More and more companies are building executive sponsorship by
conducting executive training sessions. These executive briefings are typically organized
by the project team or an HR representative with the support of the primary sponsor. The
goal of these sessions is twofold: create awareness of the need for change management and
develop knowledge and skills around the role of executive sponsors in change.
Catalyst for an executive briefing
Many project teams complain about the ineffectiveness of their sponsors.
As presented in the first
tutorial in this series, executive sponsors often:
- do not engage in the project in an active and visible way.
- fail to build a sponsorship cascade or coalition.
- do not communicate effectively with employees throughout the project.
The root cause for these common mistakes by executive sponsors include:
- change saturation - there is too much change underway for them to
effectively sponsor each change.
- lack of awareness of their role - many sponsors equate
"support" with sponsorship and stay in the background.
- the inability to carry out that role - sponsors need support and coaching
throughout the process.
Reaction to lack of sponsorship
In reaction to this lack of sponsorship, project teams often attempt to
continue their project by "doing the best they can." Unfortunately, this
approach directly results in greater employee resistance, increased productivity impacts
during implementation and higher turnover of employees. Proceeding with a project without
the necessary sponsorship results in project failures, schedule delays and missed
objectives.
Rather than proceeding with a project without addressing the sponsorship
issue, project teams must address this problem head-on. Research with hundreds of project
teams has shown repeatedly that sponsorship is the number one success factor for managing
the people side of change. Teams learn the hard way that when you do not have the
sponsorship you need, you only have two choices:
- Acquire the sponsorship you need to support the project, or
- Redefine the scope of the project to match the sponsorship you do have.
Most project teams are reluctant to change the scope of their project,
as they do not believe that is within their power or authority. The only solution,
therefore, is to acquire the sponsorship needed to support the project.
Acquiring the right level of executive sponsorship
The following steps will enable your team to acquire the sponsorship
needed to support the project.
1. Begin with your primary sponsor - share benchmarking data and
research regarding the essential role of sponsors.
2. Complete a sponsor assessment and sponsor assessment diagram.
3. Share this assessment with your primary sponsor - discuss the
strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats.
4. Coach your primary sponsor to begin the process of building a
sponsorship cascade or coalition.
5. With your primary sponsor's support, conduct an executive
briefing on change management with all
key business leaders.
Step 1 - Share
benchmarking data and research regarding sponsorship with your primary sponsor
Several sources of data are available to you to share with your sponsor.
Chapter 1 of the book, Change Management: the people
side of change, directly addresses sponsorship and the role of business leaders. The Best
Practices in Change Management report has an entire section devoted to sponsorship and
common sponsor mistakes, with input from hundreds of companies. The purpose of this step
is to build awareness and desire with your primary sponsor to 1) engage as a sponsor of
change on your project and 2) begin the process of building a sponsorship cascade.
Step 2 - Complete a sponsor
assessment
A simple way to complete a sponsor assessment is to draw an
"organization chart" view of all the key managers and business leaders that are
needed to support your project. You then shade each box red, yellow or green depending on
two considerations. First, what is the position of each manager on this change
(supporting, opposed or neutral)? Second, what is their competency and willingness to act
as sponsors of change?
Managers who are supportive of the change and are willing and able to
sponsor the change are shaded green on your diagram. Managers who are supportive of the
change, but not willing or able to sponsor the change are shaded yellow. Managers who are
opposed to the change are shaded red. Special attention should be paid to managers who are
both opposed to the change and who are competent change sponsors. These individuals know
how to work directly against the change and are a threat to the project. Sponsor
assessment tools to help determine a manager's competency can be found in the Change Management Toolkit and new
Change Management Pilot Professional,
as well as detailed explanations and examples.
Example
sponsor assessment |
Step 3 - Share this assessment with your primary sponsor
Using this tool, meet with your primary sponsor. This diagram is often a
wake-up call for senior business leaders that often assume that everyone is on board or
that the message would "trickle down" and the support would be there when
needed. Discuss the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats presented by this
diagram. Using this diagram, identify steps that your primary sponsor can take with
individuals one-on-one and collectively with groups of managers. Discuss potential
opportunities to begin working with managers at staff meetings, monthly or quarterly
meetings, conferences or other gatherings of business leaders.
Step 4 - Coach your sponsor
You must view your efforts to build sponsorship as a process and not a
single act. Once you have your sponsor's attention, schedule regular meetings to address
progress with building your sponsor cascade or coalition. Provide your sponsor with tools
and suggestions for working with managers. Provide samples of sponsor roles and illustrate
how each manager will be at different points as sponsors of change. Checklists and
guidelines for sponsor actions can be found in the Change Management Toolkit and new Change Management Pilot Professional.
Step 5 - Schedule an executive briefing
You should have sufficient awareness and desire at this point with your
primary sponsor to schedule an executive training session or executive briefing on change
management. Find a good time when these business leaders are together for another reason,
and ask for the agenda to include a 2-4 hour executive briefing on change management.
Invite a guest speaker to share why change management is critical for business success and
the key role of sponsors during the change process. If possible, integrate discussions
about a current change with this executive briefing. Make it conversational and engaging.
As time passes, your sponsor assessment diagram should be updated and should gradually
shift color from red/yellow to yellow/green. Using this tool to track progress keeps the
focus on a key success factor for your project: sponsorship.
Summary
As a project team, your efforts in building executive sponsorship are as
important as any other task you will complete. Projects teams around the world report that
the one thing they would do differently on their next project is to ensure that they had
the necessary sponsorship for their project. If your project is underway, don't wait.
Effective sponsorship will result in your project meeting objectives and staying on
schedule.
|
