What is the best way to use stakeholder mapping in process design?

I usually start with a general stakeholder mapping, not only including the primary stakeholders who are directly involved or can affect directly a project, so to have a general picture. Then once identified the primary stakeholder I want to map: How are they involved, do I need them to actively participate or do I need their input. What decision power do they have. What potential blockers, delayers and bottlenecks sit within this stakeholder. How are they impacted, and id negative impacted somehow, can the project/process continue anyway or it would be an immediate halt. Are the above blocks and bottleneck temporary or seasonal... The profiling can continue depending on the granularity level needed. Usually this gives me a good picture.

At this step I find direct observation and direct communication with the various stakeholders the best approach. You really need to know what's in it for them and how they can get negatively impacted. For example every time I had to onboard a new sales channel, Customer Service could have been impacted by the number of customer contacts a new channel may bring, so I needed to align on forecasted volume, capacity (languages, number of agents etc...). Logistic would have been impacted by the volume and requirements of shipping, e.g. lead time, expected delivery time... etc. For this direct alignment with stakeholder is needed as they are the ones who know their capabilities, bottlenecks, blockers etc...

Utilizing stakeholder mapping in process design has been pivotal in my projects. In one instance, we were redesigning a client's operational process. By creating a detailed stakeholder map, we identified key individuals across departments affected by the change. This map guided our communication strategy, ensuring each stakeholder's concerns were addressed, leading to a more inclusive and effective design. The process also revealed unforeseen influencers, whose input significantly enhanced the project's outcome. This experience reinforced my belief that thorough stakeholder mapping is not just about identifying who to engage with, but also understanding their concerns, and potential contributions to the success of a process design.

Once a mapping is completed, it can be used to assess not only which stakeholders are involved, but what capabilities and bottlenecks they bring with them. Like this you can assess if current capabilities are sufficient, if any specific requirement of a project can impact negatively a stakeholder and how to prevent/overcome the bottleneck, in some cases even reshaping the planning, e.g. onboarding a new channel I came to know logistic had a bottleneck when delivering bulky goods, so we made a change to the selected catalogue to initially onboard. Ideally a "know your stakeholders" approach would minimize the chance of hitting hard blockers and delayers.

One thing i'd like to add is to understand the stakeholders' emotions and attitude to the project. This could reveal potential pain points, ensure goals are properly aligned, optimize communication and even use the pain points for innovation.