Three Actions Great Sponsors Take to Ensure Successful ERP Implementations

Brandee Fantini – Principal

ERP implementations don’t succeed because of perfect plans or flawless training. They succeed because sponsors lead in a way that gives the organization confidence, clarity, and cover. The most effective sponsors show up differently from the start. They make visible choices that keep the work moving and the organization grounded through the uncertainty of the transformation.

These three actions separate great sponsors from well-intentioned ones.

1. Reduce ambiguity early.

Most sponsors underestimate how much uncertainty exists throughout the organization. They believe people need more information when they actually need orientation.

To reduce ambiguity and uncertainty early, great sponsors:

• Name what’s changing and what’s not
• Make early, transparent calls on priorities, sequencing, and decision rights

These actions help stabilize the environment and prevent teams from burning energy by trying to interpret the change instead of preparing for it.

What this sounds like: “We will stand up the new process. We will adjust performance expectations. And we’ll solve the capacity tradeoffs together.”

2. Give teams access, not just direction.

Teams don’t need more presentations. They need proximity to decision makers.

Great sponsors:

• Create short, recurring touchpoints with key functional and plant leaders
• Respond quickly to escalations
• Remove blockers without making teams re-justify the need for help
• Stay close enough to see risks before they become crises

Access to decision makers reduces swirl. When teams can get answers, they can move forward together faster.

What this sounds like: “If this slows you down, I want to know. Bring it forward early, and I’ll handle the escalation.”

3. Treat resistance as intelligence.

Resistance isn’t always a sign of poor buy-in. It can also be an insightful way to discover where the organization’s operational reality and implementation design are out of sync.

Great sponsors listen for patterns like:

• Where are people worried about the new process?
• What feels unrealistic in the workflow?
• What pain points are emerging as training progresses?
• Where is the legacy system still more efficient?

Use resistance to sharpen decisions and refine the deployment plan, not to judge readiness.

What this sounds like: “If we’re hearing this repeatedly, it’s pointing to something we need to understand. Let’s dig into it.” 

ERP sponsorship is a leadership role, not a status role.

Great sponsors don’t just authorize the implementation; they steward it. They don’t just validate decisions; they align teams to them. They don’t just broadcast the change; they model it before anyone else is ready. When sponsors lead this way, teams feel protected, the project gains momentum, and the business emerges stronger than it started.

ERP programs test the maturity of leadership long before they test the maturity of the technology. Great sponsors know that—and they lead like it.

Learn what a proactive change leadership approach looks like during ERP implementations in this article, or drop us a line in the form below to chat with a TiER1 team member about your goals for your next ERP implementation.