Introduction: why this action matters for adoption
Senior-manager interviews are not courtesy meetings. They are a live change-management intervention that helps leaders make sense of the change, test the change story, identify adoption risks, and align on what they personally need to do. ACMP’s Standard treats change impact, readiness, stakeholder engagement, sponsorship, communication, learning, measurement, and sustainability as connected parts of a change approach, so interviews should be used to improve the strategy—not simply to collect opinions [ACMP, 2025]. (acmpmexico.org)
This matters because adoption depends on visible leadership, credible messages, and managers who can translate the change for their teams. Prosci’s benchmark research identifies active and visible sponsorship as a leading contributor to success, while Gallup emphasizes that managers need ownership of the interpersonal aspects of change and feedback loops from employees [Prosci, 2023; Gallup, 2020]. (prosci.com)
What this action is and when to use it
This action is a structured set of one-to-one or small-group interviews with senior managers who are critical to adoption. It sits in the category of facilitated live engagement and learning: the change manager briefs the leader, asks structured questions, captures concerns, and helps the leader clarify expectations, outcomes, and sponsorship actions.
Use it when the change is high impact, politically sensitive, cross-functional, or dependent on leaders changing priorities, resources, decisions, or behaviors. It is especially useful during strategy formation, before major design decisions, before go-live, when resistance is increasing, or after early implementation data shows uneven adoption. Gallup’s guidance to involve different stakeholders depending on change type, power, and influence is directly relevant here [Gallup, 2020]. (gallup.com)
Preparation: inputs, stakeholders, materials, timing, and decisions needed
Start with a draft change story, current-state and future-state summary, known impacts, stakeholder map, project timeline, adoption goals, open decisions, and known risks. ACMP positions impact assessment as a way to identify who and what will be affected and to inform strategy, risk, and resistance management [ACMP, 2025]. (acmpmexico.org)
Select “critical” senior managers using four criteria: decision authority, influence over impacted groups, operational ownership, and likelihood of blocking or accelerating adoption. Prepare a short interview guide, confidentiality statement, issue log, and synthesis template. Schedule 45–60 minutes per leader and plan a synthesis session with the sponsor after the interviews.
Decide in advance what can change based on feedback. If the strategy, timeline, resourcing, training approach, or governance cannot be adjusted, be transparent. Interviews lose credibility when leaders raise legitimate concerns and nothing happens.
Step-by-step facilitation guide
Open with purpose and boundaries. Explain that the interview will test assumptions, surface adoption risks, and clarify leadership actions. State what will be attributed, what will be anonymized, and how input will be used.
Brief the change in five minutes. Cover why the change is needed, what will be different, who is impacted, what outcomes are expected, and what is still undecided. McKinsey’s research links understanding, conviction, leader role-modeling, and a consistent change story with stronger transformation outcomes [McKinsey, 2023]. (mckinsey.com)
Ask for desired outcomes. Use questions such as: “What must this change achieve for your area?” “What would make it worth the disruption?” “Which benefits matter most: cost, speed, risk, customer experience, compliance, employee experience, or capability?”
Test the change strategy. Ask: “Where is the strategy strong?” “Where will it fail in practice?” “Which stakeholder groups need more engagement, training, or leadership attention?” “What decisions are missing?”
Surface concerns without debating them too early. CIPD argues that concerns should be reframed as legitimate voice and dialogue rather than automatically labeled resistance [CIPD, 2014]. Ask what worries the leader, what their teams will worry about, and what they believe people may say privately but not publicly. (cipd.org)
Clarify the leader’s role. Discuss what they need to communicate, decisions they must make, forums they should attend, and how they will coach their managers. Prosci distinguishes sponsor, people manager, project manager, and change practitioner roles, which helps avoid assuming the change team can do all adoption work alone [Prosci Core Roles]. (prosci.com)
Close with commitments. Confirm agreed actions, unresolved concerns, escalation items, and follow-up timing. Send a concise summary within 24–48 hours.
Example: how this could be applied in a real change initiative
In an ERP implementation affecting finance, procurement, and operations, the change manager interviews the CFO, COO, regional directors, shared-services leader, and senior plant managers. The CFO defines the desired outcome as faster month-end close; plant managers emphasize continuity of production and local purchasing exceptions. Interviews reveal that the training plan is too system-focused and ignores new approval behaviors. The strategy is adjusted to include manager-led process walk-throughs, role-based scenarios, and a weekly issue-escalation forum. This converts leadership concern into adoption design.
