Change Network
A Change Network is a group of employees (sometimes called Change Champions, Change Advocates, Change Agents or Change Warriors) who actively promote and implement change initiatives. Change Champions help ensure consistency in change messages and build awareness and understanding of the change. I also use them to create stronger buy-in/ownership/accountability amongst the business units adopting the change.
The Purpose of a Change Network
The purpose of a Change Network is to establish an internal infrastructure of change champions or advocates to build awareness, understanding, commitment and ownership of a change initiative. In addition, change Champions can play a critical role in providing feedback to people managing and leading the change regarding the effectiveness of its delivery and what type of information is required for specific stakeholder groups during different stages of the change.
The Benefits of a Change Network
- Provides a structured approach to managing change during and after the implementation of a change project.
- Generates greater communication across all levels within the organisation by providing another channel to ensure consistency of change messages.
- Actively involves those most impacted by the change initiative.
- Provides a greater understanding of the change and the importance of managing change in any current and future initiatives undertaken.
- Provides the change/project team with great ideas about how the change will best be adopted in their business unit.
- Used well can create a strong sense of ownership for the change in the business.
So what are we looking for in our Change Champions?
Some of the skills and experience you might be looking for include
- Broad and positive profile with the impacted team, which will ensure they are seen as a trusted counsel/advisor
- Strong working knowledge of the business
- Ability to identify “challenges and opportunities” for better change practices and able to articulate (and participate in) strategies to address
- Exposure to change management strategies and practices
- The ability to communicate facts with people impacted by the change (and negate hearsay) effectively and promptly
- Someone good at listening to people to garner feedback (concerns, misunderstandings, opportunities etc.)
Some final thoughts for success include
- Ensuring the business allocates enough time for these people to be successful in taking up the role,
- Ensuring you set the Champions up nicely with a clear understanding of their role in the life of the program (including the benefits for them)
- Conducting regular meetings to keep the momentum up
- Taking the opportunity to build the capability of the Champions in Change Leadership skills (development benefits the initiative/project as well as the Champions themselves
Good luck using this approach, and contact us at the details below if you want to know more. We'd love to chat!
Email: info@allegraconsulting.com.au
Phone: 1300 444 225
About the authors
Allegra Consulting
Our team is comprised of experts from many areas within the broader change and transformation spaces who love sharing their knowledge.
