Stakeholder Interview Template
A stakeholder interview template for the start of a project: goals, how the stakeholder defines success, pains, must-have vs nice-to-have requirements, constraints, concerns, key quotes and follow-ups. Download it free in Word or PDF, no sign-up, with an example below.
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A stakeholder interview records what one person inside the organisation needs from a project: their goals, how they will judge success, what limits the work and what worries them. The notes are only useful in that person’s own words — a requirement you paraphrased is already your interpretation — so key phrases go down exactly as said. Each interview also records how much say the stakeholder has, from deciding to simply being informed. The real value appears when you put several interviews side by side: requirements that conflict between stakeholders show where a decision is needed before work starts.
What’s in the template
The file follows one interview from who the stakeholder is to what happens next:
- Header — project, stakeholder (name, role, team), interviewer, date, and influence on the project: decides, approves, consulted or informed.
- Their goals — what they want the project to achieve, in their words.
- How they define success — metrics or outcomes they named.
- Current pain points — a list.
- Requirements and must-haves — a table: requirement, must or nice to have, and why.
- Constraints — budget, deadlines, systems, rules, people.
- Concerns and risks they see — a list.
- Key quotes — word for word.
- Follow-ups — a table: action, who and by when.
The template opens with one line on its purpose: notes from an interview with an internal stakeholder at the start of a project — what they need, how they define success, what worries them, and what constraints apply.
Stakeholder interview example
Example (fictional). Names and events are invented.
| Project | New internal expense reporting tool |
| Stakeholder | T. Vlasova, Head of Finance |
| Interviewer | Marina (product) |
| Date | |
| Influence | approves |
Their goals
- “Close the month in three days, not seven.”
- Fewer reports sent back for missing receipts.
How they define success
Month-end close in 3 working days; returned reports under 10%.
Current pain points
- Receipts arrive as photos in chat and get lost.
- Managers approve without checking categories.
Requirements
| Requirement | Priority | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Receipt attached to every expense line | Must | Required by auditors |
| Export to the accounting system | Must | Manual re-entry causes errors |
| Mobile app | Nice to have | Sales team travels |
Constraints
Must be live before the annual audit in .
Concerns
- Sales managers may resist an extra approval step.
Key quotes
- “If the receipt isn’t attached, the expense doesn’t exist for us.”
Follow-ups
| Action | Who | By when |
|---|---|---|
| Send the list of expense categories | T. Vlasova | not set |
| Interview the sales lead about approvals | Marina |
Two things here are worth copying. Every requirement carries the stakeholder’s reason, so the two musts can be defended later — one comes from the auditors, the other from errors in re-entry. And the concern about sales managers turns straight into a follow-up: the next interview is with the sales lead, which is how a single stakeholder’s worry becomes a comparison across interviews.
How to fill it in
A stakeholder interview is evidence for later decisions, so the notes have to survive being read by someone who was not there. The four rules in the template make sure they do: keep the stakeholder’s own words, test every requirement with one question, write down what they did not know instead of guessing, and read the interviews against each other once the round is done.
- Their words, not your interpretation. Quote key phrases exactly.
- Separate must-haves from wishes — ask “what happens if we don’t do this?”
- Record what they didn’t know as open questions, not as assumptions.
- Compare across interviews afterwards: conflicting requirements between stakeholders are a key finding.
Ten stakeholder interview questions
Each question below fills one section of the template, named in brackets.
- What should this project change for you and your team? (Their goals)
- Six months after launch, what would tell you it worked? (How they define success)
- What number or outcome would you report upwards? (How they define success)
- Walk me through the last time this went wrong. What happened? (Current pain points)
- What has to be true on day one for you to sign off? (Requirements and must-haves)
- What happens if we don’t do that? (Requirements and must-haves — must or nice to have)
- Which budget, dates, systems or rules can’t move? (Constraints)
- Who else has to agree, and who will push back? (Concerns and risks they see; influence)
- What worries you most about this project? (Concerns and risks they see)
- What should I send you, and who else should I talk to? (Follow-ups)
Stakeholder interview or project status
| You need | Use |
|---|---|
| What one stakeholder needs from a project before it starts | This stakeholder interview template |
| Evidence from people who use a product: behaviour, pains, exact quotes | User research interview notes template |
| A status record for one project once it is running: milestones, risks, dependencies | Project meeting summary template |
Every other template is on the templates page.
If you would rather not take notes at all
You can fill in this template by hand. If you would rather keep your eyes on the stakeholder, Dalm is a Mac app that records the meeting — a call, or a conversation in the room through the Mac’s microphone — and drafts notes from the transcript to start from. The draft is its own document rather than this template filled in: you correct it line by line and save it as PDF, Word (.docx) or Markdown.
Questions
- What questions should you ask in a stakeholder interview?
- Ask what they want the project to achieve, how they will know it worked, what hurts today, what the project must and must not do, what limits it — budget, dates, systems, rules, people — and what worries them. The ten questions on this page follow the sections of the template, so each answer has a place to go.
- How do you document stakeholder requirements?
- One row per requirement, in the stakeholder's words, with a priority — must or nice to have — and the reason they gave. The reason matters as much as the requirement: "required by auditors" and "the sales team travels" carry very different weight when two requirements compete for the same time.
- How do you separate must-haves from nice-to-haves?
- Ask "what happens if we don't do this?" If the answer is a broken rule, a failed audit or work that cannot be done, it is a must. If the answer is that something would be slower or less pleasant, it is a nice to have. Write the answer next to the requirement so others can check the call.
- What if stakeholders disagree?
- Write each view down as it was given and compare the interviews afterwards. Conflicting requirements between stakeholders are one of the most useful findings of the whole round: they show where a decision is needed before work starts, and who has to be in the room when it is made.
- Is the template free?
- Yes. The Word and PDF files download free, with no account and no e-mail address asked. The template is in English and carries no product name or branding, so you can keep one copy per stakeholder and add the questions specific to your project.