Launching a change management team - step one

• How to educate your team about change management, including 2005 benchmarking results
• A case study on using ADKAR and change management webinars to kick off your change management team
• What leaders would do differently regarding their change management team
• Change management team obstacles, and how to over come them

Top team member criteria

Participants in the 2003 Change Management Best Practices study indicated the criteria for a good change management team member.  The 2005 study supported these findings.  Some of these criteria relate to an individual's relationship to the business and fellow employees, while others focus on the personal attributes of a team member.  The top criteria of good team members are:

1. Excellent communication skills
   
   Team members should be good listeners, facilitators and able to communicate the business change to people in all parts of the business.
    
2. Business influence
   
   Individuals should have credibility with employees (both below and above them in the organization).  They should be trusted and have proper authority. 
    
3. Commitment to the change
   
   An effective team member believes in the value of the change and shares a vision of the desired future state.
    
4. Change management experience
   
   The team member should have experience with or training in change management. 
    
5. Knowledge of the business
   
   Team members need an understanding, not only of the particular function or area being changed, but also of general business principles and conditions.
    
6. Team player
   
   Team members should be able to work in and contribute to success in a team environment. 

Individual character attributes mentioned by study participants included:

• creativity
• ability to see the big picture and to think strategically and cross-functionally
• innovative problem solver
• independent thinker
• flexibility and ability to deal with ambiguity
• stamina, resilience and persistence
• passion and dedication to success
• empathetic, people person
• enthusiastic
• responsible
• supporter with positive attitude

Team structure

There are many options for the structure of your change management effort, ranging from an existing resource on the project team that spends only part time on change management, to a separate change management team with dedicated resources.
 

Below are six possible team structures. This is not an exhaustive list, but provides options for how the team structure can be adapted based on the change characteristics and organizational attributes of your specific change. Most change management team leaders will use these as a foundation and develop the specific structure needed for their situation.

Team structure 1

Team structure 2

Team structure 3

Team structure 4

Team structure 5

Team structure 6

Summary

This tutorial presented best practice findings and approaches to establishing your change management team. The characteristics listed above can be used as a checklist for making sure you have the right team for your change. The team structures presented should be used as a starting point, as the best team structure must reflect your unique situation. For assistance about understanding how to customize change management to your situation, you can:

• Use the assessments in either the online CM Pilot or the hardcopy Change Management Toolkit;

• Call Prosci at 970-203-9332; or

• Ask an analyst

But selecting the right team members and the right team structure is only the first step. The next tutorial will examine ways to educate your team about change management. It will include benchmarking research as well as a short case study.