Jun 03, 2015

To ensure your strategic change initiatives have a greater chance of implementation and success, following some standard roles and guidelines may provide you with some clarity in terms of who does what in managing change.

In today's post, I will outline 4 main groups of people within an organisation who all have different roles to play when it comes to managing change - executives, senior and middle managers, and front-line supervisors, change project team members and change project support functions.

Executives and senior managers

• The change sponsor sits within this group and their role is to be visible to all staff and active throughout the change process.
• They authorise and fund changes.
• They also communicate high-level messages about the change directly to staff.

Middle managers and front-line supervisors

• They reinforce the change message with staff.
• They advocate/sell change.
• They also coach staff through the changes while still fulfilling their day-to-day work as it still needs to be “business as usual.”

Change project team members

• They manage the technical side of change.
• They integrate change management strategies into project plans.

Change project support functions

• They support different activities of the change management team and project team.
• They provide expertise, knowledge and tools of change.

Hopefully, this has given you a better understanding of the roles of different people within an organisation and what is expected of them when implementing a change initiative.