Navigating organisational change is no small feat, especially for large enterprises, which often have numerous departments, diverse teams, and intricate structures. Implementing change across such a vast and complex landscape requires a network that can effectively navigate and address the diverse needs and challenges present in every part of the organisation. The complexities involved in implementing widespread changes thus require a strategic approach, and one tool gaining prominence in this context is the Change Champion Network (CCN). No longer a novel concept to many leaders across various industries, CCNs fulfil a significant role in bridging the gap between the desired future and current reality.
Why Most CCNs Fail to Achieve Their Intent
Regardless of the CCN’s potential to drive transformation, it can only remain a theoretical concept if executives fail to harness its capabilities to the fullest extent. There are several reasons that could be attributed to the often-observed failure of CCNs to fully achieve their intended impact within organisations. Common ones include the absence of clearly defined roles and expectations, insufficient training and support, and a lack of recognition and appreciation for members within the network. To mitigate these challenges, it is crucial to institute a well-defined governance structure with sufficient avenues for training and support.
Additionally, organisations should aim to recognise the efforts of Change Champions and cultivate a culture that emphasises alignment and collaboration among them.
Ensuring the Success of a Change Champion Network
To guarantee the success of a CCN and effectively handle associated risks, organisations can employ a strategic, step-by-step approach:
1. Charter Your Team
To begin, it is imperative to purposefully charter and commission the CCN. This involves a meticulous Team Chartering process, which begins by selecting individuals with key attributes such as passion, intrinsic motivation for organisational change, effective communication skills and a solution-focused mindset. The Team Chartering process provides Change Champions with clear terms of reference, defining the team's purpose, mission, deliverables, reporting structure, KPIs, expectations, and avenues for support.
Part of the team chartering process also includes incentivisation, combining intrinsic rewards like upskilling opportunities and collaboration with executives, with extrinsic incentives such as additional personal leave and vacations. Nevertheless, the motivation to drive organisational change should inherently originate from the Change Champions themselves, which is what makes the selection of the right change-motivated individuals so crucial. Partnering with organisations, aAdvantage facilitates the team chartering process, ensuring that Change Champions receive strong sponsorship from senior leaders.
2. Develop a Cohesive and Aligned Team
After the roles and responsibilities of the identified Change Champions have been communicated to them, the next step involves developing them into a cohesive and aligned team. In order to forge strong relationships among team members and help them work better together, organisations need to provide opportunities for team building.
aAdvantage helps to facilitate this by conducting team alignment workshops and coaching sessions for team members.
3. Create a Clear Change Plan
A critical element in this process is the development of a clear change plan. This plan, described as a structured approach to introduce and manage changes within the organisation, encompasses activities such as measuring change readiness, establishing stakeholders' engagement platforms, and creating communication collaterals such as screensavers and company cards, to establish a common language in the organisation.
4. Equip Your Change Champions With the Right Skills
Equipping Change Champions with the necessary skills – advocacy, facilitation, communication, and change management – is another vital step in ensuring the success of a CCN. Proficiency in these areas enables the CCN to create a collaborative environment, empowering stakeholders to take ownership of proposed changes.
In addition to equipping CCN with the essential skills, aAdvantage offers support through designing learning activities and engagement toolkits. These resources empower the CCN to facilitate meaningful dialogues with their stakeholders.
5. Review Your Team’s Progress
At the end of the entire process, ongoing team coaching is integral for reviewing progress, realigning efforts based on achievements, and refuelling the team with necessary support and training. aAdvantage provides team coaching services to ensure that members of the CCN are collaborating effectively to achieve the intended goals of the organisation. Our dedicated team coach conducts frequent progress reviews, offering constructive feedback to enhance the capabilities of change champions through interactive learn-and-share and coaching sessions.
Conclusion
Establishing a successful CCN fosters a shared organisational culture focused on innovation and customer experience, which in turn accelerates business transformation and growth. Hence, organisations must do their part to mitigate risks and ensure the success of their CCN.
aAdvantage’s Change Management solution focuses on implementing strategies and interventions to facilitate organisational transformation. Contact us to learn more about how your organisation can benefit from this and other culture transformation solutions.