The list below shows the top seven contributors to change management success as identified by the 822 participants in Prosci’s 2013 study.
- Active and visible executive sponsorship
- Structured change management approach
- Dedicated change management resources and funding
- Frequent and open communication about the change and the need for change
- Employee engagement and participation
- Engagement and integration with project management
- Engagement with and support from middle management
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The participants that identified these contributors were experienced practitioners, project leaders, executives and consultants (over 70% of them had four to more than twelve years of involvement in applying change management). Contributors to success range from having to do with specific practice areas (such as sponsorship) to addressing structural elements (like dedicated resources). Let’s investigate each of the top three contributors in more depth.
1. Active and Visible Sponsorship
Sponsorship was cited over three times more frequently than the next contributor. When sponsorship is effective, it means your change has a positive leader who is actively guiding the rest of the organization through the transition. Participants consistently used the key words “active and visible” to describe this top contributor. “Active and visible” means that the sponsor is:
Supporting the change by giving consistent attention to the change and the need for change management
Championing the change by leading and motivating others in the organization; being the face of the change
Making effective and influential decisions regarding the change, including the ability to align priorities among other leaders in the organization
Maintaining direct communication with the project management and change management teams and being accessible during the change
Participants were spot on in identifying sponsorship as the #1 greatest contributor to success. The graph below shows that with extremely effective sponsorship, projects were almost 3.5 times more likely to meet or exceed project objectives than projects with very ineffective sponsorship. How would you rate the sponsorship on your project?
2. Structured Change Management Approach
Applying a change management approach provides the structure necessary to stay on track, to make sure time is spent on 
meaningful activities, and it allows gaps to be identified and addressed throughout the project lifecycle. Using an approach also makes processes repeatable for consistent application of change management on more initiatives throughout the organization. Key words that came up when participants were describing this top contributor included:
- Established
- Customizable
- Scalable
- Easy to implement across multiple changes
- Easy to apply at every phase of the project
The amount of organizations using a specific methodology continues to grow. In 2003, fewer than 35% of participants were using a methodology. In 2013, over 75% of participants used a change management methodology. Again, we were able to analyze just how much applying a structured approach contributed to success. Applying a structured approach truly does contribute to success; participants that applied a structured approach were 1.5 times more likely to experience good or excellent change management effectiveness than those without a methodology. What are the characteristics of your approach and could it be improved to better drive results?
3. Dedicated Change Management Resources and Funding
Having a structured approach is critical, but initiatives and projects also need dedicated resources and funding so that the actual change management work can get done. To further understand what participants meant when they identified dedicated resources as a top contributor, consider the following summaries of their responses:
It’s important to secure the appropriate amount of funding and resources
It’s necessary to have dedicated resources with change management experience
It’s impactful to have a change team or community of flexible, ambitious, decisive, collaborative individuals
One participant provided a very insightful comment: “If it isn’t someone’s job, then it’s no one’s job.” To realize the benefits of change management, someone must be responsible for it and have access to the appropriate amount of funding. In analyzing the data, we were able to correlate the impact of having a dedicated resource (person) to overall change management effectiveness. Participants that had dedicated resources were 2.3 times more likely to have good or excellent change management effectiveness than those without a dedicated resource. What are some ways you can secure resources for you initiative?
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we discussed the top three (out of seven) contributors to change management success as identified by 822 practitioners in Prosci’s 2013 research study. Additional findings are published in Best Practices in Change Management – 2014 edition which includes steps you can take to ensure that your project is successful and common mistakes to avoid. The correlation graphs from the report presented in this tutorial demonstrate that the contributors have an actual impact on the successfulness of change initiatives and projects. The earlier graphs show the relationship between each contributor and project outcomes.
With effective sponsorship, organizations are almost 3.5 times more likely to meet or exceed project objectives
When using a structured change management approach, organizations are 1.5 times more likely to experience good or excellent change management effectiveness. With resources dedicated to change management on a project, organizations are over 2 times more likely to experience good or excellent change management effectiveness
Now consider what the impact would be if all of these contributors were applied in unison on a project! In fact, all seven of the top contributors were identified by study participants because they matter. How does your current project align with the greatest contributors to success? What’s the impact on your change management initiative?
Reference: Best Practices in Change Management – 2014 Edition: Change Management Learning Center http://www.change-management.com/
