WHAT DOES THIS GUIDE SOLVE?
Knowing which stakeholders to engage - and how - is one of the most strategic decisions in Public Affairs. But identifying the right people, assessing their influence and attitude, and keeping that picture current is a continuous effort that quickly becomes difficult to manage without a shared system. This guide shows you how to build and maintain a structured stakeholder map in Ulobby and how to act from there, so your efforts are always grounded in an up-to-date picture of the landscape.
WHICH FEATURES TO USE IN THE PLATFORM
Stakeholder overview - gives you access to the full stakeholder database so you can identify and curate the people and organisations relevant to your issues
Issues - lets you attach and map stakeholders directly to the specific agenda you are working on, so your map stays issue-specific
Stakeholder profiles - provides the background information you need to assess attitude and influence, including political activity and your previous interactions
Touchpoints - lets you log meetings and interactions, so your map reflects not just who the stakeholders are, but where your relationship with them stands
THE FLOW - STEP BY STEP
Phase 1: Identify your stakeholders
Start in the Stakeholder overview and search for the people and organisations relevant to your issue. Think beyond politicians - officials, industry experts, journalists and think tanks often belong on the map too. You can also use the stakeholder discovery features on the relevant issue.
The most common mistake here is to include too many people; aim for the 20-25 stakeholders who genuinely have influence or relevance on this specific issue. Add them to the stakeholder group for the relevant issue so they are collected in one place.
Phase 2: Assess influence and attitude
For each stakeholder, open their profile to review their political activity, public statements and any notes or touchpoints your team has logged. Use this to form a view on two things: how much influence do they have on this issue, and what is their attitude towards your position? This is the basis for placing them in the stakeholder map - the XY matrix in Ulobby plots influence on one axis and attitude on the other, giving you a visual overview of the landscape you are facing.
Phase 3: Define your approach per segment
Once your stakeholders are mapped, use the four quadrants to guide your strategy.
Stakeholders with high influence and a positive attitude are allies to maintain and support.
Those with high influence and a negative attitude may need targeted engagement to shift or at least contain.
Stakeholders with low influence and a positive attitude can often be helped to become more vocal.
Those with low influence and a negative attitude are best kept passive - rarely worth a significant investment of time.
Note that the most negative stakeholders are rarely worth much of your time. Focus instead on the slightly negative or neutral stakeholders, who can still be persuaded.
Phase 4: Keep the map current
A stakeholder map is only useful if it reflects reality. Set a regular interval for reviewing your maps - political positions shift, influence changes, and new stakeholders emerge. Update attitude and influence assessments in Ulobby as you gather new information through monitoring or direct engagement, and make sure touchpoints are logged so the full picture stays visible to your team.
GOOD TO KNOW
A stakeholder's position on one issue does not predict their position on another - always work with issue-specific maps rather than a single general map for all your work.
The map is most valuable as a shared resource. If only one person maintains it, the organisation loses visibility the moment that person is not available. Make sure the whole team logs touchpoints and updates notes consistently.