The stakeholders you forgot
Apr 12, 2022
A while back, I wrote an article called "The Employees You Forgot" (read it here). These were the people in a restructure whose roles are not affected or made redundant, but who are impacted by the change just the same (and potentially even more so given survivor guilt, being unable to find closure, and having to brave a brand new world and operating model). We usually don't spend a lot of time on the restructure survivors, because it's assumed they should be happy and grateful that their roles were safe.
Assumptions are dangerous things.
Because there's another group of stakeholders in every project and every change (not just restructures) that we often forget. Maybe you've forgotten them too, and if you have, you'd be forgiven because so little attention or insight gets put on them, that you're likely to completely leave them off your stakeholder list and change plan.
These are your "Involved" stakeholders.
In Change, we talk a lot about "Impacted" stakeholders. The ones who have to do something different. But your "Involved" stakeholders, the ones literally helping you deliver the change, are much closer and more dangerous to the success of your change, especially as they can often be the gatekeepers to your Impacted stakeholders!! Keeping them onside and onboard is absolutely essentially.
So who could be considered an Involved stakeholder? Anyone helping you deliver the change itself, including but not limited to:
- The Sponsor
- The Business Owner
- The Program or Project Manager
- The Business Analysts, Process Analysts and Test Leads
- The Subject Matter Experts and Stream Leads
- The IT or Technology Team (or even the technology partner/vendor)
- The Comms and Training Specialists (especially if they're BAU roles)
- The HR Team
- Even your own Change peers and Change team!!
All these people are part of your project team. You assume they're going to be on board. You assume that they're going to want this change to land successfully with the teams or with the impacted stakeholders. You assume that they want to make sure that everything's ready and set up for success.
But remember what I said about assumptions.
They are dangerous things.
They might be committed to the project (they aren't always), but that doesn't mean they come with a change lens. Especially Sponsors and Business Owners who are more focused on a deadline than on a successful adoption. Or tech teams that dream in code and think you have two heads when you politely provide feedback that their system is not (yet) intuitive or user-friendly. Or Internal Comms partners who are stretched as thin as a tightrope and your launch comms draft is at the bottom of their list. Or maybe even your very own client who hired you, if you are a working as a Change Consultant.
These are the kinds of people that again you would assume are on your side, but don't assume automatically that they are.
If you don't bring the “Involved” people along on the journey, they can disrupt the change, they can delay the change, they could even potentially destroy the change. They can be garnering resistance, especially if they've got strong business relationships. And it might simply be that maybe they feel threatened, maybe they are just not interested, maybe they don't even think that the change even needs to happen, or maybe they are unconvinced of even the value of Change Management in and of itself, or leading change in a strategic and sustainable way.
I've made this mistake before, a few times in fact. I've wrongly assumed everyone is onboard, informed and ready to go and I've been burned and had whole launch dates move, internal teams get very heated, and Sponsors quite upset and surprised at risks and plans they didn't know about.
I've learned my lesson and I'm sharing that lesson with you: factor your Involved stakeholders into your change planning and support. Whenever I do a Detailed Change Activity Plan, the Project Team are ALWAYS a stakeholder stream. They are worth their weight in gold, and aligning them early can pay dividends down the track.
If you'd like to learn more about engaging stakeholders successfully through change, come along to my free "Engaging Hearts and Minds through Change" webinar on Wednesday 18 May 6.00pm AEST (Sydney time).
CLICK HERE to register for my Engaging Hearts and Minds webinar
Lata xx
Free Coaching Action Guide : Underpaid & Overlooked
If you're thinking about a pay rise, promotion or full career change, download my free "Underpaid & Overlooked Coaching Action Guide" now to change with confidence and earn your worth.
By completing this form, you'll join my mailing list for info and marketing and can unsubscribe at any time.
