Systems mapping

Why systems mapping matters

Public Service issues are rarely contained within a single team or agency.  They often span communities, policy domains and delivery systems.  Traditional approaches can miss interdependencies and blind spots.  Systems mapping can help you see complexity clearly – making visible the relationships, feedback loops and decision points that help shape outcomes. 

Benefits include:

• See the whole picture rather than just parts.
• Understand relationships.
• Identify where to focus effort for the greatest impact.
• Bring stakeholders onto the same page with a shared visual.

Principles of systems mapping

Systems mapping is less about producing a perfect diagram and more about creating a shared understanding of how things work and where influence lies.  It is iterative and collaborate, requiring openness to different perspectives. 

Keeping the following guiding principles in mind will help you get the most value when creating your systems map.

• Start broad, refine later – capture everything first, focus on what matters
• Include diverse perspectives – stakeholders will see the system differently
• Focus on connections – relationships drive outcomes
• Make it iterative – maps evolve as your understanding deepens
• Don’t aim for perfection – the goal is insight, not a polished diagram

Step by step guide to map your system

The process of creating a systems map can feel messy at first, but that’s part of the value, it surfaces hidden assumptions and uncovers complexity.  Taking a step by step approach helps keep the process structured and purposeful. 

Define the focus

Without a clear focus, the map can expand endlessly.  So, start by clarifying what you are trying to understand; this might be a challenge or a desired outcome. 

Identify stakeholders

Categorising stakeholders helps you see who makes decisions, who influences them, and who is affected.  In this step you identify the people, organisations and groups that play a role.  Think broadly, not only about those in government, but also community partners, iwi, service users and private sector. 

Questions to ask could be:

• Who is directly involved?
• Who influences decisions?
• Who is affected?

Map relationships

Systems are defined as much by their relationships as by their components.  This step is about drawing the flows of influence, information, funding and accountability between stakeholders.  Pay attention to gaps, tensions and weak connections – these often reveal where change is needed. 

Things to pay attention to are:

• Draw arrows to show flows of influence, information, funding or accountability.
• Highlight strong vs weak connections.
• Note gaps of missing voices.

Spot leverage points

Once the system is mapped, the goal is to identify where effort will matter most.  These are often bottlenecks, decision nodes, or relationships that - if strengthened - could create ripple effects across the system. 

Questions to ask could be:

• Where are decisions made?
• Where are the bottlenecks?
• Where might collaboration have the biggest effect?

Download the Systems mapping activity that has been designed to help you step through the systems mapping process.  You can use it individually or with your team and stakeholders. 

Systems mapping activity [DOCX, 519 KB]

More in this toolkit