Convincing your organisation to invest precious dollars into digital transformation initiatives will most likely be determined by your ability to obtain buy-in from stakeholders across the business. Identifying and building a team of invested advocates is the first step towards effectively presenting your business case for IT investment. C-Level approval may not be enough to successfully fund and implement new technologies without the support of dedicated stakeholders within your business.

8 Best Practices for Building Advocacy

Present a Strong Call to Action

Set the tone of the conversation by presenting a compelling value story focused on measurable business outcomes with the organisational voice of the customer as the prime motivator. Focus less on delivery benchmarks and more on the business benefits backed by data. You should spend as much time developing your storyline as you do gathering supporting data points.

Share Information Early in the Process

As you build your business case you may feel the need to make sure everything is perfect before sharing your ideas with stakeholders. Engaging stakeholders early in the process and creating a line of communication where they can offer input is a great strategy to develop interest. Developing familiarity with the initiative in advance will help reduce resistance when the business case is officially presented.

Be Honest Upfront

Be open and honest about the estimated benefits and potential roadblocks of your proposal to help set realistic expectations. Most importantly set reasonable expectations when presenting the financial upside of your initiative and clearly communicate the costs, resource requirements and time required to implement. Also be clear about the expected maintenance required post implementation. This would be the best time to get feedback and formulate ways to remediate potential risks that may sidetrack the project.

Align Metrics with Business Outcomes

Metrics allow executives to quickly assess the value and progress of business initiatives without having to deep dive into every detail. Your metrics should effectively measure the benefits derived from the business case with a clear connection to the desired business outcomes defined by stakeholders. The focus should be on metrics that show the value created by new technologies instead of operational measures tied to implementation. Be sure to present your metrics in a way that will make it easy for non-technical stakeholders to understand.

Get Input from All Parties Involved

Each stakeholder has a unique perspective and their own area of expertise. It would be a disservice to your initiative’s success to overlook valuable feedback that can help avoid delays and maximize the value created for your company. Although it may be time consuming, the best approach is to present your project information to each stakeholder individually to allow them time to ask questions uninterrupted. Once you have obtained insight from all parties involved you will have a wholistic view of how well your business case will be received.

Incentivize your Stakeholders

Be sure to clearly demonstrate what your stakeholders stand to gain from the proposed technology. Each stakeholder group may have their own specific interests so be sure to highlight how your initiative will make their lives easier, add functionality, or positively impact finances. If there isn’t an incentive that stands out, you can offer to assist them with their own business case or project to help garner their support.

Maintain Two-way Communication

Keeping stakeholders in the loop during each phase of the project will help maintain their ongoing support. Waiting for monthly or quarterly reviews may not provide an adequate level of engagement to mitigate risks and remedy negative feedback during critical project milestones. Promote an open forum where stakeholders are encouraged to ask questions, receive updates, contribute feedback, and escalate issues in between routine meetings to keep your initiative moving forward.

Leverage your Executive Sponsor

Your executive sponsor is a key ally in building advocacy for your business case across company functions. Work with your executive sponsor to gain commitment from other executive stakeholders and reduce the resistance to your proposed change. Communication coming from the executive level will have a greater effect than your voice alone and will help create a sense of urgency as you reach out internally for support.

Conclusion

After you have successfully received executive approval and funding for your business initiative you will most likely need other internal resources to help implement the new technology. Trying to obtain support from key stakeholders later in your journey may create unforeseen challenges that could put your project at risk. The best approach involves identifying, informing, and collaborating with stakeholders as early as possible to ensure you have committed partners that fully understand the value of your initiative and the expected business outcomes.