When I worked at a major investment bank in the city, one of the things we did at the Chief Data Office (CDO) to support the implementation of the bank-wide Data Strategy was the creation of the Data Champions Community of Practice. As part of the Data Strategy, new data roles – such as Data Platform Owners, Data Stewards, and Data Owners – new data tools and technology, such as Collibra, were introduced. In addition, we were introducing a new data policy and principles governing how we manage data which meant over 40K employees in over 20 cities across the globe needed to do things differently from how they operated in the past.
By any measure, that's a significant change initiative.
Embedding such significant transformational change at a global organisation requires leadership and ownership at the level where the real disruption to the way people work happens. As the Culture & Capability Lead at the Chief Data Office (CDO) at the time, I led the setup of the Data Champions Community of Practice, which served as the Change Champions Network driving end-user adoption. While not change management specialists or have any training in change management, Change champions are the people closest to how end users perceive change and usually have first-hand knowledge of the barriers to adoption.
Role of change champions
Change Champions can take up multiple roles depending on their interest and skill. For example, they can be expert users of a new system, advocate for change and be early adopters. In addition, given that they are the people closest to the change, they are the perfect candidates to serve as a feedback loop between those implementing and receiving the change.
01. Set the context and terms of reference.
Start by establishing what, when and why you need a Change Champions Network. To do that, ask the question, how does the Change Champions Network fit into the overall launch of the Change initiative? Also, ask how does the Change Champions Network fit into the overall organisational goals and the goals of the Change initiative? By finding answers to these questions, you would have provided the framework for defining the terms of reference for the Change Champions Network and clearly defined roles and responsibilities for Champions. Then, document the roles and responsibilities and validate them with key stakeholders, such as line managers, once you've gained their buy-in.
02. Attain sponsorship and buy-in from management and line managers.
Start by understanding whom you need support and buy-in from to recruit Change Champions and set up a Change Champions Network. Running a champions network is a costly task - people must give up their time to become effective champions, and line managers may have to commit resources to achieve the goals of the champions network. Therefore, consider the convincing you must do to gain buy-in.
Focus management, focus on articulating the value of the champions' network to achieving overall organisational goals for the change initiative. For line managers, focus on articulating the immediate benefits champions bring to their teams. Provide readily available high-level roles and responsibilities to line managers and communicate the expected time commitment for champions.
03. Prepare your readiness and champion activities roadmap.
It's always a good idea to have a plan. Your plan to include details such as the training champions need to become go-to system experts and how champions will engage and collaborate. In addition, the plan should include details such as the core engagement activities for your champions - define the activities to fit into the overall launch plan for the change initiative. For example, be clear about which activities to complete to support pre-launch, post-launch, and go-live day activities, such as early life support (ELS).
Finally, develop collaterals and resources to raise awareness among their peers and establish the cadence for continuous engagement. For example, set up a weekly or bi-weekly champions forum. Develop the physical infrastructure to support continuous engagement using existing internal collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, SharePoint, Google Drive, ServiceNow Visual Tasks Boards, and others.
04. Identify and recruit champions.
There are different ways of identifying and recruiting champions. There is no right or wrong way to go about it; however, certain principles are crucial.
- Representation - having a well-balanced pool of champions is a must. Typically, major change projects touch many parts of the organisation; therefore, ensuring that you are attracting champions representing each area of the business is a sure way to achieve the goals of the champions' network.
- Nomination process - wherever possible, start the nomination process from the top. Top managers should ask their direct reports to nominate champions from their teams, and line managers should encourage their team members to express their interest in becoming champions. This approach is the natural way of gaining buy-in from management, team managers, and line managers, as they are directly involved in the process and naturally take accountability for the success of the people they put forward.
05. Launch your Change Champions Network.
Perception is vital, so wherever possible, create considerable fanfare about the champions' network launch. Invite the appropriate leadership and management teams to the launch ceremony, which indicates sponsorship from the top. Ensure there is enough time for champions to ask as many questions as possible about the roles and responsibilities of champions. Please provide details of key activities they may be involved with and what support is available. Have a list of concrete things they can start doing after the launch ceremony.
06. Activate the change Champions activities roadmap.
After going through the planning motions, this stage is about executing your plan! First, launch the engagement tools and infrastructure described in the engagement plan - such as weekly calls and collaboration tools and continuously engage with champions. Next, use the feedback loops to learn more about barriers to adoption at the grassroots level and work with them to unblock change resistance.
And remember to reward and celebrate success.
How North Sakara can help you
North Sakara's approach begins with working with our clients to establish clarity of purpose for their transformation journey.
We apply common sense design thinking principles, expertise, data-driven insights, tools, frameworks, and methodologies from our proprietary platform, the
changeportal.io®, to better understand the expected ROI of transformations for our clients, their people, customers, shareholders, and society.
