Expert Guide to Writing an Effective Change Management Plan

By Diana Ramos | December 22, 2016 (updated July 24, 2023)

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The one thing a business can almost certainly expect is change. A lot of it. Most organizational change happens for one of two reasons: unexpected circumstances or intentional actions implemented to facilitate organizational growth or progress. Whether the change is due to a market influence, a reduction in budget, resource constraints, or expansion, it’s a safe bet that organizational change will affect your business on a fairly regular basis. 

Change management has evolved from simply something that happens in organizations to an entire discipline. This comprehensive guide provides information on how creating a change management plan can help your organization prepare and handle forecasted and unforeseen changes. We’ll also provide direction on writing effective change management plans for managing organizational change, along with best practices and tips from experts in the field. 

Understanding the Change Management Process

Many change management theories, models, and frameworks have been developed based on research and experience. One of these theories is Kotter’s 8-step Change Management Process. World-renowned change expert, John Kotter, outlined this 8-step process for change: create urgency, form a powerful coalition, create a vision for change, communicate the vision, remove obstacles, create short term wins, build on the change, and anchor the change into corporate culture. 

These models or frameworks act as a guide to managing change both personally and within an organization. Most of these models include a supporting process or sequence of steps to move a change from initiation to completion. Within the sequence of steps, there is typically a ‘Planning’ stage where teams create a change management plan to help manage the project tasks and activities. 

organizational change implementation plan

Addam Marcotte, Vice President of Organization Development for FMG Leading says, “The one constant in life is change. This is especially true in the business environment with eternally changing conditions. As the world becomes more interconnected, interdependent, and complex, seemingly trivial variables can have profound impact on global markets. Studies have shown that agile organizations, those that can adapt to change rapidly, are more likely to succeed — therefore having competency in organizational change can no longer be a reactionary one-time solution, but is a vital element of organizational strategy. Organizational Change Management is a systematic approach to leading large scale change, from process and org structure to culture and human capital.”

What is a Change Management Plan and Why Do You Need One?

A change management plan helps manage the change process, and also ensures control in budget, schedule, scope, communication, and resources. The change management plan will minimize the impact a change can have on the business, employees, customers, and other important stakeholders.

Marcotte believes that, “Effective organizations are able to handle varying degrees of complex change and quickly pivot and navigate the changing landscape. Deep emergent change can be extremely disruptive and unsettling, whereas intentional incremental change may feel like minor efficiency improvements and largely go unnoticed. All forms and degrees of organizational change need someone leading the journey and continually communicating with employees. It is important to have a comprehensive and integrated change management plan to help clearly articulate organizational strategy, helping people understand ‘why’ the change is critical and what the future state will look and feel like.”

organizational change implementation plan

According to Amy Kauffman , Founder of Strategic Moxie, “You need a change management plan because strategy and processes are always perfect in their conception, but as time goes on these elements of business become living, breathing, and changing entities. Change management plans help you remain agile, adapt to challenges along the way, monitor success metrics, and track milestones.”

How to Write a Change Management Plan

There are several steps involved in writing a change management plan. You can get started by using a change management template. We’ve outlined them here and provided some best practices recommended by experts in the field:

1. Demonstrate the reasons for the change.

organizational change implementation plan

Kevin Lonergan of PMIS Consulting Limited explains that, “One should never assume that people know why change is needed. Even the blindingly obvious is never obvious to all. Make sure that the reasons for the change effort are clearly defined.” When your stakeholders have a clear understanding of why the change is needed and how it will improve business or the way they work, they are more likely to support rather than resist the change.

2. Determine the scope. The next step in writing the change management plan is determining who the change will affect. Also determine what the change will impact, including policies, processes, job roles, and organizational structure.

3. Identify stakeholders and the change management team. Marcotte explains that the “best practices in change management often include a task force or team who ‘owns’ the organizational change and is empowered to execute it. The composition of this team is extremely important and it must be led by a credible leader.” The change management team interacts with stakeholders, addresses concerns, and oversees a smooth change transition. Roles within the team require clear definition, including outlining each member’s responsibilities. A Change Advisory Board (CAB) may also be established to oversee changes, offering change approvals and guidance. 

