Change Management – Sponsorship
The Most Important Element in any Change Journey
a2B Change Management Framework® (a2BCMF®) - Step 2
Advisory Consulting

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©2017 a2B Advisory Consulting Sponsorship is one of the Most Important Elements in any Change Journey
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1. a2B Change Management Framework® (a2BCMF®) – Step 2 3
2. Overview - a2B Change Management Framework® (a2BCMF®) 4
3. Sponsorship – Important Element in any Change Journey* 5
4. Sponsorship – Say 6
5. Sponsorship – Support 7
6. Sponsorship – Sustain 8
7. Summary 9
*Selected element
Contents
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4.10.2017
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©2017 a2B Advisory Consulting Sponsorship is one of the Most Important Elements in any Change Journey
1. a2B Change Management Framework® (a2BCMF®) - Step 2
Page 3
v 3 Main Phases v 10 Key Steps
v Steps may have iterations v Framework tailored to suit client
Change
Definition
Secure
Sponsorship
and Resources
Assess
Previous
Change
Develop
Detailed
Change Plan
Communicate
the Change
Assess
Readiness
Sustain and
Close
Adoption
Develop New
Skills and
Behaviours
Manage
Resistance
Plan
Execute
Sustain
a2BCMF®

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©2017 a2B Advisory Consulting Sponsorship is one of the Most Important Elements in any Change Journey
v A structured and disciplined approach to support organisations, leadership teams and
individuals going through a change.
v Supports the transition from the current state ‘a’ to the future state ‘B’.
v Provides change strategies, principles, analysis and tactics to move from one step to the next.
v The approach and material focuses on overcoming failures of previous change
by incorporating 10 key steps and success elements for achieving organisation change.
v It is based on over 30 years of change experience and brings together leading practice in
change, people and programme management.
v Framework is to bring the organisation through the change to deliver successful change and
meet targets:
Ø Time.
Ø Budget.
Ø Scope.
Ø Change Adoption.
Ø Improved Business Performance.
2. Overview - a2B Change Management Framework® (a2BCMF®)
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©2017 a2B Advisory Consulting Sponsorship is one of the Most Important Elements in any Change Journey
v Sponsorship is one of the most important elements in any Change journey, without effective
and proactive project sponsorship, the project will eventually fail.
v There are three key elements to support the project: ‘Say’, ‘Support’ and ‘Sustain’.
3. Sponsorship - Important Element in any Change Journey
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Say
v Articulate the strategy
v Vocal support of the project
v Constantly communicate
Support
v Promote the change
v Provide resources
v Coach the organisation
Sustain
v Recognise and reward
v Intervene to ensure success
v Embed and adopt the new way
Enabling Step
Improvement

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©2017 a2B Advisory Consulting Sponsorship is one of the Most Important Elements in any Change Journey
v Sponsorship starts with providing vocal support for the change.
v ‘Say’ is the foundation and is all about communicating the business case for the change to all
affected stakeholders.
v Communication is key to change success and an extremely important first step:
ØArticulate the strategy: All change projects should be aligned to the organisation
strategy, vision, mission and objectives.
ØVocally support the change: During the change project lifecycle the Sponsor should
continually communicate why the organisation is implementing the change.
ØConstantly communicate: If you think you are communicating enough, then multiple this
by ten.
“When I find business problems I find communication failure, when I find communication failure I find business
problems” ~ Peter Gallagher
4. Sponsorship - Say
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©2017 a2B Advisory Consulting Sponsorship is one of the Most Important Elements in any Change Journey
v Having built the foundation of communication the Sponsor can move to the ‘Support’ stage.
v ‘Support’ builds on the Say, and it is in this element that the Sponsor starts to actively and
overtly support the change:
Ø Promote the change: Employees of the organisation will watch the leadership team,
what they say and how they support the change.
ØProvide quality resources: One of the key issues that causes conflict on most projects
are resources.
ØCoach the organisation: The Sponsor should have the ability to act as an organisation
and personal coach, this will start to move the organisation from the current state ‘a’ to the
improved state ‘B’.
“Each person holds so much power within themselves that needs to be let out. Sometimes they just need a little
nudge, a little direction, a little support, a little coaching, and the greatest things can happen” ~ Pete Carroll
5. Sponsorship - Support
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©2017 a2B Advisory Consulting Sponsorship is one of the Most Important Elements in any Change Journey
v Sustain is critical for the organisation to deliver value and achieve it’s strategic goals.
v ‘Sustain’ is the biggest challenge in any change journey, gaining employee adoption of the
new way of working and the new desired behaviours.
Ø Recognise and reward: It is hard to find an individual that does not like to be praised
when performing well, everyone likes to be told they are doing a good job. Praise
acknowledges positive action and reinforces behaviours.
ØIntervene to ensure success: One of the most difficult roles as a leader or manager is to
intervene and provide feedback to employees with poor performance.
ØEmbed and adopt the new way: The main objective of any change project is to get the
organisation to adopt the new ways of working and to change behaviours, to create the
new culture.
“Without effective and proactive sponsorship the change project will eventually fail, the change will not be
adopted by the employees nor be sustained, and it will not deliver the intended benefits” ~ Peter Gallagher
6. Sponsorship - Sustain
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©2017 a2B Advisory Consulting Sponsorship is one of the Most Important Elements in any Change Journey
v Delivery of the change project is a strategic element of the portfolio and the CEO will expect
project investment in terms of organisation resources, time and effort and it will be part of
delivering the organisation’s strategy.
v The Change Sponsor should be identified right from the start as outlined in our a2B Change
Management Framework® (a2BCMF®).
v To ensure change success, it is usually the Programme, Project or Business Improvement,
Change Management Lead who has to have the initial conversation with the Sponsor.
v A Sponsor is usually a trusted senior executive with many years of experience and with widely
accepted organisational creditability.
v A large number of change and transformation projects fail to deliver the benefits originally
stated or promised.
v Failure could be due to the Sponsor performing a project oversight role, which is the the
responsibility of the governance or steering committee.
7. Sponsorship - Summary
Page 9

a2B Advisory Consulting
About us
a2B Advisory Consulting offers specialised consulting and advisory services.
We are committed to facilitating and enabling step improvement of client's
organisations, from current state ‘a’ to improved state ‘B’.
a2B Advisory Consulting is focussed on helping UK businesses to increase their
productivity, business performance and to manage change. We bring vast
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