Do your Leaders say they support a transformational change, but then don’t have the time to participate in critical meetings? Is it like pulling teeth to get Leaders to make a decision? Is your organization plagued by infighting and politics between Leaders?
Getting the Sponsorship you need is the single most important success factor for any project implementation. The fact is Sponsorship is the most critical success factor in ensuring a fast and successful implementation of any type of business change, but it is also largely misunderstood.
After over 30 years of change management consulting, Don Harrison, President of IMA, has a lot to say about implementing transformational change. In IMA's recent webinar on The Human Side of Transformational Change, Don shared his tips on how to improve execution success of these big, complex changes. He touched on topics such as:
One of the barriers to change is a lack of clarity around implementation roles and responsibilities. What are Change Agents accountable for? What about Sponsors? And by "Sponsors" we are talking about the entire management team ranks. When there is a lack of clarity around accountability, everyone thinks the next guy or gal is the person who is accountable. As Don Harrison, IMA President, says, "I used to think that this was a problem for Sponsors-- but now I realize that if no one is accountable, it is a very comfortable place to be!"
If you are a Change Agent assigned to a project, do you know who all your Sponsors are? It's a critically important question, and the answer is not necessarily obvious. In fact, one of the biggest "aha's" from our AIM change management training is that there are far more Sponsors that need to be attended to than what Change Agents originally thought!
Remember that famous line from the classic movie "Cool Hand Luke?" "What we have here is a failure to communicate." Well, when it comes to transformational change, what we have here is a failure to inspire. If "transformational change" becomes nothing more than a cover for downsizing, it will be extremely difficult to get the demonstrated commitment you need to implement transformationally different processes, systems, and structures.
On Tuesday, April 22 we are holding a complimentary webinar on "Sponsorship: Why You Gotta Have It. What to Do to Get It." First of all, why are doing another webinar on Sponsorship? Quite simply, it's because there is nothing as important to project success as Sponsorship. And unfortunately, there is nothing as problematic for Change Agents than securing lasting, active Sponsors!
There is likely no more important Change Agent activity than getting Sponsors to provide the visible commitment you need for transformational change success. We use the term "contracting" to describe these meetings because the most effective meetings involve an exchange of needs and offers.
In the whirlwind of activity surrounding healthcare transformational change, it's easy to be uncertain of where to put your focus. So much is going on, and in many organizations the constraints are more significant than ever before. If you are charged with supporting the implementation of a project or program, where should you be spending your time?
Suppose one day you have a great idea for an improvement or process change. How will you introduce this change into your organization?
