Resource link
This tool, developed by USAID/Rwanda and shared as part of USAID's Collaboration, Learning and Adapting (CLA) Toolkit, is one way of graphically depicting relationships between key stakeholders.
The Collaboration Mapping template allows users to input data about who their key stakeholders are, what their levels of interaction and influence are, and highlight which stakeholders should be given strategic attention. Also included is a Collaboration Mapping Facilitation Guide, which contains information on how to create a collaboration map with either Excel or by hand.
This resource and the following information was contributed by Alice Macfarlan
Authors and their affiliation
LEARN, USAID/Rwanda.
This tool was originally developed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This 2015 version was produced for review by USAID. It was prepared by the LEARN mechanism out of the USAID Learning, Evaluation and Research (LER) Office in the Bureau of Policy, Planning and Learning (PPL). LEARN is managed by Dexis Consulting Group.
Key features
This resource contains a facilitation guide, an interactive Excel-based mapping tool, and a link to a webinar/presentation by Preston Sharp (USAID/Rwanda), who originally helped develop the collaboration mapping approach.
How have you used or intend on using this resource?
I'd be thinking about using this to gain a better shared understanding within our team of who our key partners and potential partners are. I think the real trick with this will be in taking the time to document each team member's knowledge and understanding of our stakeholders, and what I like about this map is that it can help create a nice tangible output of this work that may give our team a better sense of satisfaction than a spreadsheet would. I can also see this being a useful thing to update each year to monitor our stakeholder relationships and see how they change.
Why would you recommend it to other people?
I think the Excel template is well put together and easy to use, and I think he facilitation guide is particularly helpful as it walks users though the process of creating the map, including guiding questions and pointers. It also touches on how to create a hand drawn version, for when technology is not readily available.
I'd also recommend that user look at the wider USAID CLA Toolkit, which this tool is part of, as ths gives wider and more structured guidance for people wanting to improve their capacity in this area.
Sources
LEARN, USAID/Rwanda (2015). Collaboration Mapping. Retrieved from: https://usaidlearninglab.org/library/collaboration-mapping