To be successful, corporate change must be driven by a project team and internal stakeholders. These individuals must coalesce around a shared vision and goal and be able to support change and do whatever is necessary to ensure it is implemented as smoothly as possible.
The stakeholders to bring together when implementing corporate change can be divided into 12 categories. To make things clearer, we have separated the project team from the other internal stakeholders who will need to be involved.
- Project Team
- Project Lead
The Project Lead is involved in the project from its conception and oversees the strategy for implementing and communicating about the change. They embody the project and, in this respect, are responsible for communicating key messages to all employees. They manage how the project progresses and must keep a close eye on outcomes.
- Project Sponsors
Project Sponsors are representatives for the project who act as spokespeople for the Project Lead and are responsible for sharing their vision and goals. They are most often those individuals to whom employees naturally turn when they have questions.
- Change Manager
The Change Manager is the go-to person for all change-management projects. They are responsible for deploying measures and monitoring outcomes to ensure that changes are implemented as smoothly as possible.
- Trainers
Trainers are involved in the pilot phase of implementing corporate change. They come from the operational teams and ensure that tools are suited to the needs of the business and its teams. They are also able to raise awareness among employees about the changes to come.
- Communication Leads
Communication Leads are based within teams and are in direct daily contact with those who will be impacted by the project. They can not only share key information with these individuals, but also feedback any problems or misunderstandings to the Change Manager.
- Integration Lead
The Integration Lead plays a key role in the change-management process as they are responsible for the technical aspects of the project’s implementation. They must take on board the information fed back to them in order to continually improve the tools being developed.
- Key Users
Key Users support the Integration Lead and are involved in the change process from the point at which the project is implemented. They are responsible for checking that tools can be adapted to suit the specific needs of different operational functions.
- Internal stakeholders
- HR teams
HR teams must be involved in the change-management process by the Project Team. They have a good understanding of the different employee populations within a company and as such can help optimise the implementation strategy.
- Communications teams
Communications teams work alongside the HR and Project teams to decide how the project will be presented to employees and identify the most suitable channels for communication.
- Employee representative bodies
These bodies work directly with the HR teams and are involved from the point at which the project is developed through to its implementation. They are responsible for protecting employee rights and will feed back any concerns that may arise within a company’s teams. The Project Lead may be required to take part in the presentation and debrief phases.
- Operational departments
The operational departments are represented by their respective managers. These managers should be involved to ensure that the change being implemented is seen in a positive light by the teams they manage. They act as ambassadors for the change-management process “on the ground” and must be convinced of the benefits offered by the change if they are to be able to communicate these to those they represent.
- Information Services (IS) Manager
The IS Manager has technical expertise and works directly with the Integration Lead throughout the change-management process. They analyse the impact of processes and develop any training materials needed to support its operational implementation.
