In the past 20 years, Prosci has been conducting an international benchmarking study to uncover the lessons learned by change practitioners and consultants. The study focuses on what’s working and what’s not.
The research across thousands of initiatives shows a direct correlation between the success of the initiative and how well the people side of change is managed. Projects with a structured approach to change management had a six-fold increase in the likelihood of meeting objectives, finishing on time and on budget.
As part of this study, change leaders share the greatest contributors to the success of their change initiatives within their organisation. In number one position for the 10th time is active and visible sponsorship. Not only is this top contributing factor, it’s ahead of second place by a ratio of three to one. The top contributing factors to successful change management are:
- active and visible sponsorship
- dedicated change management resources
- structured change management approach
- employee engagement and participation
In equal fifth place are frequent and open communication, integration and engagement with project management and engagement with middle managers.
So why is being visible so important? For a change project to be successful, it requires people to embrace the change. Employees want to hear about the context of the change directly from the executive sponsor and the personal implications of the change for them from their line manager.
The executive sponsor also plays an important role in creating a coalition of sponsors throughout the organisation among peers and managers.
