When I face a complex project with many stakeholders, stakeholder mapping has been an indispensable practice over the years.

I typically map stakeholders in Miro. This example is an anonymized version from a project involving 20+ people across 3 companies.

When mapping, I try to capture the essentials: name, role, company, and any important context. I then cluster names by team and place high management at the top.

The mapping doesn't need to be complete, its purpose is to help me and the team to quickly navigate the stakeholder landscape.