If the change management initiative is not organizationally structured and governed by measurable success criteria, the effort will fail. For companies embarking on make-or-break initiatives, this can be fatal to realizing anticipated business outcomes.
The Foundation of Successful Change
For any change management initiative to succeed, it must be organized and governed by measurable criteria. Companies undertaking critical initiatives risk failure if they do not establish a clear structure for managing the effort from its current state to the desired future state.
Every change management project moves through three basic phases:
- Current State: Work is performed to identify and define "what" needs to be fixed or changed.
- Transition State: The focus shifts to determining and acting on "how" the change will be implemented.
- Future State: The successfully executed change is realized, and the anticipated business outcomes are achieved.
To navigate these phases effectively, initiatives must create a chain of sponsorship. This provides the necessary structure, governance, and clear delegation of authority to manage the journey.
Key Roles in a Change Management Structure
A defined hierarchy ensures accountability and clarifies decision-making power. The following roles are essential for governing a change initiative.
Corporate Sponsor
The Corporate Sponsor holds ultimate responsibility for the success of the change management initiative. This individual is typically a member of corporate management assigned to oversee and manage the entire effort.
- Authority: The entirety of the change management initiative.
Steering Committee
The Steering Committee consists of executive-level leaders (e.g., Vice Presidents) who understand the strategic reasoning for the organizational change. The Corporate Sponsor serves as the committee's Chairperson and selects its members. A key function of this committee is to appoint the Project Managers who will lead the daily work.
- Authority: The committee holds "group authority," with voting rights to help the Chairperson make critical decisions.
Initiative Project Managers
Initiative Project Managers lead the day-to-day execution of the project. They require skills in both project management and change management to guide the work through the Current and Transition states. Their responsibilities include ensuring the timely completion of deliverables and reporting progress to the Steering Committee and sponsors.
- Authority: Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the work according to project and change management principles, including monitoring budgets, schedules, quality, and risks.
Process Owners
Process Owners are managers responsible for specific business processes within the company. In a large-scale change, a chain of these sponsors must ensure their individual improvement efforts align with the broader initiative. They have the final say on how their processes will operate in the Future State.
- Authority: Full authority over the business processes they own. They decide what to add, revise, or delete to make their processes effective in the Future State, based on the work of their teams.
Workstream Leaders
Reporting to Process Owners, Workstream Leaders are subject matter experts who lead the work on a specific process. They make daily decisions in alignment with their Process Owner and are considered the "front line" of the change. They are supported and facilitated by an Initiative Project Manager, who may provide training, coaching, and workshop leadership.
- Authority: Making daily operational decisions and ensuring alignment with their corresponding Process Owner.
Managing Multiple Initiatives
For organizations running several change projects simultaneously, a strong Project Management Office (PMO) is highly recommended. A PMO establishes consistency in methodologies, communications, and deliverables across all initiatives. By blending change management and project management principles into a standardized framework, a PMO ensures that all projects operate congruently.
This standardization simplifies communications and a common framework for identifying and managing deliverables. As consultant Fred Wellman notes, "A good framework is capable of leveling the myriad of multiple stakeholder expectations into manageable components that can be measured and delivered."
This approach allows for cleaner communications and helps manage stakeholder expectations effectively, which is vital to the success of any complex change management effort.