Do You Have Authority on Your Side?

Do you have a project sponsor named, but lack the true sponsorship you need to succeed?

You may already know the ABCs of sponsorship—Active and visible participation, Building a coalition, and Communicating support to promote the change. And you might also know that the number-one contributor to change success is having an active and visible sponsor (it has been number-one for twenty years). But do you know what not to do when sponsoring a project?

In study after study, Prosci has seen a common denominator to successfully transitioning individuals through change. This common thread is a person who plays a vital role in change, and has great influence over an individual employee changing.

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.

You might think that overcoming resistance to change with managers and supervisors is one of your most important challenges during change. The first two findings from the 2007 Best Practices in Change Management benchmarking report actually support this assumption:

The success of any change is dependent upon the front-line employees adopting new behaviors or responsibilities. But nothing will happen without coaching from their supervisors. This blog presents the essential steps to enable supervisors to coach their front-line employees successfully through change.

Executives and senior managers play a critical role in the outcome of a change. In Prosci's 2016 Benchmarking Report executive sponsorship was overwhelmingly cited as the greatest contributor to project success. In today's competitive marketplace, executives must create a culture and environment where change is seen as "business as usual." A change-competent organization needs a value system and culture that embraces change - and the executive plays a key role in creating this environment.