For years, I was convinced that a well-built stakeholder map was a sufficient foundation for any transformation. Most projects do settle for this approach and on the surface, it works. You identify the key players, plot them by power and interest, plan your communications. Done.
But after years working in change management, I’ve learned that this simply isn’t enough.
What a Stakeholder Map Does Well
Make no mistake – a stakeholder map is an indispensable tool. It shows you:
– Who holds the power to decide and steer direction.
– Who has influence across the organisation.
– Who has a stake in the outcome of the change.
– Who you need to manage, mobilise, or simply monitor.
This information is foundational. Without it, you’re navigating blind.
But it only gives you half the picture.
When Personas Entered the Picture
A few years ago, I started systematically bringing personas into my practice and it was an absolute game changer.
Suddenly we weren’t just looking at roles and organisational positions. We started seeing people.
– Their everyday experience.
– The motivations that drive them.
– The fears that hold them back.
– The reality they actually work in.
– And most importantly: what they need to feel, know, and be able to do in order to truly embrace the change.
Personas shifted the conversation from “who’s on the project plan” to “who are we actually building this for”.
The Critical Difference
If I had to capture it in a single sentence:
A stakeholder map shows you who you need to engage. Personas show you how the change will actually land for them.
And that distinction is where it gets decided whether you’re designing a change for a checkbox on a project plan, or for real human beings who have to live with it.
What Happens When Personas Are Missing
You can have all the right people in the room. You can have your sponsors, ambassadors, and resistors perfectly mapped. And it can still fall flat.
Because without personas, you’re often speaking to your stakeholders in completely the wrong language. The results are predictable:
– Communication that doesn’t land. You send messages that are technically correct but say nothing to the people receiving them.
– Training that never transfers into practice. People walk away with knowledge they can’t apply in their reality.
– Engagement activities that look great on paper but miss the people they’re meant for. The workshop runs, attendance is recorded and nothing actually changes.
The Power of Combining Both
What I know now is that the real strength lies in combining the two:
– Stakeholder maps reveal influence, power, and political dynamics.
– Personas reveal human experience, needs, and everyday reality.
Change needs both. Strategic navigation through the stakeholder map and empathy built on personas.
Lose the first and you lose direction. Lose the second and you lose the people.
Do you work with both of these concepts in your transformations? Or do you tend to lean on one more than the other?