Stakeholder Map

What it does

The Stakeholder Map helps you identify, categorize, and manage every person or group with an interest in your product or initiative. It uses a classic power/interest grid to help you decide how much time to invest in each stakeholder relationship and what kind of communication they need.

Beyond the grid, each stakeholder entry in Specky stores their concerns, preferred communication style, update cadence, and any linked signals or decisions that affect them. This makes it easy to prepare for stakeholder meetings and ensure no one is surprised by a product decision.

When to use it

At the start of a new initiative — identify who needs to be informed, consulted, or involved

Before quarterly planning — align expectations with key stakeholders before commitments are made

When planning communications — decide who gets what update and how often

During a contentious decision — understand whose buy-in you need and how to get it

For new PMs joining a team — quickly understand the political landscape

How to use it

Open Stakeholder Map from the sidebar

Click Add Stakeholder

Enter their name, role, and team

Set their Power level (High / Medium / Low) — their ability to influence the outcome

Set their Interest level (High / Medium / Low) — how much they care about this initiative

Add Concerns — what they're worried about or what they want from this initiative

Set Communication preference — email, Slack, weekly sync, etc.

Link any related signals or decisions that affect them

The grid view automatically places them in the correct quadrant

Quadrant guide:

High power, high interest → Manage closely; involve in decisions

High power, low interest → Keep satisfied; don't overwhelm with detail

Low power, high interest → Keep informed; they're your advocates

Low power, low interest → Monitor; minimal communication needed

Example

You're launching a new pricing tier. Your stakeholder map includes:

CEO (High power, High interest) — concerned about revenue impact; wants weekly updates

Head of Sales (High power, High interest) — concerned about sales motion changes; needs early access to pricing details

Engineering Lead (High power, Low interest) — needs to know timeline; monthly sync is enough

Customer Success (Low power, High interest) — will field customer questions; needs FAQ and talking points before launch

Legal (High power, Low interest) — needs to review pricing terms; one-time review required

This map tells you exactly who to loop in at each stage of the launch.