Overview

288 organizations participated in the Change Management Best Practices benchmarking study. They were asked to identify the most important sponsor activities during a major change project. Upon analysis of the data, three main audiences emerged that the sponsor must interact with: 1. Project team 2. Stakeholders (executive and senior management) 3. Employees

The figure below is a 3 x 3 diagram illustrating the responsibilities of the sponsor in each project phase (start-up, design and implementation) and the associated audience for these activities.

Sponsor roles at the beginning of a project

During project start-up, the primary activities are:

Acquire the necessary project resources
Build management support and sponsorship
Create awareness with employees of the business drivers and need for change

A detailed breakdown of the input from participants is shown in Table 1.

Role of sponsors during the start-up of a new project

With the project team:

With other stakeholders:

With employees:

· Select the best project leader and team members; include resources with change management expertise

· Provide necessary funding for the team, including training for all team members on change management

· Set priorities related to day-to-day work vs. project work to allow adequate team member participation

· Help the team understand the critical business issues or opportunities that must be addressed

· Provide clear direction and objectives for the project; describe what success will look like

· Jointly develop a high-level view of the future and link the change to the business strategy

· Be directly involved with the project team; set expectations; review key deliverables and remove obstacles

· Take ownership for success of the project and hold the team accountable for results

· Enlist the support of executive managers and create a support network

· Create a steering committee of key stakeholders to monitor progress

· Educate senior managers about the business drivers for change and the risks of not changing

· Work directly with managers who show early signs of resistance

· Create change advocates within the leadership team

· Provide training on change management for senior managers

· Establish change activities that the leadership group is responsible for completing

· Define accountabilities for mid-level managers

· Describe the current state of the business and share the business issues or opportunities

· Explain why a change is needed now; share the risk of not changing

· Share a vision for the future; show how the change will address the business problems or opportunities

· Answer the questions: how will this change affect me, what’s in it for me

· Be proactive, vocal and visible; communicate frequently, including face-to-face

· Listen and be open to dialogue and resistance

· Tell employees what they can expect to happen and when

· Understand the organizational culture and beliefs

· Repeat key messages over and over again

· Share plans with customers and suppliers

· Show project milestones and provide progress updates

Table 1 - Start-up activities of executive sponsors

Sponsor roles during the design phase

During the design phase of a project, the primary activities for executive sponsors are:

Provide direct support to the project team
Develop sponsorship and support with mid-level and senior managers
Be active and visible to employees and educate them about the future state

A detailed breakdown of the input from participants is shown in Table 2.

Role of sponsors during the design phase of a new project

With the project team:

With other stakeholders:

With employees:

· Stay involved: attend key project meetings, review project status and hold the team accountable for results

· Provide the necessary resources and funding, including ensuring that the right people are made available to support the design work

· Be accessible to the team: be a sounding board, provide ideas and constructive criticism to the team, ask “what if”

· Remove roadblocks; help manage conflicts and political issues

· Communicate expectations and feedback from other senior managers and stakeholders

· Keep the team on track and manage “scope creep”

· Reward success stories and achievements

· Take the time to understand the solution

· Identify linkages to other projects that may impact the team

· Continue to build support and sponsorship among senior managers; reinforce the key messages; resolve differences in perception; address areas of resistance

· Let senior managers know how they can proactively support the change

· Conduct steering committee meetings; keep stakeholders informed; use this forum to resolve critical issues

· Use public and private conversations to reinforce leadership support

· Communicate project progress to all executive managers

· Hold mid-level managers accountable

· Communicate frequently to employees; make your personal commitment visible including face-to-face conversations

· Reinforce the reason for change, risk of not changing and the evolving details about the future state

· Answer the question “what will this change mean to me”

· Listen to what employees have to say; take the pulse of the organization and collect feedback

· Share project progress and provide updates on a regular basis; update employees on “what can you expect to happen and when”

· Enable employee participation and involvement

· Involve customers

Table 2 - Design-phase activities of executive sponsors

Sponsor roles during the implementation phase

During the implementation phase of a project, the primary activities for executive sponsors are:

Maintain momentum and support for the project team
Align managers around the change and manage resistance
Reinforce change with employees - maintain active and visible sponsorship

A detailed breakdown of the input from participants is shown in Table 3.

Role of sponsors during the implementation phase of a new project

With the project team:

With other stakeholders:

With employees:

· Secure resources necessary for implementation

· Stay engaged with the team: attend meetings, reward successes, hold them accountable for results and build enthusiasm

· Remove roadblocks and help the team overcome obstacles

· Stay the course; avoid shifting priorities too early

· Continue to meet in public and private with senior managers and stakeholders; align sponsorship; provide progress updates; resolve issues

· Communicate expectations to senior managers for their support of the change; provide activities they can do and messages they can communicate to their organizations

· Manage resistance from middle managers; correct or remove managers who will not support the change

· Reinforce key messages; align business strategy with project objectives; increase personal communications

· Set expectations for employees; clearly communicate consequences of not changing

Role of executive sponsors when managing change

Overview

Sponsor roles at the beginning of a project

Role of sponsors during the start-up of a new project

Sponsor roles during the design phase

Role of sponsors during the design phase of a new project

Sponsor roles during the implementation phase

Role of sponsors during the implementation phase of a new project

To learn more about sponsor roles during change and change management best practices:

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