Four Key Roles of Change - What If They Went Missing?

In 2000, Mary Beth O'Neill identified four leadership roles that are required for successful change management to take place - the sponsor, the implementer, the advocate and the agent.??Keep in mind, these are roles - the people carrying out the roles may have different job titles.???Nobody's running around introducing themselves at networking events and parties as Advocates and Implementers, but you may meet some that introduce themselves as Change Agents.??I think they just like saying?they're?Agents.??Yes mate, very cool.

It's easy to look at these roles and see what they do - but what would happen if they were missing???What impact would that have on your projects???Would there even be projects or change without them???Let's see.

And I want you thinking about your projects and letting me know in the comments if this exercise reveals any gaps in your change environment.

?

The?Advocate

The advocate has an idea about how a change can happen.??They tend to be passionate and highly motivated.??You've probably encountered this person as a Department Head whose teams work is being impeded by some inefficient processes or bad tools; or someone that's not having problems but they've just spotted a great opportunity to improve some aspect of the business like new technologies, new services and so on.??

Often the person can be the requestor of the change, they're not always in positions of power to make the change happen by themselves.??So they need to find a sponsor for their change, and a great way to do this is aligning their issues with those that are important to the potential sponsor.??Maybe the sponsor has committed to reducing headcount, and the advocate has found a way to improve automation.??The sponsor may see that as aligned to their goals and start supporting the initiative.

A shortage of ideas is never a good thing - if you see the project pipeline where you work isn't getting reloaded with new initiatives, maybe have a chat with some of the potential advocates you've met in the organisation.??They may have ideas but not be aware of how to promote them - you could probably help them, and in the process land yourself a new project.

Without an advocate, you've got no idea, no project.??You're probably sitting in your pyjamas reading this and waiting for the phone to ring.??

Whatever you're wearing, make sure to share this article if you're getting value from it.

?

The Sponsor

The sponsor has the authority to make change happen.??Whether they've been ordered to direct the required change from above, or decided to pick it up themselves - they are instrumental to the success of the change.??Whoever they are, they must be empowered to make decisions on the use of resources, including budgets, time and people.??

Without a sponsor there is no clear route to getting permission to secure resources for a project, no-one with authority to make the big decisions, no-one to help remove the blockages you may face.??Without a sponsor, you may not have a project to be a part of.

It's clear that a sponsor is needed in the start up, but what would happen if you lost one midway through the project???It happens and I've seen it a few times.??Usually what happens is someone is asked to deputise in the short term, unless a longer term replacement is already available.??Whoever is in place though needs to have this change aligned to their goals and their vision.??If they think this is just one more meeting and one more headache they don't need, it's going to go wrong.?

??

Implementer

The implementer reports to the sponsor and is responsible for implementing the change.??Does that role sound a little familiar???They're responsible for informing the sponsor on progress of the change; which includes whenever things are not going well.??The Implementer is getting things done on a day to day basis and without them nothing gets done.??In that case, what may happen is the sponsor will have the burden of a project to deliver resting entirely on them.??They may end up having to coordinate the effort, but despite their seniority they may not have the dedicated skills for doing this role so the chances of success would be poor.??And those chances would be worsened by the fact that such a senior person would have other major responsibilities to focus their efforts on.

?

Change Agent

The change agent is the facilitator of change.??They help the sponsor and implementer to stay aligned with each other.??They have no direct authority over the implementer, but act as an educator, a coach, an advisor and a facilitator.??In the absence of a change agent, you could argue that the sponsor and implementer will just have to work a little harder to be aligned - giving the impression that a change agent is an optional extra.?But what you'd probably find is you'd lose the ability to relate to the human side of the change, maybe even the conscience of the project.??If the advocate is focused on the outcome, the sponsor is focused on the strategic goals and implementer is focused on the tools and processes; you'll need the change agent to remind everyone that people are involved and impacted.??I know a lot of change agents who operate outside of O'Neill's definition - with much greater involvement in the holistic view of multiple changes in the organisation and their understanding of the bigger picture.??So back to the question of what would happen without the change agent, the change would be delivered but it would be less humane, less aligned to other changes - and that would make it less beneficial and less popular.

?If you enjoy the article, please connect with me for more project and change management content. I’d love to hear from you.