Stakeholder Assessment Toolkit for Change Management
Fostering successful change management through tailored communication and engagement
This toolkit will help you identify stakeholders and develop targeted engagement strategies and messaging to drive successful change management.
As IT organizations pursue small- and large-scale transformations on their campuses, poor stakeholder communication can easily derail good faith efforts to implement, update, or decommission technology. IT organizations can set themselves up for success by addressing two common change management pitfalls. Firstly, by assessing stakeholders across campus and tailoring communication efforts; and secondly, recognizing those stakeholders who may lack perceived power but may hold sufficient power to veto change.
For any given project or change, this toolkit from IT Strategy Advisory Services includes frameworks to systematically identify and assess stakeholder needs, develop tailored engagement goals, and craft compelling messages to drive support.
"“When we’re implementing a project, the actual development and project management is easy. What’s hard is getting people on board.”
"CIO
Large Public University
Mapping stakeholders
It’s not enough to simply know who the key stakeholders of a change are—IT leaders must anticipate and proactively address how those stakeholder groups may impact the project’s success. Use this framework to identify and assess stakeholders impacted by a change across three dimensions:
- Source of Stake:Â extent of formal power based on role at the institution
- Stance:Â Degree of support or dissent for proposed change
- Urgency:Â Sensitivity to change
Maximizing potential for action
Most transformations will face some level of ambivalence or dissent. Focusing on getting 100% buy in typically results in wasted time and effort, as does over-investing in building enthusiasm amongst those who already support the change.
Use this section to determine the appropriate engagement strategy and messaging based on stakeholder group’s combined source of stake, stance, and urgency.
Crafting a compelling offer for change
Undecideds represent a group that can make or break any change management process. Generate support from undecided stakeholders by thinking through the core components of a compelling offer: consequences and value to the stakeholder, or their “what’s in it for me?”
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