5.1 Supporting structure
The supporting structure is made up of two parts: the team structure and the sponsor coalition.
Team structure
The change management team structure identifies who will be doing the change management work. It outlines the relationship between the project team and the change management team. The most frequent team structures include:
- change management being a responsibility assigned to one of the project team members, or
- an external change management team supporting a project team.
The key in developing the strategy is to be specific and make an informed decision when assigning the change management responsibility and resources.
Sponsor coalition
The sponsor coalition describes the leaders and managers that need to be on board for the change to be successful. Starting with the primary sponsor (the person who authorised and funded the change), the sponsor model documents the leaders of the groups that are being impacted by the change. The change characteristics will determine who must be part of the coalition. Each member of the sponsor coalition has the responsibility to build support and communicate the change with their respective audiences.