4. Clarify the expected benefits. These benefits should be clearly delineated so that everyone involved understands the advantages of proceeding with the change. 

5. Milestones as well as costs must also be clearly outlined. Marcotte explains the importance of clear milestones: “Research shows 70% of changes fail because people believe that results relative to the effort aren’t worth it, or aren’t working. Establishing well-communicated and achievable milestones are vital to the success of any change plan. These milestones become symbols to employees that the plan is working, progress is happening, the direction is still right, and the effort is worth it.”

6. Create a change management communication plan.

organizational change implementation plan

Susanne Powelson , Vice President of Lovell Communications, Inc., explains the value and importance of clear, consistent communications as part of the change management plan. “The right strategic communications can help maintain employee focus and foster trust – even in the most uncertain times. Build trust among your employees by being visible and accessible. Strive to set a positive tone for the organization and resist the urge to let problems or shortfalls dominate all of your communications. Instead, focus on helping employees across the organization understand the benefits of the change. Create opportunities for employees to ask questions and let them know what information you can share, what information you can’t share and when they can expect further updates,” she says.

organizational change implementation plan

‌ Download Stakeholder Communication Plan - Microsoft Word

There are three basic elements to communications in the context of change management. 

  • Identify the stakeholders and those impacted by the change. 
  • Next, schedule regular face to face interactions and email communications to keep stakeholders updated on progress. 
  • Finally, communications should be consistent, thorough, and regular. Communications should also clearly explain the change, define the reasons for change, present the benefits of the change, and always include change owner’s contact information.

organizational change implementation plan

Below you will find a sample of how Bob Kermanshahi, Head of Strategy at Siemens Real Estate for the Americas, (part of Siemens, a conglomerate with $20 billion in annual revenues from the Americas,) manages business transformation utilizing a formal change management plan. 

Siemens Case Study

Change Management Processes and Systems

Change management processes and systems pave the way for successful change management. It is essential to be able to submit a change request, track, schedule, and manage that request through delivery. Along the way, you must also monitor roadblocks, milestones, and resistance. A change management system will allow a single storage location for all data association with organizational changes, standardization of procedures, analysis of trends and activity, and easy access from anywhere at any time. 

Look for a system that offers the following functionality:

  • Configurable change request forms
  • Change approvals
  • Change monitoring
  • Updating change
  • Change assignment to individuals, teams, and/or Change Advisory or Change Control Board
  • Ability to classify as a change and reclassify as a defect if necessary
  • Schedule of changes (Forward Schedule of Change)
  • Configurable change management processes
  • Role assignment
  • Change log for historical tracking
  • Budgeting and cost controls
  • Ability to break work down into tasks

Resistance Management Plan

How you manage resistance is a critical element when managing change. After identifying the stakeholders, a project manager should examine how they will each be affected by the change. According to Lonergan, “It’s not only important to identify stakeholders, but also predict how they will respond to the change. Often stakeholders will respond by resisting change, so creating a resistance management plan is important.”

Currently, there is an extremely busy industry focused on creating and studying change management models, frameworks, processes, plans, and tools - not to mention professional trainings and certifications that span industry verticals. Since change is a necessary element of organizational growth, this industry will continue to prosper.   

Planning for Change in Healthcare Organizations

Planning for change in an organization is a necessary, yet often challenging aspect of business planning. In healthcare-oriented businesses in particular, change management is even more essential, as there are many more variables to keep in mind, like patient confidentiality, secure data storage, credentialing processes, and more.

Change management plans help to determine how changes will affect an organization, the scope of the change, and how change will be communicated to the rest of the organization. In healthcare organizations, this process needs to be transparent, quick, and updated regularly to maintain optimal patient care, while keeping providers and insurance companies on the same page. To plan for change in your healthcare business and ensure your organization remains efficient while keeping all information and data protected, you need a powerful, real-time, and secure tool.  

Smartsheet is a work execution platform that enables healthcare companies to improve work efficiency, scale repetitive processes, and securely store and share protected health information. Streamline documentation, improve communication of changes both internally and externally, and modify healthcare processes for the better, while also maintaining top-level data security compliant with HIPAA’s regulatory requirements. Track the progress of changes in individual processes with all-up reports and centralized dashboards.

