Are you - the change practitioner, seeing the same issues from project to project? I am. Regardless of the industry, type of project many of the same obstacles keep rearing their heads. Here's one for you:
One of persistent things I see but have a tough time solving for is having sponsorship at the appropriate level. Sometimes we are dealt a sponsor team that is too high in the organization and sometimes they are too low. Both have their problems.
Sponsors too high in the organization tend to also be too busy to adequately provide leadership for your change. With that comes abdicating change/project responsibilities to those lower in the chain. Even if the surrogates are trusted leaders, I have found that they still have to go through proper decision making channels to get anything done. When you have to be nimble - this doesn't serve the project well.
Sponsors too low in the organization are generally very good at operational stuff and that becomes their focus. The problem here is that they may not have the same sense of strategic direction/visibility that someone higher in the organization has and may have trouble helping you navigate through the complex organizational matrix.
If you happen to stumble on this post, I would love to hear your ideas!
One of persistent things I see but have a tough time solving for is having sponsorship at the appropriate level. Sometimes we are dealt a sponsor team that is too high in the organization and sometimes they are too low. Both have their problems.
Sponsors too high in the organization tend to also be too busy to adequately provide leadership for your change. With that comes abdicating change/project responsibilities to those lower in the chain. Even if the surrogates are trusted leaders, I have found that they still have to go through proper decision making channels to get anything done. When you have to be nimble - this doesn't serve the project well.
Sponsors too low in the organization are generally very good at operational stuff and that becomes their focus. The problem here is that they may not have the same sense of strategic direction/visibility that someone higher in the organization has and may have trouble helping you navigate through the complex organizational matrix.
If you happen to stumble on this post, I would love to hear your ideas!
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