Sponsorship is the most critical success factor in ensuring a fast and successful implementation of any type of business change {Tweet This}. But once you’ve identified all your Sponsors through the process of Key Role Mapping, how do you go about managing them? One of the greatest challenges of implementing large-scale, complex change is that very often you will be confronted with multiple Sponsors who each bring their own visions, political agendas, and "Frames of Reference," to the change.
How to Change the Way Your Organization Changes
How do you change the way your organization implements strategic initiatives? Surely there is a way to get change projects done faster, and more successfully! Yes, there is a way to do these projects better. And you can start on that path by attending an AIM Accreditation Program.
Why, you ask? Here is our 10 top list of reasons YOU should attend!
Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” That’s why we find it rather puzzling when organizations initiate any type of change without a Change Implementation Plan.
In fact, after almost 40 years of hands-on Change Management Consulting and Training work, we contend Implementation Management Planning is arguably the single most important step to be taken when starting a new change project, whether it’s transformational in scope or a more modest change.
Transforming your business may make strategic sense, but transformational change is complex. Enterprise-wide implementation of new systems, structures, and processes is time-consuming and incredibly challenging. Mergers & Acquisitions, Re-structuring and Shared Services are all large-scale, highly disruptive changes that cannot be done incrementally. Once you take these leaps, you can’t change your mind and go back to the old ways.
40 years. That’s how long Don Harrison, President and founder of IMA has been working in the Change Management industry. While some may joke he started when he was 5, Don has dedicated his entire career to implementing complex changes in organizations. His frequent application of this expertise to technology implementations, cultural changes, mergers and acquisitions, and business process initiatives has led to his popularity as a consultant and keynote speaker for national and international conferences. Plus he is really funny, and that helps!
Sponsorship is the most critical success factor in ensuring a fast and successful implementation of transformational change. Sponsors must do more than just make sure the project gets launched, or authorize funding for an initiative. Sponsors must be active beyond project launch. In fact, quality Sponsorship is determined by both action and position.
Sponsors are the key drivers of transformational change. What they say, what they do, and what they reinforce on a daily basis determines 50-70% of the likelihood of achieving value realization for the transformation. So, what do you do when they are the ones who are reluctant to change?
Consider for a moment the phases of transformational change projects. Transformation typically begins with a core team that develops a vision of the future state. Over time, the team may engage others as it moves through the design/development/testing phases—all leading to the “go-live” or “cut-over” date. These steps represent the installation phase of your program.
If you are going through an organizational change, no matter how big or how small, whether it is being perceived as negative or positive, resistance is unavoidable. It may be out in the open, or lurking in a dark corner in the break room. But trust us... it’s there.
We often encounter organizations that half-jokingly claim they’ve never met a project or imitative they didn’t like. But these same companies also struggle when trying to resource and deliver all of their initiatives fast enough and within budget. Sound familiar? We are betting it does.
