For consultants getting to know the client's people
Stakeholder Analysis Template and Example
A stakeholder analysis sheet and guide for client projects: score each person's power and interest, record where they stand, and plan how to engage them.
Box by box
The power/interest grid: who sits where, and how to engage them
A stakeholder map plots each person by power, meaning what they can do to the project, and interest, meaning how much it affects or concerns them. Guidance from the UK Government Analysis Function names each box for the level of contact it calls for1. The second column quotes its description of each. In this template, a score of 4 or 5 out of 5 counts as high.
| Box | The guidance says they | On a client project | How often |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manage closely: high power, high interest | “should be engaged closely and actively influenced” | The sponsor and the client project lead. Meet one-to-one, plan together, and show them anything difficult early. | Weekly |
| Keep satisfied: high power, low interest | “should be kept updated but not pushed or overwhelmed” | Approvers such as compliance, IT or procurement. Send short written updates, and manage them closely in the weeks before their sign-off. | Every two weeks or monthly, and before their decisions |
| Consult with: low power, high interest | “should be adequately informed and listened to” | The teams whose work will change. Hold workshops and feedback sessions, since they often see problems first. | At each stage where their input changes the design |
| Keep informed: low power, low interest | “should be informed where appropriate or necessary” | Vendors and teams at the edge of the change. A short note or newsletter item is enough. | At milestones |
Box names and quotes are from the same guidance, checked October 29, 2026. It adds that other maps may label the boxes differently, though each position should mean the same level of contact. The client-project examples and rhythms are this template's defaults. On a close call, lean toward more contact: the guidance notes that “too much contact presents less of a risk than too little contact.”
How it works
What is a stakeholder analysis, and how do you map stakeholders?
A stakeholder analysis is a table of everyone who can affect your project or will feel its effects, with each person's power, interest, stance and engagement plan. Build it once the objectives are set, which is when the UK Government Analysis Function says stakeholder mapping for a project should always take place1. List the sponsor, every approver, whoever owns the data or systems you need, and the people whose work will change. Then add anyone who can slow things down without a formal role, such as a respected long-serving manager.
Score power and interest separately, from 1 to 5. Power is what someone can do to this project, such as stop it, approve part of it or delay it, whatever their title. Interest is how much the project affects them or how much they care, not how loudly they talk. One of the Analysis Function's two scoring methods has three people score each stakeholder1 and averages the results. Either way, the guidance asks for the reason behind each score, with who decided and when, so the map still makes sense if the team changes.
The grid shows power and interest, not support. The University of Kansas's Community Tool Box points out that any box can hold supporters and opponents alike2. So record where each person stands now, from unaware to leading, and where you need them. Close the biggest gaps among the most powerful people first. Ask each person what would make the project worth it to them, rather than guessing. Paste your notes, or an interview synthesis, into the box at the top, and River drafts a first pass with every guess marked.
How it works
From notes to stakeholder map
Download it or open it in River
Download both files free, or paste any org or interview notes at the top and click Edit with AI to open it in River.
River drafts your map
With notes, River swaps the worked example for one row per person, proposes scores and stances, and fills in the guide's grid.
Check every guess
Each row's Basis cell starts “Proposed:” and says which notes it came from. Answer the questions River lists under “To confirm” in the guide.
Engage and review
Ask River to plan the next two weeks or prepare you for a meeting, then re-score everyone after each milestone.
Keep satisfied · high power, low interest
- Dan Whitcombe, Compliance OfficerNeutral now. Signs off by 11 Dec, so managed closely until then.
- Lena Ortiz, IT DirectorResistant now. Said her team has no room before April.
Manage closely · high power, high interest
- Maria Okafor, COO and sponsorSupportive now, and needs to lead. Weekly one-to-one.
- Priya Shah, Head of Member ServicesSupportive. Asked twice about January workload.
Keep informed · low power, low interest
- Online banking vendorUnaware. Reached only through IT's change process.
Consult with · low power, high interest
- Branch managers at the two pilot branchesNeutral. “January is when half my team takes leave.”
