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Develop the Sponsorship Strategy The purpose of Develop the Sponsorship Strategy is to create a high-level approach for preparing and leveraging the sponsors to promote, gain support for, and drive adoption of a change. Responsibility for developing the Sponsorship Strategy should be assigned to th...

Develop the Sponsorship Strategy The purpose of Develop the Sponsorship Strategy is to create a high-level approach for preparing and leveraging the sponsors to promote, gain support for, and drive adoption of a change. Responsibility for developing the Sponsorship Strategy should be assigned to the Change Management Lead and include input from others who have knowledge of and experience with the sponsors. Describe Why Sponsors Are Important The Sponsorship Strategy should outline why sponsors are critical to the success of a change effort. Sponsors are critical to change success because: Stakeholders want to learn about the change and the reasons for the change from the sponsors The importance stakeholders place on a change effortmay be determined by the importance that sponsors demonstrate Sponsors build support for the change at all levels of the organization Sponsors can support identifying and mitigating risks associated with resistance to the change Sponsors provide the resources and budget, set expectations, and hold organizations and individuals accountable during the change Sponsors break down barriers and remove obstacles that restrict change implementation Sponsors provide consistent high-level messaging during the changeprogram Develop a High-Level Approach for Gaining Sponsorship Commitment Sponsorship gaps that must be addressed for successful adoption of the change should be identified, and a high-level approach for addressing the gaps should be developed as early as possible. This high- level approach includes the activities to build a coalition of sponsorship that will drive and support the Sponsorship Strategy. Risks to consider include a lack of sponsor commitment and support for the change, sponsorship competency gaps, and past sponsorship challenges. Inputs Outputs Change Risks Organizational Change Readiness Assessment Sponsorship Alignment Assessment Stakeholder Analysis Sponsorship Strategy Develop the Stakeholder Engagement Strategy The purpose of Develop the Stakeholder Engagement Strategy is to identify an approach to ensure that individuals or groups impacted by a change and those who can positively affect the overall successof the change are engaged in the change effort. The core of stakeholder management and engagement includes taking the appropriate steps to identify stakeholders, conducting a Stakeholder Analysis, identifying the required engagement of the various stakeholders, and identifying the activities needed to achieve the required engagement. Change stakeholders can be numerous and range from internal stakeholders like employees whose jobs are impacted by the changes to external stakeholders like customers or clients who might see or experience something differently because of the changes. A Stakeholder Engagement Strategy may not be appropriate for all change management efforts, but in more complex, large-scale change efforts, developing an overall direction and approach for stakeholder engagement helps to align and integrate stakeholder engagement plans, activities, requirements, and metrics. Stakeholder engagement requires the attention and involvement of the people who will be impacted by the changes or who can influence the success of the changes and focuses on what the stakeholders and stakeholder groups need to know about the change and what they need to do. Good stakeholder engagement attracts and holds the attention of stakeholders to the degree needed for change success. The degree and type of stakeholder involvement required varies based on variables such as time, resource availability, negotiable elements within the future state, Change Management Strategy (directive versus collaborative), and stakeholder role. Depending on the change, a Stakeholder Engagement Strategy could include the identification of key stakeholders, prioritization of stakeholders, references to a Stakeholder Analysis, required stakeholder commitments, and methods for and appropriateness of soliciting stakeholder input. Inputs Outputs Current State Analysis Change Impact Assessment Current Communication Channels, Tools, and Methods Communication Strategy Sponsorship Strategy Stakeholder Analysis Stakeholder Engagement Strategy