Introduction:

Stakeholder mapping is the process of mapping out all the key players in a project, product, or idea visually. The main advantage of a stakeholder map is to obtain a visual depiction of all the stakeholders in your project and their relationships.

Types of Stakeholder:

Internal Stakeholder: They participate in building the product or deliver it. They are generally part of the organization.

External Stakeholder: They are the ones who’ll be impacted by your project and product but don’t directly participate working on it.

What Each Quadrant Means

Monitor: Stakeholders with low influence & low interest. You can spend less time on them. For eg, people from other departments. Monitor them, provide basic information and keep them happy.

Keep Satisfied: They are high influence, low interest stakeholders. For example, board members.

Keep Informed: They are low influence but high interest. In many scenarios, they will be happy to help you achieve your goals.

Manage Closely: They are high influence & high interest. You must actively engage with them. Manage them closely to keep them well informed & satisfied.

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How to use Stakeholder Mapping in Product Management ?

Stakeholder mapping can be a valuable tool for product management as it helps product managers identify and prioritize the product management stakeholders who fall into the four quadrants – Monitor, Keep satisfied, Keep informed, and Manage closely. Here are some steps for using stakeholder mapping in product management:

1. Identify your key stakeholders: Start by identifying all the stakeholders who are involved in the product management process, such as customers, end-users, product development team members, executives, marketing team members, sales team members, and others.
2. Categorize your stakeholders: Next, categorize your stakeholders into the four quadrants based on their level of influence and interest in the product. For example, high influence and high interest stakeholders would fall into the “manage closely” quadrant, while high interest but low influence stakeholders would fall into the “keep informed” quadrant.
3. Analyze stakeholder needs and expectations: For each stakeholder group, analyze their needs and expectations regarding the product. This can include factors such as product features, pricing, usability, customer support, and more.
4. Prioritize stakeholders and develop a plan: Based on your analysis, prioritize your stakeholders and develop a plan for how you will address their needs and expectations. For example, stakeholders in the “keep satisfied” quadrant might require more attention and resources to ensure their satisfaction.
5. Monitor and adjust your stakeholder plan: Finally, monitor and adjust your stakeholder plan as needed based on changes in stakeholder needs and expectations or other external factors.

By using stakeholder mapping with the four quadrants in product management, product managers can better understand the needs and expectations of their stakeholders and develop more effective strategies for meeting those needs. This can help to increase customer satisfaction, drive product success, and build stronger relationships with key stakeholders.

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Author – Shakti Mishra