concerns field so the engagement strategy responds to something specific, not just a quadrant label
- Last contact tracking to catch neglected relationships
- Feeds directly into a communication plan once strategy is set
Who is this template for?
- Project managers kicking off a new initiative
- Change management teams planning a rollout
- Consultants mapping client-side stakeholders
- Product managers aligning cross-functional partners
- PMOs standardizing stakeholder reviews across projects
How to use this template
Use this board to sort stakeholders by influence and interest, capture their actual stance and concerns, then match each one to the right level of attention.
Step 1
List every stakeholder, tagged internal or external
Include anyone who can affect the project's success or is affected by its outcome — not just the people in the kickoff meeting. Tag each as internal or external, since that changes what engagement can realistically look like.
Step 2
Score influence and interest, then note their stance
Rate each stakeholder on both axes to sort them into manage closely, keep satisfied, keep informed, or monitor — then separately note whether they're leading, supporting, neutral, resistant, or unaware. Two stakeholders in the same quadrant can need opposite handling if their stance differs.
Step 3
Capture their actual concerns, not just a score
Write down what this stakeholder actually expects or worries about. An engagement strategy built on a number alone is generic; one built on a real concern is specific enough to act on.
Step 4
Set an engagement strategy and revisit it
Write a concrete engagement approach per stakeholder, and update the map at major milestones as influence, interest, and stance shift.
Frequently asked questions
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