Framework library · Change management
Change impact assessment
A change impact assessment takes one change and asks, group by group, what will be different: the processes, the systems, the role, the skills, how people are measured, where and how much they work. The grid shows where the change lands hardest, which is rarely where the project team expects. The high impacts become the work list for training, redesign and communication.
Use it when
- A system, process or organisation change has been designed and you need to know who it affects and how much, before planning training and communication.
- The project team believes the change is mostly technical and you suspect the people impact is larger.
- Several changes are hitting the same groups and you need to see where the load piles up.
Avoid it when
- The design is not settled. An impact assessment of a moving design is wasted. Do a quick stakeholder map instead and come back when the design freezes.
- You need to know whether people are willing or able to change. Impact says how much changes, not how people will respond. Follow it with a readiness assessment or ADKAR.
- The change affects one small team. Talk to them; a grid adds nothing.
How to run it
Fix the scope of the change
One change, one design, one go-live date. If the design is still moving, note the version you assessed.
List groups that experience the change differently
Split a department when parts of it are hit differently: billing operations and billing IT are two groups, not one.
Rate each aspect for each group
High means people will work in a materially different way and need new skills or a new role. Medium means noticeable change they can absorb with guidance. Low means minor change, and none means no change. Rate from the design, not from hope.
Read across the grid
The counts below show how many aspects are high or medium for each group. A group with several highs needs a support plan of its own, not a slot in the general training.
Describe every high impact
In the second part, write what specifically changes, the support it needs, an owner and the date by which people must be ready. Check the descriptions with the group itself.
Watch workload during the change
Parallel running, data cleansing and testing land on the same people who carry the day job. It is the impact most often missed and the one most likely to delay go-live.
Work through it
Answer the questions below, or load the worked example to see a finished one. The drawing updates as you type. Export the result as a PowerPoint deck, a Word document, an Excel workbook, a PDF or plain text.
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Mistakes to avoid
- Rating from the project's point of view. A screen that looks the same to the designers can change every step of an agent's call.
- Rating everything medium, which hides the two or three impacts that need real attention.
- Forgetting how people are measured and paid. A change that alters targets or commission meets resistance that training will not fix.
- Doing it once. Repeat it when the design changes and again a month before go-live.
Where it comes from
No single originator: assessing what a change alters for each affected group, aspect by aspect, is a standard step in change management practice. Prosci, for example, describes ten aspects of a role that a change can touch, from processes and systems to reporting lines and location. The aspects and ratings used here are our own. Source.
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