Capability template for project and delivery
Stakeholder and decision rights map
Before kickoff, the project manager holds one map of everyone the project touches: each group placed by influence and interest, every key decision with exactly one accountable owner, the decision makers still missing, and who hears what, when and from whom. The sponsor confirms every decision right.
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The outcome
A project that crosses teams starts with its people and its decisions on one page instead of in someone's head. Every group whose work, results or systems the project touches is listed, with what changes for them and what they control. Each is placed by influence and interest, using rules tied to those facts, so the people who can stop the project and the people whose day changes most are both easy to see.
Every key decision gets one accountable owner, never two and never a blank. Where the list falls short, the map says so plainly: a decision nobody owns, a decision two managers both think is theirs, an owner who leaves before the date, a standard decision such as spending beyond the budget that nobody has claimed. Each gap arrives as a question for the sponsor, with the facts beside it, weeks before it could stall the work.
Then the communication plan: who is told what, by whom, on which date, and who is asked for their view in time for it to count. The map speaks about roles and what people have actually said, never about anyone's character. The project manager confirms the decision rights with the sponsor and each owner; the AI assistant names no owner and sends nothing.
Who starts the work, and when
The project manager runs it in the weeks before kickoff, once the sponsor has agreed the project and there is a first list of who is affected and which decisions lie ahead. It suits any project that crosses teams or changes someone's daily work: a new system, a new site, a new way of handling orders, two teams becoming one. It runs again when a phase ends, when a role on the map changes hands, or when the teams are reorganised.
What they supply
- The project brief: what changes and for whom, the sponsor, the phases and their end dates, the test window and the go-live date.
- The stakeholder list, as a spreadsheet: each role or group, how many people, how much changes for them, what they control, and who passes news to them. The project manager may add their own placement where they know something the facts do not show.
- The decision list: each key decision with the date it is needed and who is proposed as accountable, responsible, consulted and informed.
- The project manager's notes: concerns a group has raised, roles that are leaving or away, anything else known.
- The settings: working days, closed days, the weekly meeting day and the channel for each kind of group.
What comes out
One draft map in six parts: everyone affected, with a check of eight kinds of stakeholder a project easily forgets; the placement by influence and interest, with any difference from the project manager's own view shown for confirmation; the decision chart, each problem flagged where it stands; the missing decision makers, as questions for the sponsor; a dated communication plan, one line for each group; and the open questions for the project manager. It ends with the date of the next review and a line for the sponsor's confirmation.
An invented example
Illustrative example with invented data. The company, its people, its supplier, its customers, the project and every date and figure below are invented. The company is an invented 140-person wholesale distributor moving its warehouse from paper pick lists to handheld scanners, which may also bring the cut-off for same-day dispatch of trade orders forward. Everyone is named by role, the supplier by letter. First come the five inputs the project manager supplied, in full, then the draft the capability returned.
The inputs
1. The project brief
Project: Handheld scanners in the warehouse
What changes: the warehouse moves from paper pick lists to handheld
scanners linked to the warehouse system. The cut-off for same-day
dispatch of trade orders is likely to move earlier; 2 pm is proposed
instead of 3 pm.