Interested in learning more about how Smartsheet can help you maximize your efforts? Discover  Smartsheet for Healthcare .

Smartsheet: The Ultimate Tool for Creating a Change Management Plan

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The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. 

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

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How to Implement Change Management: A Step-By-Step Guide to Successful Organizational Change

Andrew Sumitani

In recent years, change management has become somewhat of an organization buzz phrase—and for good reason. For businesses to succeed in today’s world, change is inevitable. And whenever it occurs, it needs to be masterfully managed. 

On average, more than two out of three organizations experience four significant changes over the course of five years. Being able to effectively manage these changes is more important than ever because—in the coming years—that number is set to grow even higher. 

Despite the growing number of initiatives, 70% of all change management initiatives will likely fail . 

But the good news is that your organization doesn’t have to suffer the same fate. By following the steps in this article, you can successfully implement change management initiatives and increase your productivity and profitability along the way.

Did you know: Only 22% of employees believe their management  is very transparent, compared with 40% of managers?

What is Change Management?

Change Management 2

Change management is the process of systematically managing how well employees accept and adopt organizational changes. It’s about ensuring your employees buy into and champion the changes your business makes. 

When change management is implemented correctly, your organization and your employees benefit. What if you could ensure each of your projects met every one of your objectives? It almost sounds too good to be true, but it isn’t.  

Research has shown that if your organization has excellent change management chops, you are six times more likely to meet your objectives. It is one of the key predictors of success and it affects your employees.

Change can be difficult. However, with excellent change management, your employees are more likely to support the initiatives while remaining engaged in their work and more productive.

organizational change implementation plan

3 Critical Phases of Change Management

Change Management 3

According to change management leader Prosci’s research, there are three phases of change management . Successfully managing each phase is what will help you implement changes and grow as an organization.

1. Prepare for change

In the first phase of change management, you’ll lay the groundwork for your entire change management plan. During this phase, you’ll develop a situational awareness, identify potential challenges with leadership, and perform an impact assessment. 

With this insight, you can begin to create your change management strategy.

2. Manage change

Once you have your strategy developed, you can create and implement plans to support your overall strategy. 

Below are some common plans you’ll want to develop during this phase.

3. Reinforce change

The final phase of change management takes place after you implement your changes. This phase ensures your organization maintains the changes and you get the results you expect. 

In this phase, you’ll measure and reinforce behavior changes, correcting any gaps that arise.

How to Successfully Implement Change Management

Change Management 4

It can be difficult to implement each phase of change management. But there are proven steps you can take to make your efforts effective. 

Chet Holmes, an acclaimed corporate trainer and business growth expert, is no stranger to change. After working with nearly 1,000 clients—including major companies like Citibank and Warner Bros.—he’s considered a master at implementation.  

In his national best seller, The Ultimate Sales Machine , Holmes shared exactly how to master organization change. Here are 10 steps—based on his experience—that you can use to successfully implement new concepts, policies, change, and growth in your organization.

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1. Communicate and get everyone to understand and feel the pain

“The first thing you need to do is if you want people to change is to show them why what they’re doing now isn’t working.” –Holmes

When you’re just getting started with change management, you’ll want to communicate with your employees from the get-go. They need to understand the problem and the pain it’s causing to realize why change is necessary. This will help create buy in and support for the changes to come.

Before you explore solutions, focus on the problem and create a sense of urgency with pain. To do this, Holmes suggests starting the discussion by asking the question. Gather your employees and ask them to identify what their current challenges are. Let them complain and feel the pain as a group.

Once your staff have identified their current challenges and the negative impact of it, intensify the pain. Ask them to consider what the drawbacks are for not changing and solving this problem. You can guide the conversation; just make sure your employees are able to provide their honest opinions.

2. Seek employee feedback to assess the pain and generate solutions

“People liked to be asked their opinion. Then when they give it, they’ll have a greater buy-in when you actually take advantage of the ideas they suggest.” –Holmes

Once your employees understand the problem and feel the pain, let them be the ones to find the solution. 

To do this, Holmes recommends that you get your employees together and have them spend some time writing down their ideas to solve the problem. After the two minutes, ask your employees to share what they’ve written and capture each idea on a whiteboard. 

