How to establish a network of change champions to support your change initatives.

1. How to establish a
network of Change
Champions
© The Change Source 2013 – All Rights Reserved

2. The use of change champions to implement change in
organizations spans nearly five decades and there are numerous
benefits to creating a network of champions to support your
change effort:
• Reduce the pressure on the centralized team to deliver
change;
• Identify issues on the ground and raise them quickly to the
project team;
• Gather feedback on the communications campaign and
feedback to the change team;
• Identify key resistors of change;
• Assist with managing resistance to change amongst their
colleagues;
• Create super users to assist in training of users;
Benefits of a change champion network

3. 1. Define the objectives - sample
Collaboration
What do we want the change champions to achieve?
 Gain experience of the ABC project on the ground and
share it with colleagues;
 Promote the ABC project;
 Identify issues and risks within their division/team;
 Gather feedback on the change;
 Accelerate problem solving;
 Foresee potential areas of resistance / avoid problems
with resistance;
 Become the main point of contact for their department
during and after the project;
 Become super users and the main go-to person post
implementation.
Role Criteria Next StepsObjectives

4. 2. Define the roles and responsibilities - sample
Collaboration
What are the roles and responsibilities?
 Understand the change the impact on employees;
 Understand the key project milestones and timeline;
 Attend project meetings as required;
 Assist with project communications;
 Attend focus group sessions to prepare for testing and
training;
 Participate in UAT testing;
 Attend classroom based training and participate in e-
learning training before users;
 Become super users of system X;
 Provide ongoing support to colleagues post Go Live;
 Support new joiners with e-learning training.
Role Criteria Next StepsObjectives

5. 3. Define and agree the criteria - sample
Collaboration
Change Champions will:
• Have worked at organisation ABC for more than 2
years;
• Have availability to attend project meetings and
training sessions as required;
• Be able to translate the overall change vision for their
division/team;
• Act as a positive role model for the project;
• Be able to provide timely feedback to the project
team;
• Be charismatic and influential;
• Be trusted and respected by colleagues and seen as a
‘go to’ person;
• Be able to recognise resistance to change and be
supportive to their colleagues.
Role Criteria Next StepsObjectives
What are the criteria for change champions?

6. 4. Agree collaboration methods - sample
CollaborationRole Criteria Next StepsObjectives
 Change Champion Kick Off session
 Monthly project status updates
 Quarterly champion face to face meeting
 Project meetings as required to develop
communications, scenarios, prepare for training and Go
Live
 E-mails
 Intranet project page
 Change Champion Awards Ceremony
How will we collaborate?

7. 5. Next Steps - Sample
CollaborationRole Criteria Next StepsObjectives
Conduct detailed
follow up meeting
Activate
Conduct Intro
session
Change Champion Network Active – add date
 After Management volunteers champions the CM Team will
brief champions regarding the project and their role of in
achieving the project vision.
 Send an e-mail to selected change champions providing
information on next steps in their new role.
 Collaboratively this group meet to discuss and agree:
 Provide a project overview
 Provide a change management overview
 Provide an overview of the Change Champion objectives
 Provide details of the role and expectations
 Agree methods of collaboration
 Agree next steps

8. Communicate and Reward Change Champion Network
Ensure that the organization is aware of the change champion network by
providing contact details, a photo and ways to communicate with them. In
addition, ensure that the launch communication includes how the change
champions will support the organisation during the change. Ideally this
message will come from the project sponsor or a senior leader to ensure the
importance of the network can be expressed with senior leadership support.
One of the risks of becoming a change champion is that the organization will
continue to value and reward champions solely for their regular job duties,
which they continue to perform. If this additional role is not recognised,
valued, and rewarded, it will be difficult to persuade anyone to continue in
the role even though it is occasional. Conversely, if a high value is placed on
the role, the number of change champions will continue to increase, which
should produce substantial benefits to the organization.

9. Case Study
A large Government department was rolling out a new knowledge management system
for 5000 employees that were geographically dispersed. It was impossible for the
change management team to work closely with all those impacted so they asked the
Division Heads to select individuals to join a Change Champions Network.
The network was comprised of employees from across the organisation who served as
extensions of the change management team as “on-the-ground” champions to support
their colleagues and be the “eyes and ears” for the change management team.
The change management team provided the champions with on-going project updates,
information and tips which they shared with their colleagues. Periodic meetings and
conference calls allowed change champions to connect with each other and exchange
ideas about how to build commitment, as well as keeping the change management team
informed about issues and major areas of resistance that required attention.
In addition, the change champions assisted with rehearsals for training and Go Live,
helping the change management team to iron out issues and preempt likely areas of
resistance during implementation. The champions then became super users of the new
system and were the go to people within their division during the Go Live and the post
implementation support phase of the project.

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