Sponsor: Operations director
Project manager: Project manager
Phases: Plan ends Friday 11 December 2026. Build and test ends Friday
29 January 2027.
Test window: Monday 18 to Friday 22 January 2027
Go-live: Monday 8 February 2027
2. The stakeholder list (exported from the project manager's spreadsheet)
Stakeholder,Inside or outside,People,Change for them,What changes,Controls,Told by,Influence,Interest,Notes
Operations director,inside,1,results,Answers for the project's results and budget,The project budget; the go-live date,,,,
Warehouse manager,inside,1,daily work,Runs the warehouse on scanners instead of paper pick lists,Warehouse procedures; shift rotas,,,,
Warehouse shift leads,inside,4,daily work,Hand out work and check picks on the scanners,,Warehouse manager,High,High,In practice they decide whether a new routine sticks on the floor
Warehouse pickers and packers,inside,38,daily work,Pick and pack from a handheld scanner instead of a paper list,,Warehouse shift leads,,,
Customer service lead,inside,1,results,Answers for order handling under an earlier cut-off,Customer service procedures; staff rota,,,,
Customer service team,inside,9,daily work,"Take trade orders under an earlier cut-off, 2 pm proposed instead of 3 pm",,Customer service lead,,,
IT manager,inside,1,occasional,Sets up the scanners on the warehouse system,The warehouse system; network and devices,,,,Leaves 31 December 2026; post vacant from 4 January 2027; no cover named
Finance controller,inside,1,occasional,Approves the scanner purchase,"Purchases above $10,000",,,,
Supplier A,outside,,occasional,Supplies and sets up the handheld scanners,Scanner delivery dates and repairs,Project manager,,,
Trade customers,outside,,occasional,About 420 trade accounts: orders placed after the new cut-off ship a day later,,,,,
3. The decision list
ID,Decision,Needed by,Accountable,Responsible,Consulted,Informed
D1,Approve the project scope and budget,2026-11-27,Operations director,Project manager,Finance controller; Warehouse manager; Customer service lead,IT manager
D2,Choose the scanner model and order quantity,2026-12-04,IT manager; Warehouse manager,Project manager,Supplier A; Warehouse shift leads,Finance controller
D3,Set the new order cut-off time for trade customers,2026-12-11,,Customer service lead,Warehouse manager; Operations director; Transport planner,Customer service team; Trade customers
D4,Approve the new pick-and-pack procedure,2027-01-15,Warehouse manager,Warehouse shift leads,Warehouse pickers and packers,Customer service lead
D5,Accept the scanners and warehouse system set-up as finished,2027-01-22,IT manager,Supplier A,Warehouse manager,Project manager
D6,Go live or postpone,2027-02-01,Operations director,Project manager,Warehouse manager; Customer service lead; IT manager,Warehouse pickers and packers; Customer service team; Trade customers; Finance controller
4. The project manager's notes
- The customer service team said at their team meeting on Tuesday
3 November that a 2 pm cut-off will bring complaints from trade
customers who order late in the day.
- The IT manager leaves on 31 December. Nobody has been asked to cover
the post yet.
- Between us, the finance controller is hard work and will sit on the
purchase order.
5. The settings
Today: Tuesday 10 November 2026
Kickoff: Monday 23 November 2026
Working days: Monday to Friday
Closed: Thursday 24 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027
Weekly project meeting: Tuesdays
Channels: Partner, the Tuesday project meeting; Brief, an email note;
Involve, a team huddle and the noticeboard; Notify, email
Consult lead time: default
Tell-after time: default
The output
STAKEHOLDER AND DECISION RIGHTS MAP: Handheld scanners in the warehouse, prepared 10 November 2026
DRAFT for the Project manager. Every decision right is a proposal until the Operations director and each accountable owner confirm it.
For: Project manager, with Operations director. Kickoff Monday 23 November 2026. Go-live Monday 8 February 2027. Phases: Plan ends Friday 11 December 2026; Build and test ends Friday 29 January 2027. Test window Monday 18 to Friday 22 January 2027.
Prepared from: stakeholder list (10 rows); decision list (6 decisions); project brief; the project manager's notes; settings as set.
Stakeholders: 10. Decisions: 6. Decisions with exactly one accountable owner, on the list and in post: 3 of 6. Questions for the sponsor: 5. Questions for the project manager: 4.
1. EVERYONE AFFECTED
Operations director (inside, 1 person). What changes: answers for the project's results and budget. Controls: the project budget; the go-live date. Told by: blank.
Warehouse manager (inside, 1 person). What changes: runs the warehouse on scanners instead of paper pick lists. Controls: warehouse procedures; shift rotas. Told by: blank.
Warehouse shift leads (inside, 4 people). What changes: hand out work and check picks on the scanners. Controls: nothing listed. Told by: Warehouse manager. Notes: in practice they decide whether a new routine sticks on the floor.
Warehouse pickers and packers (inside, 38 people). What changes: pick and pack from a handheld scanner instead of a paper list. Controls: nothing listed. Told by: Warehouse shift leads.
Customer service lead (inside, 1 person). What changes: answers for order handling under an earlier cut-off. Controls: customer service procedures; staff rota. Told by: blank.