Once all of the ideas are shared, work as a group to prioritize solutions. Start by having each individual rate their top three choices. After all of your employees are finished, tally the totals and pick the top five to focus on.

If you have a remote workforce , you can still benefit from Holmes’ strategy. Instead of meeting in person, replicate the experience with video conferencing. As each individual shares their ideas, document them and use screensharing to display the list to the group and rank each solution.

Tackling problems as a group will help generate better solutions and get your employees involved in the process. This involvement will help create support for the solutions you ultimately implement. 

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Streamline feedback collection and collaboration

If you’re short on time or find it difficult to get everyone together, you can use short surveys instead of meetings to collect feedback and get your employees involved. This will also streamline this critical change management step and maximize your employees’ time. 

To conduct a solutions-oriented survey, first send out a one-question survey that asks your employees how they would solve the problem at hand. Make sure the question is open-ended and your employees know they can provide several ideas.

Once your survey ends, review the results and consolidate any similar responses. Send out a follow-up survey and ask your employees to rank their top three choices from the consolidated list of solutions. Using their feedback, you can quickly identify the top five solutions that will have the most impact.

current-survey

Steps 2 & 3 In Action: Royal Dutch Shell’s “Valentine” Events

One of the world’s largest organizations, Royal Dutch Shell, used pain to develop effective solutions to problems they faced with a new initiative. At the time, chairman Chris Knight had proposed a customer service center initiative to streamline communication and improve relationships with service centers.  

Initially, not all employees were on board with the idea. Knight needed also needed to solve the problem of how to empower customer service staff so they could meet their customers’ needs in these centers. 

To do this, he gathered employees for one-day events called valentines . For the valentine events, small groups came together and wrote out the grievances they had with other groups and described how they were getting in the way of a successful customer service center. 

When each group received their grievances, they discussed each one, prioritized them, and selected the two most important to deal with. For each prioritized grievance, the groups then created a detailed plan to resolve the issue and built in accountability.

3. Turn it into an initiative and communicate about it.

“Each solution or procedure is ‘conceptual’ until it is ‘proven’ by you and your staff.” –Holmes

Once you’ve found your solutions, your next step in implementing change management is to turn each one into an initiative. To get started, you’ll want to create your conceptual solutions. These will be a work in progress and you can expect to make several changes before you are ready to implement them.

These conceptual solutions can take a variety of forms. Often this includes scripts, job aids, procedures, and any other materials you will need when your solution rolls out. 

For example, if one of your solutions is that your employees will use a checklist to review applications received from customers, you will create the conceptual checklist and procedures for using it during this step.

When you have your conceptual solutions, make sure to communicate and share these with your change management team, subject matter experts, and sponsors. This will give them the opportunity to provide feedback and correct any major issues before you move into the next step.

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4. Leadership or a small tiger team pilots the change

“Don’t be tempted to have everyone in your organization test and perfect the procedure at the same time. Instead, have the higher-level talent perfect it.” –Holmes

Once your conceptual solutions are ready, it’s time to pilot the changes. The pilot group Holmes recommends is a little different than what most are familiar with but can be very effective nonetheless. Rather than large-scale pilots, he suggests having top leadership or a team of high-level talent test and perfect your solutions.

Leadership and top performers will be the ones to champion your change. Having them pilot it shows they support it and produces better results. 

5. Set a deadline and communicate the results

Throughout your pilot testing, there will likely be challenges that arise and hurdles to overcome. That’s the purpose of a pilot. But this can become problematic if there are so many changes that it becomes an endless pilot.

To avoid this, set a testing deadline from the outset and make sure your pilot team is aware of it. This is also a good time to communicate with your employees so they know the pilot is happening in the first place. 

After the testing is over, share the results with your employees. It’s important to keep the process as transparent as possible. Let your employees know the good and the bad—what worked, what didn’t, and what you are doing differently because of your results.

6. Analyze and document the process

“You want this to be a repeatable process, so spell it out.” –Holmes

When pilot testing is over, you should have a streamlined, repeatable process all of your employees can follow. Your process should be detailed enough that it’s clear to a brand-new employee. 

Documenting your process ensures that your employees understand exactly what they need to do when your new process is rolled out. It keeps things consistent and helps your employees perform the process as efficiently as possible.

