In Foundations for Change, we talked about the special case of middle managers in change. Middle managers are essential stakeholders throughout the change. They are expected to take a major execution role in the effort. And they are expected to answer all individual contributors’ questions and help them through the change.
In Sustaining Change, middle managers become the sponsor and project leader’s eyes, ears, and hands in stabilizing the change. Your goal as a project leader is to have the change take root uniformly. It is vital that you and the managers are on the same page about:
- The values and behaviors you are trying to instill
- How to build capability
- How to encourage and reward risk-taking
- How to sense mood and assess progress
- Etc.
Performance management is an essential way to promote alignment and consistency during this phase. Individuals will face individual challenges and managers' skills in coaching them through these will be key to achieving success in this phase.