Research results clearly point to active and visible executive sponsorship as the number one success factor for major change initiatives. Unfortunately, many executives are not aware of this benchmarking finding, and even those that are aware of the importance of their role often do not understand what effective sponsorship looks like. In this benchmarking study, we asked participants to define the roles of executive sponsors, and to list the mistakes to be avoided.
The following tutorial is based on findings from the 3rd Best Practices in Change Management benchmarking study. 288 organizations from 51 countries participated in this study. Information about the report is available online. An updated article will be published with the findings from the most recent study later this year.
Participants in this benchmarking study recommended five primary roles for top-management sponsors.
1. Take the lead in establishing a budget and assigning the right resources for the project including:
2. Be active with the project team throughout the project:
3. Engage and create support with other senior managers:
4. Be an active and visible spokesperson for the change:
5. Help manage key resistance points:
Participants cited the following areas as the most common mistakes made by executive sponsors that they would advise other senior managers to avoid:
Tim Creasey is Prosci’s Chief Innovation Officer and a globally recognized leader in change management. His work forms the foundation of the largest body of knowledge in the world on managing the people side of change to deliver organizational results.
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