Frequently asked questions
Is the stakeholder mapping template free?
Yes. The template comes as part of the free Stakeholder Mapping Guide, in exchange for a work email. There’s no licence and no trial period, and you’re welcome to adapt it to your own project.
What format is the template in?
The guide includes a downloadable stakeholder mapping chart and engagement matrix you can open and edit in common spreadsheet and document tools, with a step-by-step process for scoring influence and interest.
What should a stakeholder mapping template include?
A useful template captures more than names. Ours includes stakeholder and organisation, so people stay linked to the bodies they represent; category, for example resident, community group, elected member, statutory consultee or regulator; influence and interest scores, the two axes of the power/interest grid; current sentiment, tracked so you can see positions shift; and an engagement action with an owner and a date, so the map leads to activity rather than sitting as a static picture.
Can I use the template for a statutory consultation?
Yes. Mapping is a sensible first step for consultations measured against the Gunning Principles or run under the Planning Act 2008. For larger statutory programmes, most teams eventually move the record into a platform so it stays auditable at scale.
What’s the difference between the guide and stakeholder mapping software?
The guide and its template give you a static snapshot you maintain by hand. Software keeps the map live: it updates as engagement happens, links each stakeholder to their history across projects and produces reports at the click of a button.
When do you need stakeholder mapping software instead of a template?
A spreadsheet template works well for a single project with a manageable list. It starts to strain when the numbers climb, the team grows or the same stakeholder appears on several projects at once. A University of Hawaii study found 94% of spreadsheets contain errors, roughly one in every 20 cells, and a spreadsheet can be edited without trace, so a version that looked complete in spring may not be defensible by autumn. At that point, teams move the map into stakeholder mapping software, where influence, interest and sentiment update as engagement happens and every stakeholder keeps a full history across projects.
How many stakeholders can a template handle?
There’s no hard limit, but usefulness drops as the list grows. Most teams find a spreadsheet manageable up to a few hundred stakeholders on one project. Beyond that, or across multiple projects, manual upkeep and version control become the risk.
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