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The Core Study

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Continuum of commitment analysis

The key aim of the planning meeting is to work out who has a stake in the improvement of your team. These stakeholders will be people that you need to involve in varying ways. It is about gaining the right level of commitment. Of course this will vary according to who the individual is, and where they are currently with respect to your project. Maybe that is currently unclear and you need to develop more of a relationship with them in order to find out. The following "continuum of commitment analysis" is taken from the Academy of Large Scale Change at the (former) NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement (taken from a presentation Paul Plesk http://directedcreativity.com/ and is itself based on Beckhard & Harris, 1987). In the table below X represents where that stakeholder is currently in terms of commitment, and O is where you need them to be to achieve your purpose. So for example:

  • You really need A to be completely behind you. They are crucial to making it happen. You have a lot of work to do here to get them on board, as currently they have no commitment to the project. 
  • With B you really need their help and happily they are ready and willing to give it. 
  • With C it is a little more tricky. They are really committed and are throwing their all into making it happen. Unfortunately their role and presentation is such that you really just need them to step away and let it happen rather than seeking to lead it with a high profile. They tend to be the "kiss of death" to what you want them to do and you need to tactfully address this. 
  • D is another kind of challenge. Right now they are in your way, and are actively opposing changes. You need to get them to a point where they will at least step out the way in order to allow your purpose to be fulfilled.  

Table 1 - Continuum of commitment analysis

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 You can download a template for you to fill in your own analysis: