How to guide your project sponsor during the initial discussion on the new change

Deciding on the right change strategy for a project starts with a good understanding of what the change is all about.

 Your project sponsor or project lead is a crucial source of this information. To make your initial conversation with them more efficient, come equipped with a list of guiding questions. This list will help you gather the broad, foundational information necessary for developing the change readiness approach for the project.

That is why I created my own list of questions to assist me in that initial conversation with the project sponsor(s). By asking these questions about change, I am getting answers on what others will want to know about that change- and help me start thinking about a needed change approach.

You can repurpose the information you gather in this conversation for the project’s change story and communication. It also serves as a vital input for the change strategy that guides change readiness efforts. Preparing a plan for the specific information you need from your key stakeholder can help you minimize their time commitment, which they will appreciate!

A good practice is to send these questions ahead of time so your sponsor knows what questions he will be expected to answer during your meeting. You can also suggest that they invite to your conversation whomever they think can add to it.

I would often ask other key resources those same questions and listen carefully to their interpretations of the reasons for change. You would be surprised (or maybe not!) by how many different versions of “why we are doing this” you will hear.

As you know, so many questions need to be answered about the change. Sometimes, it is hard to determine where to start. But from my experience, I know this: not all questions need to be answered in that initial discussion with my project sponsor. 

With that approach in mind (and knowing that this is only the first of the many conversations on change with your sponsor), I am sharing this (relatively) short version of my list of initial questions). 

If you are interested in getting my complete list of questions to understand the change (not just meant for this initial conversation), give me your email address, and I will send them to you.