Engage & Transform: July 2022
Jo Ann Sweeney
Explaining Change Expert, Clarifying the Complex. Helping Stakeholders to Embrace, Understand, Believe & Support Change.
5 Ways of Getting Executives Involved in Change & Transformation
Asking executives to fulfil tangible roles is a much more effective way of gaining their support and involvement, compared to providing information and expecting them to cascade this to their teams.
What they do is far more powerful than what they say when they are role modelling change. Here are five ways executives can get involved, that don’t take too much of their time and are easy to explain.
Advising and reviewing
Executives have a huge amount of experience they have developed as they worked their way up the hierarchies in multiple companies. Many will feel honoured to act as a sounding board as we migrate people to new ways of working.
My experience is that they are willing to share this when they believe we will listen, understand and then use the knowledge to improve what our teams do.
Hosting visits
One of the easy ways to involve senior executives in change and transformation is to invite them to host visits for us.
These may be visits to their offices, to sites where we are testing new processes and systems, where staff members may be relocating, or an outside venue.
Their willingness to host flags to other stakeholders that they are supportive.
Speaking on your behalf
Inviting executives to speak on our behalf to external audiences such as government committees and the media, as well as to internal audiences, is a powerful way of getting them committed to our programme.
Speaking out in favour of something, anything, invariably causes the speaker to feel more positive about whatever the topic is – in this case change and transformation.
Advocating for you
Another way of involving executives in our project, programme or campaign is to empower them to advocate on our behalf.
In essence, they speak about our achievements and progress to other opinion formers and influencers whenever they get the chance – without us having to prompt them.
Acting as sponsor
Sponsors have a strategic role in programmes; here are some of the things we can ask them to contribute to:
Do you use other ways of getting executives involved in change and transformation that are working in your organisation? Do share them in the comments below.
How do we Persuade Senior Leaders to Focus on the People Side of Change?
A change manager in Germany asked this question during a recent webinar. She works for a multinational medical equipment manufacturer with 30,000 employees spread across almost 40 countries.
Here are six things that work in practice no matter the culture of executives.
What would you add to this list that works in practice in your organisation?
Overcoming Cultural and Psychological Barriers to Change
In July I’m hosting an interactive event exploring the psychological and cultural barriers that cause people to resist change.
I'd like to extend a personal invitation to you. It will be great to have you join us.
We will be looking in detail at the five psychological and eight cultural barriers we all face; whether we are employees or contractors, experienced or new to leading change and transformation.
Plus I’ll be sharing some of the engagement and communication tools I use with my clients to overcome these barriers. They are practical and easy to apply; you will be able to use them with your teams as well.
Here is the link to book your place on zoom and for more detail.
Reserve your place and join us on Wednesday, 27 July at 13:00-14:00 UK time.
Do register on zoom even if you can’t join us live, as then we are be able to send you the link to watch the playback afterwards.
You should attend this practical and interactive workshop if you want:
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People Change Mastery
Join us and master the people change skills to complement your technology delivery skills.
People Change Mastery is a mentoring and support group for change and transformation leaders around the world. It is a collaboration of professionals.
When you join you become part of a network of professionals you can build relationships with and reach out to. You will make connections and find support.
You’ll have a confidential space to share struggles and challenges, as well as learning and successes. You’ll hear how your peers have resolved the issues you are wrestling with.
Their experiences, in other sectors and organisations, will help you look ahead and understand what can go wrong; things you may trip over and what to do to avoid potholes.
They are sharing knowledge and experiences that work in practice in global organisations.
Such exposure to other points of view is hugely valuable.
You’ll grow in the knowledge and confidence to make change relevant to a wide range of stakeholders. Executives will be willing to act as visible advocates as you have explained clearly in ways that are meaningful to them.
End users will willingly choose to change their ways of working as they understand what is in it for themselves, their colleagues and customers.
Your credibility will grow – greater trust, respect and opportunities.
Alongside networking, you can access the people change resources I use with my clients – practical toolkits, techniques, guides you can also use in your team - for planning, delivering and evaluating engagement, communication and resistance management activities.
Are you ready to join us and Master People Change so your programme stakeholders understand and get involved?
Your first step is to visit https://bit.ly/pcmappq and answer the questions; they will help both of us understand if People Change Mastery is right for you and you are right for the group. Once you have answered the questions Jo Ann will phone so we can begin getting to know each other.
What Has Jo Ann Been Up To
My highlight for June is being back in Dubai after a six month hiatus. I was there training delegates from Uganda and Nigeria in advanced government relations techniques.
The weeks either side were in central London hotels delivering critical thinking and then corporate communication training. It is great to be back face2face with people rather than delivering virtually. So much learning happens during the exercises when we are mind mapping and brainstorming together.
As well, during June I’ve been teaching myself two financial apps – Stripe and Sage. We are using Stripe to take monthly credit and debit card payments for our People Change Mastery group; it has been tricky to learn as it is complicated with lots of pages that don’t flow logically for my brain.
We are using Sage for quarterly VAT payments. The UK government now requires businesses to submit VAT returns via an online app; there are loads to choose from. It was easiest to go for the one our accountant uses. Initially I chose the basic version of Sage but it was too different to the way we manage our accounts. So we upgraded and now I’m much happier.
Overview of How We Work With Clients
As experts in the people side of digital transformation, we take your stakeholders from knowing little and resisting change, to willingly embracing new ways of working.
Then you can deliver the revenue and reputation benefits your executives expect of transformation.
We’ve created an overview of how we work with clients for digital transformation executives.
Do have a read through then contact Jo Ann to begin exploring your challenges and how we can support you and your team.
Our Credentials
Sweeney Communications is a virtual stakeholder engagement consultancy based in the United Kingdom supporting change and digital transformation in the IT, technology and telecommunications sectors; the consultancy was formed in 1993.
Our associates are experts in their fields, with extensive experience in change management, stakeholder engagement, resistance management, training and corporate communications for multinational organisations.
We are known for clearly explaining technical and complex information so stakeholders understand both the detail and relevance to themselves.
Our results-focused approach ensures engagement and change activities achieve their objectives, meet stakeholder expectations, make best use of resources and deliver value to reputation and the bottom line.
About Jo Ann Sweeney FCIM FIIC MCIPR
Jo Ann Sweeney is a senior consultant and founder of Sweeney Communications. Typically she acts as engagement lead/ director for a client’s change programmes.
Clients value her deep understanding of audiences. She is experienced at segmenting and prioritising stakeholders according to their influence and attitudes, then tailoring engagement activities to take them on the journey from where they are to where they need to be in terms of involvement and commitment.
Jo Ann is a Chartered Marketer, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Fellow of the Institute of Internal Communications and Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
She has documented her experiences in the practical Explaining Change System (2012). Other publications she has contributed to include: