Power and interest are different questions
Power is the ability to affect decisions or delivery; interest is the level of concern or involvement. The UK Government guidance uses both to shape contact levels.
UK Government mapping guidanceMarket research
Stakeholder Mapping Software
Make a power-interest grid for one project. Add roles or groups, score each axis, note why, and export a first draft your team can challenge.
Workspace
Map power and interest, then plan the next conversation
Define the project or decision first. Add roles or affected groups, then score power and interest separately; use initials instead of names for sensitive work.
Build a power-interest grid for one project
Score each role yourself, record why, then decide who needs a conversation. This manual first draft does not discover contacts or sync to a CRM.
Stakeholder register
Add a role or group. The 1–10 scores are your team's judgment.
No stakeholders yet. Start with the project sponsor, an affected group, or the team that delivers the change. These are prompts, not prefilled assessments.
Live power-interest grid
Interest runs left to right; power runs bottom to top. Scores 6–10 count as high. Points at the same scores may overlap; use the register for the complete list.
The labels are planning prompts, not a judgment of anyone's value. Discuss disputed scores and revisit them as the project changes.
Optional AI starting draft
Enter 2–10 roles or groups. AI organizes them into a power-interest grid. Suggestions and scores are unverified hypotheses. The manual editor on this page is free.
Role or group labels and notes are sent to the configured AI provider. Do not enter confidential information or personal names.
Method
From research to a decision
- 1
Identify the people or groups that can affect the decision or feel its consequences.
- 2
Score each role from 1 to 10 for power and interest, and record why and when you made that assessment.
- 3
Use the quadrant as a discussion prompt, choose a next engagement action, and revisit scores as the project changes.
Example to adapt
For a city-service redesign, score the sponsor, delivery team and affected residents separately, then check which judgment needs a conversation rather than assuming the grid is final.
Make the first draft useful
Keep the reason with the score
Record why a role received a score and when it was checked. That makes a later review more useful than an unexplained dot on a chart.
UK Government scoring guidanceMap ties separately when needed
A relationship map answers who is connected to whom. It is useful alongside, not identical to, a power-interest assessment.
UNICEF stakeholder mapping methodCommon question
How is this grid different from a relationship map?
A power-interest grid classifies each actor on two dimensions. A relationship map shows connections between actors. Use the relationship mapping tool when you need to trace who influences whom.
Open the relationship mapping toolKeep exploring
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