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Learn why each role is important and what is required of the role in times of change. The tutorial concludes with
some observations on the "employee-facing" roles in change management and the "enabling" roles in change
management.
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In the 2007 benchmarking study, 1. Participate actively and visibly throughout the
the active and visible participation project - there are three key words here: active, visible
of the senior leader was cited as and throughout - sponsors must be present and seen by
the #1 contributor to success. And employees
in the 2005 study it was also #1. 2. Build a coalition of sponsorship and manage
And in the 2003, 2000 and 1998 resistance - the sponsorship coalition describes the
studies it was #1 on the list. group of managers and leaders who will take the
Bottom line - their role is crucial to change back to their department, division, workgroup,
success. etc - the primary sponsor must build and maintain a
Employees want to see and hear healthy coalition
the executive's commitment to the 3. Communicate directly with employees - employees
change. The authority they provide want to hear the business reasons for the change from
carries over to other change someone at the top
management actors.
Effective sponsorship is a predictor * From the 2007 benchmarking study.
of success or failure on the
project.
Managers and supervisors are Based on the 2007 benchmarking study, the five roles of
close to the action - it is their managers and supervisors during change are:
teams who must change how they
do their jobs for the change to be 1. Communicator - employees prefer to hear messages
successful. about how the change directly impacts them and their
In any organization there are two team from the person they report to
types of change constantly 2. Advocate - if the manager opposes the change,
happening: 1) top-down initiatives chances are that his or her people will as well - in many
launched by senior leaders cases, the opposite is also true
(macro-changes) and 2) responses 3. Coach - helping employees through their own personal
to daily demands from customers transitions is the essence of change coaching by middle
and suppliers (micro-changes). managers and supervisors
Managers and supervisors support 4. Liaison - the role of liaison involves interacting with the
their employees through both types project team, taking direction and providing feedback
of changes. 5. Resistance manager - research shows that the best
The attitude and actions of a intervention to mitigate resistance comes from the
manager will show up in his or her employee's immediate supervisor
people - whether the attitude is
one of support or one of
opposition.
Project team
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The project team is tasked with 1. Design the actual change - create the solution that
managing the technical side of the ultimately impacts how people do their jobs
change. In the end, they are the 2. Manage the ‘technical side’ - with tools like the
people who design how things will charter, business case, schedule, resources, work
be done differently than they are breakdown structure, budget, etc.
today. 3. Engage with CM team/resource - work with the
Without direction and change management resource or team to ensure that
management, the technical side of the technical-side and the people-side of the change
the project will not move forward. progress in unison, provide timely project information
The project team also plays a role 4. Integrate CM plans into project plan - begin change
in ensuring that change management at the start of the project and weave the
management is part of the project change management strategy and plans into the
- by providing the appropriate technical-side plans to create one seamless project plan
resources (budget and personnel)
and time.
Change management will be most
effective when it is pulled in at the
launch of the project.
Project support functions bring 1. Experience and expertise - project support functions
expertise in a particular area - bring experience on past changes that can be applied to
these groups include: Human the current change
Resources staff, Organization 2. Knowledge - each of these groups have specialized
Development staff, Training knowledge that can help the project team and the
specialists, Communication change management resource or team
specialists, solution specific 3. Tools - each of the areas bring specific tools that
Subject Matter Experts, etc. support change management activities - just be sure the
In some cases, one of these tools align with change management best practices
project support functions might
operate as the change
management team or resource.
In the sections above, we outlined the key roles of the different actors involved in making changes successful in any
organization. It is interesting to note that in all of the roles presented in the right hand column, two of the roles have
direct contact with front-line employees impacted by the change while three of the roles do more of their work
behind the scenes.
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Implications of employee-facing and enabling roles: This is one of the most important takeaways from the
discussion about roles. Change managers in organizations - whether they are the project manager, an HR
consultant, an OD consultant or from a specialist change management group - must ultimately work through others.
They play the role of enablers in most cases, creating easy-to-implement plans and supporting the executives,
senior leaders, middle managers and supervisors throughout the organization.
1. Adopt a structured methodology you will use on the projects you support. Prosci has certification,
online and hardcopy methodology tools so you can apply the research-based approach using all of the
templates, assessments and tools that are part of the 3-phase approach. Read more about Prosci's
methodology.
2. Begin making a case for why it is important to manage the people-side of change. The case will need
to be made to project teams, senior leaders, middle managers and supervisors - all of the other gears in the
roles discussion. Be sure to answer "What's In It For Me?" and connect change management to what they
care about - such as meeting financial objectives (for senior leaders) or delivering a project on time, on
budget and on target to meet objectives (for project teams).
3. Explain the role that you need each of these groups to fill. Draw on best practices and research to
demonstrate the specific actions you need and the biggest mistakes that are typically made by these
groups.
4. Provide knowledge, training and tools. For many of the different actors, applying change management is
a new job requirement. You will need to help each of them build their own personal competency for leading
change. Prosci offers a 1-day program for managers and supervisors and a 4-6 hour session for executives
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and senior leaders. Call 970-203-9332 to learn more about these research-based, hands-on programs.
6. Coach them. Whether it is a project team you are working with to integrate change management into the
project plan, the division president you are asking to fulfill the role of "great sponsor" or a front-line
supervisor you are asking to coach his or her direct reports - you need to be there to provide support and
answer questions. You are now the coach for the agents of change throughout your organization.
*** Prosci also offers leadership packages - groupings of products at discounts that offer you some of the most
helpful and common combinations of Prosci change management resources
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Email a Prosci analyst or call 970-203-9332 with questions about the methodology, its application, or finding the
right resources to support your change management activities.
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email: Prosci email form
phone: 970-203-9332 or 800-700-2831
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