/scribe

Stakeholder Map Reference

Purpose: Map stakeholders on a Power × Interest grid, assign an engagement mode per quadrant, and design communication cadence and information-flow patterns. Scribe uses this to anchor the L0 Vision audience and to drive communication plans for L1-L3 review cycles.

Scope Boundary

• scribe stakeholder: Power/Interest grid + engagement design (this document).
• scribe vision (elsewhere): L0 Vision Block — stakeholder map informs the audience section.
• scribe raci (elsewhere): Per-item responsibility assignment (different question).
• cast (elsewhere): User personas. Stakeholder ≠ user; an admin, a regulator, a vendor, a board member are stakeholders but not users.
• saga (elsewhere): Narrative for external audiences.
• Magi (elsewhere): Multi-perspective arbitration.

Mendelow Power × Interest Grid

          HIGH INTEREST
               │
    Keep       │    Manage
    Informed   │    Closely
               │   (Key players)
               │
───────────────┼───────────────── HIGH POWER
               │
    Monitor    │    Keep
    (min effort)│    Satisfied
               │
          LOW INTEREST

Four quadrants

Identification Workflow

LIST         →  enumerate every party that influences or is influenced
             →  internal: teams, functions, execs, board
             →  external: customers, vendors, regulators, partners
             →  silent: future users, legal/ethics, underrepresented

SCORE        →  power: can they block / accelerate / shape outcome? (1-5)
             →  interest: how directly does it affect their work? (1-5)

POSITION     →  place on 2x2 grid by median score cutoff
             →  watch for quadrant ties → tiebreak by recent activity

ENGAGE       →  assign engagement mode per stakeholder
             →  define information artifact (memo, demo, dashboard)
             →  define cadence (weekly / biweekly / monthly / at-milestone)

LOOP         →  reassess each quarter (positions change)
             →  new stakeholders enter; power shifts

Engagement Mode Matrix

Influence Dynamics

Not every stakeholder on the grid operates independently. Model:

• Coalitions: groups that move together (e.g., customer advisory board).
• Blockers: single stakeholders with veto (legal, security review).
• Champions: stakeholders who advocate internally on your behalf.
• Silent stakeholders: absent from the room but affected (end users, future hires, regulators).
• Proxy stakeholders: represent others (customer success rep represents users).

RACI-adjacent roles (optional dimension)

For decision-heavy contexts, annotate per stakeholder:

This dovetails with scribe raci.

Information Flow Patterns

Different stakeholders need different views of the same reality.

For each high-power stakeholder, choose one dominant pattern. Mixing causes noise.

Output Template

## Stakeholder Map: [Project / Feature]

### Stakeholder Inventory
| Stakeholder | Power (1-5) | Interest (1-5) | Quadrant | Role (D/A/C/I) |
|-------------|-------------|----------------|----------|----------------|
| [name/role] | [n] | [n] | [quadrant] | [role] |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

### Grid Visualization
[ASCII or Canvas handoff]

### Engagement Plan
| Quadrant | Stakeholders | Artifact | Cadence | Owner |
|----------|-------------|----------|---------|-------|
| Manage Closely | [list] | [doc type] | [freq] | [person] |
| Keep Satisfied | [list] | [doc type] | [freq] | [person] |
| Keep Informed | [list] | [doc type] | [freq] | [person] |
| Monitor | [list] | [doc type] | [freq] | [person] |

### Dynamics
- **Coalitions**: [...]
- **Blockers**: [...]
- **Champions**: [...]
- **Silent**: [...] — how surfaced in decisions

### Information Flow
| Stakeholder | Dominant pattern | Why |
|-------------|------------------|-----|
| [name] | [pattern] | [reason] |

### Risks
- [ ] Blocker identified with mitigation plan
- [ ] Silent stakeholders have a surrogate or representative
- [ ] Executive Keep-Satisfied group has pre-agreed surprise policy
- [ ] Cadence feasible with team bandwidth

### Review
- **Next reassessment**: [quarter / trigger event]

### Handoffs
- Scribe L0 Vision: audience section references this map
- Scribe `raci`: per-item responsibility assignment
- Prose: communication templates per artifact
- Canvas: visual rendering of the grid
- Scribe: formal stakeholder register document

Anti-Patterns

Deliverable Contract

When stakeholder completes, emit:

• Stakeholder inventory with power × interest scores.
• Grid visualization (ASCII or Canvas handoff).
• Engagement plan per quadrant (artifact, cadence, owner).
• Dynamics (coalitions, blockers, champions, silent).
• Information flow pattern per high-power stakeholder.
• Risk check and review cadence.
• Handoffs: Scribe L0, Scribe raci, Prose, Canvas, Scribe.

References

• Aubrey Mendelow — original Power/Interest matrix (1991)
• Johnson, Scholes, Whittington — Exploring Corporate Strategy (applied matrix)
• PMI PMBOK — stakeholder engagement processes
• Gardner — "Effectively Managing Upwards" (Keep Satisfied dynamics)
• Marty Cagan — Inspired (product stakeholder patterns)
• Teresa Torres — Continuous Discovery Habits (customer as stakeholder vs user)
• Cynefin / Stakeholder Salience Model (Mitchell, Agle, Wood 1997) — power/legitimacy/urgency extension
• Atlassian / Miro templates for stakeholder mapping workshops