- Member service reps, 18 peopleUnaware. Two asked if the project is about cutting staff.
What you'll get
Power, interest, stance and an engagement plan for every stakeholder
- A stakeholder sheet filled in with a worked client example
- Power and interest scales, and the grid explained in words
- Stance now and needed, an owner and how often to engage
Before and after
Your notes in. A stakeholder map out.
Interview notes, 4 and 5 Nov. Maria Okafor (COO) is the sponsor and keen; the board keeps asking about member growth. Priya Shah runs Member Services, her team is two people short, worried about January. Dan Whitcombe in compliance: "We are not going back to the examiners with gaps in our files." Hasn't seen our changes.
Maria Okafor (COO): power 5, interest 5. Manage closely. Stance now: Supportive. Concerns: the board keeps asking about member growth. Priya Shah (Member Services): power 4, interest 5. Manage closely. Concerns: her team is two people short, and she is worried about January. Owner: [owner]. Dan Whitcombe (Compliance): power 4, interest [to score]. Grid: [to place]. Stance now: [unknown]. Concerns: "We are not going back to the examiners with gaps in our files." To confirm: Who on our team owns each relationship? What does Dan need to see before he signs off?
Every score and stance is proposed from your notes, and anything they don't show stays in brackets.
What lands in your doc
What's inside the stakeholder analysis template
- Stakeholder Analysis sheet
Eight example rows for an invented credit union project, across 14 columns from power and interest to concerns and owners. - Stakeholder Analysis Guide
A Word guide: who to include, what goes in each column, when to review and six common mistakes. - Power and interest scales
What each score from 1 to 5 means, so everyone on your team scores a person the same way. - The grid for this project
A table placing each person in one of the four boxes, with what each box means in plain words. - Stance and engagement
Five stances from Unaware to Leading, and the usual approach and rhythm for each box. - Keep this map private
Why the map stays with your team, and how to write every cell as if the person might read it.
Questions consultants ask
Common questions
What is a stakeholder analysis?
A stakeholder analysis identifies the people who can make or break a project, and the people whose work it will change, then plans how to work with each one. It rates each person's power and interest, notes where they stand, and names who engages them and how often. On client work, it shows whose sign-off could stall you.
What's the difference between a stakeholder analysis and a stakeholder map?
The analysis is the table: one row per person, with scores, stance, needs, concerns, an owner and an engagement plan. The map is the picture: the same people in the four boxes of a power/interest grid. In this template, the sheet holds the analysis and the guide holds the map, so re-score someone in the sheet, then move them on the grid.
How do you do a stakeholder analysis?
List everyone who can affect the project or will be affected by it, and score each person's power and interest. Place them on the grid, record where they stand against where you need them, and give each relationship an owner and a rhythm. Then settle who does what in a RACI matrix and who hears what in a communication plan.
When should you do a stakeholder analysis?
At the start of the project, once the objectives are set. The UK Government Analysis Function's guidance puts stakeholder mapping there, before any engagement plan is written. On consulting work, that usually means the week of the kickoff meeting. Review it at each milestone, whenever someone joins, leaves or changes stance, and at least monthly, because power and interest can shift.
Should I share the stakeholder map with my client?
Share the engagement plan, but keep scores and stances within your team. Under UK data protection law, an opinion about a person can be their personal data3, accurate or not, and people can ask for a copy4; elsewhere, check local rules. Write every cell as if the person might read it: what they said or did, and when, never a verdict on their character.
Is this stakeholder analysis template free?
Yes. The Word guide and CSV sheet download free, with no account. The sheet opens in Excel or Google Sheets with eight example rows from an invented credit union project, so you can study a finished analysis first. Edit with AI opens the same template in a free River workspace. Paid plans add more AI use and access to the most advanced models.
What does Edit with AI do?
It opens the template in a free River workspace. Without notes, River changes nothing and offers to clear the example. With notes, it replaces the example with one row per person, proposes each score and stance from what the notes show, and quotes concerns in the person's words. Gaps stay in brackets, with a list of questions to confirm, and no name is invented.
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