Free · draft template · interactive · about 10 minutes
Know who to ask, and when.
One page for a request that touches more than one person. List each person or role: what they decide, what they need to hear from you, what you need from them, how and when you will ask, and when you next speak. Then copy it, export it as a CSV file or print the pack version.
This is a draft template, and every example on this page is fictional. What you type stays on this page: nothing is saved, sent or stored, and there are no cookies. Export CSV makes a file in your browser. Closing the page clears the map, so copy or export first.
How to fill it in
- Write the decision or request in one line.
- Add one row for each person or role whose facts or approval you need. A tool or bot gets its own row.
- What they decide: what they said, or what a record shows. Nothing is a valid answer. So is Unknown: then put your question in the ask box.
- What they need to hear from me is the facts from your half they need first. What I need from them is the fact you are missing, or the decision.
- How and when I will ask: the channel, the time and the question in words. The two questions are this site’s general pair, the one in the question card deck, the e-book and the question bank (the printed template 2 in the pack words the two questions differently): What don't I know that someone here does? and Who decides this, and what do they need from me first?
- Next contact: a day and time (24-hour), or n/a.
How to read it
- Read the What they decide column first. One row should name who decides, or say Unknown.
- A row that says Unknown has a question in its ask box. That question is your first move.
- Compare Next contact across the rows to see who you reach first. Is the person who decides early enough?
- The warnings under the map are checks, not a score. They never stop you.
What it does not claim
- It does not know who decides where you work. A name is what you believe until the person confirms it.
- It does not predict what anyone will answer or how they will react.
- It is practice material, not advice about a real situation. It is a draft template, the example is fictional and Otto is a fictional AI.
Your map
It is built from the rows above and updates as you type. Blanks stay in [brackets]. Read it once and change anything before you use it.
Plain-text version
Take it with you
Printable. The stakeholder map is template 2 of the template pack draft (pages 6 to 8: instructions, a blank map and a filled example). It has its own column layout, and the printed pack words some items differently from the page above (the two questions, for one). It is a separate PDF.
Download the template pack with the stakeholder map (A4 PDF, 247 KB) draft, template 2 on pages 6 to 8 ↓ US Letter PDF, 247 KB of the template pack with the stakeholder map ↓
Spreadsheet or notes tool. Two plain CSV files with the same six columns as this page: a blank one, and the fictional one-page brief example. They are comma-separated text, UTF-8, with the column names in the first row and no formulas. A tool such as Google Sheets or Notion can import a CSV file with its own CSV import.
Download blank map (CSV, 1 KB) for the stakeholder map, draft template ↓ Download filled example (CSV, 2 KB) for the stakeholder map, fictional one-page brief case ↓
- Download the blank CSV, or the filled example to see how it looks.
- Open your spreadsheet or notes tool and use its own CSV import. Menu names differ by product and version, so this page does not list them: look for an import option that takes a CSV (comma-separated) file.
- Choose the file you downloaded. If the tool asks for a separator, choose comma. If it asks for the text encoding, choose UTF-8.
- Check that the first row became the six column names and that each column landed in its own column. Fix it in your tool if not.
- Add your rows there. The Export CSV button on this page gives you the same six columns back. The CSV holds the table only, not the decision line.
The CSV files are drafts and the example is fictional (the one-page brief case, with Otto as a fictional AI). If a cell starts with = + - or @, the export puts a single quote in front so a spreadsheet never runs it as a formula; after you import the file, that quote stays visible in the cell, and you can delete it by hand.
A map lists who to ask and when; it is not for winning an argument or for guessing why someone did something. Write the fact, not the reason. Not sure what is a fact? Practice it in three minutes. This page is practice material, not advice about a real situation. It is template 2 of the template pack.
Practice the two questions first.
Play a short fictional case, ask for the missing facts and see who decides.
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