So you’re the project sponsor … now what?

Are you new to leading change? Or maybe you’ve sponsored a change that was so painful, you hate the idea of ever doing it again?

Too often, executives are chosen to implement a major change based solely on the title of their day job. For example, it’s quite common for a human resources VP to be volun-told that they are the executive business sponsor for the new HR system implementation. Unfortunately, that VP may have no experience with leading a major change, much less experience leading a technology implementation, which comes with some very specific pitfalls.

What’s expected of you as a sponsor? Are you expected to just make the decisions? Facilitate the decisions? How much time is this going to take? How does this particular change stack up against your (many) other priorities?

How do you really KNOW the project is on track? And why is every item on the monthly project scorecard green, but you’re hearing nothing but concerns, or even outright rebellion, from your employees?

If you happen to be a person who truly loves and welcomes, or even seeks out, change throughout your career, the challenges of driving a change will be even greater. For people who genuinely love change, the resistance (and sometimes even sheer panic) with which many humans approach change can be genuinely baffling, and even annoying at times.

The good news is that the skills it takes to successfully sponsor change CAN be learned, and it’s an investment of your time and energy that will pay dividends for the rest of your career.

Contact me – I’d love to help you out.