Pole Mapping and Power Connection

o assist the campaign team:

• Consider all players of relevance to its campaign and identify key players to target during the campaign
• Provide an analysis and visual representation of where power relationships stand in relation to the issue and how the campaign team might intervene
• Identify relationships between key players and assess relevance to your strategy
• Identify further information (‘research questions’) needed to further develop the power map and inform you campaign strategy

When to do it

This process works best when the campaign has already:

• Established a clear goal: something concrete and specific (eg have your local Council adopt a smoke-free outdoor areas policy)
• Identified the people who can actually make your goal happen for you ie the decision-maker
• Looked at the broader social, political and economic environment that impacts the issue and goal (eg through a Force Field analysis)

Who to involve in the process

Everyone who is on the campaign team! This process is about democratizing knowledge and building a collective understanding of the power dynamics around the campaign – so the more people the better.

At a minimum, you need:

• Anyone involved in implementing campaign strategy – the campaign team, field volunteers and volunteer leaders
• People familiar with the issue of focus in the campaign
• People familiar with the local community or communities of interest to the issue of focus of the campaign

Equipment needed

• A large surface area for your map, visible to the entire group: either a large whiteboard, poster paper, a wall or even the floor – marked using the ‘powermap’ grid
• Marker pens – for whiteboard and poster paper
• Poster paper – one sheet labelled for each of the following:
  • decision-makers
  • organised stakeholders
  • influencers
  • core constituencies ie people directly affected by the issue who may not be part of an organised structure
  • Post-it notes in 4 different colours (one for each category above)
  • Additional poster paper labelled “ResearchQuestions”