When coaching leadership teams to prepare them to lead their organisation’s change, I have often been asked what the key elements of successful organisational change sponsorship are.
This is the response I share:
1. Purpose Led: Change sponsors have a purpose and everything they do is aligned with the organisation’s strategy and adding value. They develop change leadership capability, lead with integrity, and benevolence, especially when dealing with employee concerns about the change. They execute their sponsorship responsibilities effectively and efficiently.
2. Articulate the Change Strategy: Change sponsors guide the organisation’s leaders in articulating the change vision and explaining how it fits with the organisation’s strategy.
3. The Face of the Change: Change sponsors are not afraid to admit to stakeholders that if the change fails, it is their fault. They also make themselves accessible to key stakeholders to answer their queries.
4. Communicate Constantly: Change sponsors will constantly communicate the change, getting the right message to the right stakeholders at the right time, in their frame of reference with a feedback loop.
5. Release Quality Resources: Change sponsors will ensure the leaders release quality resources from normal day-to-day operations to the change programme.
6. Engage the Organisation: Change sponsors will ensure that every level of the organisation impacted by the change has been engaged from top to bottom, with no silos.
7. Coach the Organisation: Change sponsors develop change capability across the organisation. Change capable organisations are able to constantly manage change successfully, maximise employee adoption, and deliver sustainable benefits.
8. Intervene to Sustain the Change: Change sponsors will use polite and respectful intervention as an effective change tool to reinforce change adoption and behaviour change. They will not tolerate leaders who are indifferent delegators or have a silo focus.
9. Reward Behaviour Change and Adoption: Change sponsors will effectively and proactively reward positive employee behaviour and adoption to keep employees motivated.
10. Embed as Normal Operations: Change sponsors understand the change must be quickly embedded as normal day-to-day operations, delivering the intended return on investment. This means there is a controlled process for transferring ownership to operations with governance approval.
“Sponsorship is the single most important factor in change success”
Find out more:
Peter consults, speaks, and writes on the Leadership of Change®.
For further reading please visit our websites:
Change Management Body of Knowledge (CMBoK) Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, A, B, C, D, & E
Change Management Body of Knowledge (CMBoK)
Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, A, B, C, D, & E
Peter F Gallagher is a Change Management Global Thought Leader, Guru, Expert, International Speaker, Author and Leadership Alignment Coach.
Listed #1 by leadersHum Top 40 Change Management Gurus You Should Follow in 2022 (Mar 2022).
Ranked #1 Change Management Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management (2022-2021-2020) by Thinkers360.
Ranked #1 Business Strategy Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management (May 2022) by Thinkers360.
Ranked #2 Leadership Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Leadership (Aug 2020) by Thinkers360.
Business Book Ranking
Change Management Behaviour - Leadership of Change® Volume 6, listed among the 50 Books from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders to read in 2022.
Change Management Adoption - Leadership of Change® Volume 5, listed among year-to-date’s (Jul 2021) most popular books on business and technology from Thinkers360 member thought leaders.
Change Management Handbook - Leadership of Change® Volume 3, listed among the 50 Business and Technology Books from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders to read in 2021.
Change Management Pocket Guide - Leadership of Change® Volume 2, ranked within the top 50 Business and Technology Books (Jan 2020) from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders.