Seeks to identify and label key clusters of constituents who will be impacted by the change initiative. Using a simple pie chart model, constituent groups are identified and analyzed in terms of their relative interest/ involvement in the change effort. As the chart is being developed, questions about who will and won’t be on board with the change effort will naturally surface.
Uses:
Before launching into a more detailed analysis of specific pockets of support and resistance, teams have often found it useful to identify the broad base of KEY CONSTITUENTS impacted by the change initiative. As a prelude to the more detailed analysis of individual constituents, this process can help a team broaden its perspective regarding who the constituents are, where they reside in the organization, and their relative size as pieces of the overall constituent base, and decide how to spend limited resources (such as time). For team unfamiliar with how to mobilize commitment, this tool is relatively low-risk activity which can set the stage for more pointed discussions regarding the critical process of building a constituency for change.
How To Steps:
1. List all of the groups impacted by the change initiative.
2. Cluster like groups where appropriate to maintain a common elevation of analysis (example: sourcing, purchasing and expediting might be grouped as purchasing for simplicity sake if the rest of the groups are at similar level.)
3. Create the pie chart with attention to the magnitude of impact expected on each group (example: if engineering has 150 people whose lives will be impacted by the change and purchasing has only 15, the engineering group would be proportionally larger).
4. Debate and discuss the chart until all team members agree that it represents an accurate pictorial representation of the constituent groups that must be won over for the change initiative to be successful.
5. OPTION: In some cases, it may be useful to additionally create more detailed maps at a lower elevation
(example: If purchasing is determined to be a key block of constituents, it may be useful to break purchasing down into a more detailed pie chart representing sourcing, purchasing, expediting, etc.)
Timing:
Though not necessarily the first thing a team does to identify and analyze sources of support and resistance, this tool is most useful is used early, before the team becomes mired in detailed, specific discussions of who’s with us and who’s against us. As soon as the issue of support and resistance surfaces in the team, the stage is set to develop the first map of key constituents.
Tips:
Try to identify the broadest collection of constituents first, before applying the tool to more discrete groups. For example, a quick response change initiative team might construct its first map at a 30,000 level (to use an elevation metaphor). Such a map would include broad groups of constituents like engineering, manufacturing, sourcing, distribution etc… Staying at this level of analysis is useful in that ensures that no broad group is overlooked. More detailed maps may follow, but, at a minimum, the team can now see the challenge ahead in terms of building commitment among broad groups of constituents impacted by the change initiative.