Roles and responsibilities
Role | Responsibility |
Change manager | Designs interviews, facilitates, captures themes, updates change strategy, and tracks actions. |
Executive sponsor | Opens access, reinforces importance, resolves escalated conflicts, and owns enterprise outcomes. |
Senior managers | Provide expectations, risks, local realities, adoption barriers, and visible leadership commitments. |
Project lead | Confirms what can change in scope, timing, design, or resourcing. |
HR/L&D/comms partners | Translate findings into manager enablement, learning, and communication support. |
Common mistakes to avoid
The first mistake is treating interviews as a persuasion campaign. If leaders feel the decision is fully baked, they will either comply politely or move resistance underground. The second is interviewing only supporters; dissenting senior managers often hold the most useful adoption intelligence. The third is failing to close the loop. MIT Sloan’s research on employee voice shows that speaking up is valuable because it contributes ideas for improvement and effective change; if nothing is done with the input, future candour declines [MIT Sloan, 2020]. (sloanreview.mit.edu)
Avoid mixing hierarchy levels in the same interview if it will suppress honesty. Do not overpromise confidentiality if comments will be recognizable. Finally, do not leave the output as “themes”; convert it into decisions, risks, strategy changes, and owner-led actions.
Measures of success or adoption indicators
Useful measures include interview coverage of critical leaders, completion rate, quality of themes captured, number of strategy changes made from input, number of escalated risks resolved, leader alignment scores before and after interviews, sponsor-action completion, manager readiness, and adoption indicators such as participation in enablement sessions, early usage, process compliance, and reduction in workarounds. Prosci highlights adoption, utilization, proficiency, objectives, and performance-to-objectives as relevant change success measures [Prosci, 2023]. (prosci.com)
Checklist for the change manager
Confirm which senior managers are critical to adoption.
Prepare the change story, impact summary, and interview guide.
Clarify confidentiality and attribution rules.
Ask about outcomes, strategy, concerns, stakeholder impacts, and leader commitments.
Capture direct quotes sparingly and themes consistently.
Separate facts, perceptions, risks, decisions, and actions.
Validate themes with the sponsor and project lead.
Update the change strategy, readiness plan, communication plan, and leadership plan.
Close the loop with interviewees.
Optional reusable interview agenda and question set
Time | Segment | Prompts |
5 min | Purpose and context | “This session is to test the change strategy and understand what success requires in your area.” |
5 min | Change briefing | “Here is what is changing, why, who is impacted, and what remains undecided.” |
10 min | Expectations and outcomes | “What outcomes matter most to you? What would make this change successful?” |
15 min | Strategy input | “Where is the plan strong? Where will it break? What needs to change before rollout?” |
10 min | Concerns and resistance | “What are you concerned about? What will your teams struggle to accept or do?” |
10 min | Leadership role and close | “What actions will you take? What do you need from the sponsor, project team, or change team?” |
References
ACMP. The Standard for Change Management, 2nd edition. Association of Change Management Professionals. Published August 26, 2025.
URL: https://www.acmpglobal.org/page/the_standard
CIPD. Landing Transformational Change. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. 2014.
URL: https://www.cipd.org/globalassets/media/knowledge/knowledge-hub/reports/2014-landing-transformational-change_2014_tcm18-16180.pdf
Gallup. Proven Change Management Principles: How to Effectively Initiate It. Gallup Workplace. July 15, 2020.
URL: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/315602/proven-change-management-principles-effectively-initiate.aspx
McKinsey & Company. How to gain and sustain a competitive edge through transformation. October 16, 2023.
URL: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/transformation/our-insights/how-to-gain-and-sustain-a-competitive-edge-through-transformation
MIT Sloan Management Review. When Employees Speak Up, Companies Win. November 17, 2020.
URL: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/when-employees-speak-up-companies-win/
Prosci. Best Practices in Change Management, 12th Edition Executive Summary. 2023.
URL: https://www.prosci.com/hubfs/Website_English/2.downloads/research-executive-summaries/Best-Practices-in-Change-Management-12th-Edition-Executive-Summary.pdf
Prosci. Core Roles in Change Management. Date not shown.
URL: https://www.prosci.com/blog/core-roles-in-change-management