Customer service team (inside, 9 people). What changes: take trade orders under an earlier cut-off, 2 pm proposed instead of 3 pm. Controls: nothing listed. Told by: Customer service lead.
IT manager (inside, 1 person). What changes: sets up the scanners on the warehouse system. Controls: the warehouse system; network and devices. Told by: blank. Notes: leaves 31 December 2026; post vacant from 4 January 2027; no cover named.
Finance controller (inside, 1 person). What changes: approves the scanner purchase. Controls: purchases above $10,000. Told by: blank.
Supplier A (outside). What changes: supplies and sets up the handheld scanners. Controls: scanner delivery dates and repairs. Told by: Project manager.
Trade customers (outside). What changes: about 420 trade accounts; orders placed after the new cut-off ship a day later. Controls: nothing listed. Told by: blank.
Coverage check:
1. Sponsor and money: Operations director.
2. Daily work changes or uses the result: Warehouse manager; Warehouse shift leads; Warehouse pickers and packers; Customer service team.
3. Owns a system, procedure or record: Warehouse manager (warehouse procedures); Customer service lead (customer service procedures); IT manager (the warehouse system).
4. Approves the spending: Operations director (the project budget); Finance controller (purchases above $10,000).
5. Signs off safety and security: IT manager (network and devices); not covered: safety (question 1 for the project manager).
6. Supports it after go-live: IT manager (the warehouse system), post vacant from 4 January 2027 (question 3 for the project manager); Supplier A (scanner repairs).
7. Outside the company: Supplier A; Trade customers.
8. People's time borrowed: Warehouse manager (shift rotas); Customer service lead (staff rota).
2. INFLUENCE AND INTEREST
Placed by the rules unless marked "as listed".
Partner (high influence, high interest): Operations director; Warehouse manager; Warehouse shift leads (as listed); Customer service lead; IT manager
Brief (high influence, low interest): Finance controller; Supplier A
Involve (low influence, high interest): Warehouse pickers and packers; Customer service team
Notify (low influence, low interest): Trade customers
Placements to confirm: Warehouse shift leads: listed as high influence, high interest (Partner); the row gives Involve because nothing is listed under Controls and they are accountable for no decision. Reason given: in practice they decide whether a new routine sticks on the floor. Confirm or change.
3. DECISION RIGHTS
D1 Approve the project scope and budget. Needed by Friday 27 November 2026. A: Operations director. R: Project manager. C: Finance controller; Warehouse manager; Customer service lead. I: IT manager.
D2 Choose the scanner model and order quantity. Needed by Friday 4 December 2026. A: IT manager; Warehouse manager. R: Project manager. C: Supplier A; Warehouse shift leads. I: Finance controller. FLAG, more than one accountable: two roles are listed. See section 4, question 1.
D3 Set the new order cut-off time for trade customers. Needed by Friday 11 December 2026. A: NONE. R: Customer service lead. C: Warehouse manager; Operations director; Transport planner. I: Customer service team; Trade customers. FLAG, no accountable owner, not on the stakeholder list: the Accountable cell is blank, and the Transport planner has no row. See section 4, question 2, and section 6, question 2.
D4 Approve the new pick-and-pack procedure. Needed by Friday 15 January 2027. A: Warehouse manager. R: Warehouse shift leads. C: Warehouse pickers and packers. I: Customer service lead.
D5 Accept the scanners and warehouse system set-up as finished. Needed by Friday 22 January 2027. A: IT manager. R: Supplier A. C: Warehouse manager. I: Project manager. FLAG, accountable vacant: the IT manager post is vacant from 4 January 2027. See section 4, question 3.
D6 Go live or postpone. Needed by Monday 1 February 2027. A: Operations director. R: Project manager. C: Warehouse manager; Customer service lead; IT manager. I: Warehouse pickers and packers; Customer service team; Trade customers; Finance controller. FLAG, consulted role vacant: the IT manager is consulted by Monday 25 January 2027, and the post is vacant from 4 January 2027. See section 6, question 3.
Letters tidied: none.
4. MISSING DECISION MAKERS: QUESTIONS FOR THE OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
1. D2 Choose the scanner model and order quantity, more than one accountable. The IT manager and the Warehouse manager are both listed; needed by Friday 4 December 2026. Which one of them has the final word, and what is the other's part?
2. D3 Set the new order cut-off time for trade customers, no accountable owner. The Customer service lead prepares it; the Warehouse manager, the Operations director and the Transport planner are consulted; needed by Friday 11 December 2026. Who has the final word on the cut-off?
3. D5 Accept the scanners and warehouse system set-up as finished, accountable vacant. The IT manager is listed; needed by Friday 22 January 2027; the post is vacant from 4 January 2027 and no cover is named. Who is accountable on that date?
Standard decisions: scope and budget D1; spending beyond the budget not on the list; scope change after approval not on the list; go-live date D6; accepting the finished work D5 (scanners and system set-up only).
4. Not on the list: approve spending beyond the approved budget. Who decides it?
5. Not on the list: change the scope after it is approved. Who decides it?
5. COMMUNICATION PLAN
Operations director (Partner). Told by: project manager. Concerns raised: none recorded. Touchpoints: Tuesday project meeting, weekly, Tuesday 24 November 2026 to Tuesday 2 February 2027, none on Tuesday 29 December 2026 (closed). Decisions: accountable for D1 and D6; consulted on D3 by Friday 4 December 2026.
Warehouse manager (Partner). Told by: project manager. Concerns raised: none recorded. Touchpoints: Tuesday project meeting, weekly, Tuesday 24 November 2026 to Tuesday 2 February 2027, none on Tuesday 29 December 2026 (closed). Decisions: accountable for D2 (with the IT manager; section 4, question 1) and D4; consulted on D1 by Friday 20 November 2026, D3 by Friday 4 December 2026, D5 by Friday 15 January 2027 and D6 by Monday 25 January 2027.
Warehouse shift leads (Partner, as listed). Told by: Warehouse manager. Concerns raised: none recorded. Touchpoints: Tuesday project meeting, weekly, Tuesday 24 November 2026 to Tuesday 2 February 2027, none on Tuesday 29 December 2026 (closed). Decisions: responsible for D4; consulted on D2 by Friday 27 November 2026.
Customer service lead (Partner). Told by: project manager. Concerns raised: none recorded. Touchpoints: Tuesday project meeting, weekly, Tuesday 24 November 2026 to Tuesday 2 February 2027, none on Tuesday 29 December 2026 (closed). Decisions: responsible for D3; consulted on D1 by Friday 20 November 2026 and D6 by Monday 25 January 2027; told of D4 by Tuesday 19 January 2027.
IT manager (Partner). Told by: project manager. Concerns raised: none recorded. Touchpoints: Tuesday project meeting, weekly, Tuesday 24 November to Tuesday 22 December 2026; vacant from 4 January 2027, no touchpoints after. Decisions: accountable for D2 (with the Warehouse manager; section 4, question 1) and D5 (vacant on its date; section 4, question 3); consulted on D6 by Monday 25 January 2027 (vacant on that date; section 6, question 3); told of D1 by Tuesday 1 December 2026.
Finance controller (Brief). Told by: project manager. Concerns raised: none recorded. Touchpoints: written note, email, Friday 11 December 2026 and Friday 29 January 2027. Decisions: consulted on D1 by Friday 20 November 2026; told of D2 by Tuesday 8 December 2026 and D6 by Wednesday 3 February 2027.
Supplier A (Brief; outside). Told by: Project manager. Concerns raised: none recorded. Touchpoints: written note, email, Friday 11 December 2026 and Friday 29 January 2027. Decisions: responsible for D5; consulted on D2 by Friday 27 November 2026.
Warehouse pickers and packers (Involve). Told by: Warehouse shift leads. Concerns raised: none recorded. Touchpoints: question-and-answer session, team huddle, by Friday 27 November 2026; hands-on session, team huddle, Monday 18 to Friday 22 January 2027; written update, noticeboard, Friday 11 December 2026 and Friday 29 January 2027; go-live notice, noticeboard, Wednesday 3 February 2027. Decisions: consulted on D4 by Friday 8 January 2027; told of D6 by Wednesday 3 February 2027.
Customer service team (Involve). Told by: Customer service lead. Concerns raised: at their team meeting on Tuesday 3 November 2026, that a 2 pm cut-off will bring complaints from trade customers who order late in the day. Touchpoints: question-and-answer session, team huddle, by Friday 27 November 2026; hands-on session, team huddle, Monday 18 to Friday 22 January 2027; written update, noticeboard, Friday 11 December 2026 and Friday 29 January 2027; go-live notice, noticeboard, Wednesday 3 February 2027. Decisions: told of D3 by Tuesday 15 December 2026 and D6 by Wednesday 3 February 2027.
Trade customers (Notify; outside). Told by: messenger not named (section 6, question 4). Concerns raised: none recorded. Touchpoints: go-live notice, email, Wednesday 3 February 2027. Decisions: told of D3 by Tuesday 15 December 2026 and D6 by Wednesday 3 February 2027.
6. QUESTIONS FOR THE PROJECT MANAGER
1. Nobody on the list signs off safety for the scanners or the new way of picking. Who does, if anyone, and should they have a row?
2. The Transport planner is consulted on D3 but has no row. What changes for them, what do they control, and who tells them?
3. The IT manager post is vacant from 4 January 2027 with no cover named. From that date the role is consulted on D6 (by Monday 25 January 2027), is placed Partner with no meetings after Tuesday 22 December 2026, and supports the warehouse system after go-live. Who takes the role's place from 4 January 2027?
4. Nobody is named to tell the trade customers. They are told of D3 by Tuesday 15 December 2026, of D6 by Wednesday 3 February 2027, and receive the go-live notice on Wednesday 3 February 2027. Who tells them?
Left out: 1 remark about an individual, not repeated.
Next review of this map: Friday 11 December 2026, when Plan ends.
Decision rights confirmed with the Operations director: [ ] Date: [ ]
Draft for the Project manager. Nothing has been sent, booked, assigned or changed in any record.
Where it fits
- Project and delivery, which runs the project and answers for who decides what.
- Operations and process improvement, which often leads the change in how work is done.
- Professional services, where internal projects compete with client work for the same people.
- Manufacturing, where a change on the floor touches shifts, suppliers and customers at once.
- Logistics and trade, where a new system in the warehouse moves cut-offs, routes and customer promises.
- Construction, for the office-side projects that cross estimating, site and finance.
- Established businesses, where decision rights grew up by habit and nobody wrote them down.
- Growth & scaling, when projects start to cross teams that used to work alone.
- Acquisitions & integration, when two companies' managers each believe a decision is theirs.
What has to change for your company
Use your own column names, mapped once to the defaults. Decide the channel for each kind of group, how many working days ahead people are asked for their view, and how soon they hear an outcome. Add to the five standard decisions any your company always needs, such as approving a new supplier. Add a coverage question for anyone who must sign off a change in your business, such as a safety officer or a works council. Agree who confirms the map and where the confirmed copy lives. It runs in ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini from files and notes you supply; it needs no connection to your project or messaging tools.
What has been checked
Fully Powered AI wrote this capability template, drawing on a published open-source method credited in its sources. It was editorially reviewed on 10 November 2026. It was tried once on its invented example on 10 November 2026, and the record of that run is published with it. Small edits made after that run, following an independent review, were not run again; the record is of the earlier wording. It has not yet been tested in a client environment. It has not yet been tested as a packaged version in ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini.
Testing in your environment means running it on a past project your project manager remembers well, with hard cases written in advance: a decision with two accountable owners, an owner who leaves before the decision is due, a group nobody has been named to tell, a note that passes judgment on a colleague. The project manager checks every flag and date before the map goes to the sponsor. Pilot acceptance-test preparation sets up those cases, Decision log keeps the decisions once they are made, and Internal change announcement writes the messages the plan calls for.
The full capability template
Everything above is the outline. The complete capability template is the working version: the roles, the inputs, the procedure, the exceptions and stop conditions, the output format, the reviewer checklist, the acceptance tests, the instructions for an AI assistant and what to customize for your company. It comes with a download and the link to its folder in Fully Powered’s public repository.
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