7. Show-and-tell the documented steps and train staff

Once you have a documented process, it’s time to train your employees. One of the most effective ways to do this is through show-and-tell and role-playing. It’s one thing to read a script. It’s another to see it in action. 

Show-and-tell and role-playing can be done in a variety of ways. The important thing is that your employees see the process and have the opportunity to practice it in a safe environment.

For example, you can record a telephone procedure and incorporate it into an eLearning module. You could then create an interactive scenario for your employees to complete. 

You could also use the same recording as part of an in-person training and follow up by having employees partner up to practice using the procedure. This type of hands-on learning will help your employees better apply the new process and retain information.

8. Seek employee feedback again to improve

With any good change management strategy, it’s important to listen to your employees. Once they are trained on the new procedure, get them back together or send out a short survey. 

Ask them how they would implement the procedure and how they would do it better. This step will help you refine and improve your process before you roll it out.

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Step 8 In Action: Toyota

“Kaizen” (continuous improvement) is a core principle of the Toyota Production System and should be at the heart of every change management initiative. 

Kaizen is a philosophy that improves standardized work by empowering employees to identify problems with a procedure and brainstorm solutions. Using this approach, Toyota has been able to better maximize productivity and increase the quality of their products.

9. Monitor the procedure

When you implement a new procedure, there’s always a learning curve. As such, it’s important to monitor it and make sure your employees are properly implementing it.

Holmes suggests monitoring it on at least a weekly, if not daily, basis. By doing this, you can see what’s happening and correct behavior, if necessary. 

Frequent monitoring like this creates accountability for your employees and makes them more likely to adopt the changes.

10. Regularly take a pulse to measure how effective the change is

“You must measure your results intently. People re spect what you in spect.” –Holmes

Measuring the effectiveness of your change will reinforce it and ensure it is working as intended. Regular pulse surveys can help you do this. 

By sending a quick survey to your employees , they can provide instant feedback that will help you continuously improve the process and gauge their comfort level. These surveys also help your employees continue to feel involved and a part of the process.

The anonymous nature of pulse surveys means your employees will be more likely to respond and provide honest feedback. This gives you better insight into how well your changes are working.

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How to Conduct a Post-Implementation Survey

When you conduct your pulse survey, try to limit it to three to six meaningful questions at a time. Each week, you can focus on different topics and ask different questions. In general, there are three areas to focus on post-implementation:

  • Pre-implementation training
  • Solution or procedure implemented
  • Communications and feedback loop

Example Post-Implementation Survey Questions to Ask

Pre-Implementation Training

  • On a scale of 1 – 10, how would you rate the quality of the training?
  • On a scale of 1 – 10, how would you rate the instructor?
  • On a scale of 1 – 10, how easy was it to apply with you’ve learned?
  • Were there any questions or concerns left unaddressed in the training?

Solution or Procedure Implemented

  • On a scale of 1 – 10, how comfortable are you performing the new procedure?
  • Are there any unexpected negative impacts of the new procedure? If yes, please describe.
  • Have repetitive tasks been reduced since the new procedure has been implemented?
  • Are you using [insert new job aid, computer system, etc.] to perform [insert task] on a regular basis?
  • Is there anything about the new procedure that needs clarification?
  • Is it easier to perform [insert task] since the new procedure was introduced?

Communication and Feedback Loop

  • Did you receive the right amount of communication throughout the project? If no, please explain.
  • Do you know how to submit feedback or make a suggestion to improve the new process?
  • On a scale of 1 – 10, how likely do you think it is that your feedback will be considered?

Implement Your Change Management Strategy

To grow your organization and remain competitive, a strong change management strategy is essential. How you manage change impacts more than just one project. It affects your entire organization because it is a reflection of your culture. 

Mismanaged change often creates stress and confusion because employees don’t understand why changes are happening. Some may even feel angry if they weren’t involved in the process or feel like their feedback was ignored. 

These feelings can decrease the overall morale in your organization and lower productivity. It can also create a legacy of failed change—making it that much more difficult to get your employees to buy into future changes. 

Great Leadership

By working through the three phases of change management and following the 10 steps described in this article, you can prevent common pitfalls and become a master at implementing change.

Including your employees and getting them involved in generating solutions is one of the most crucial things you can do to create buy-in. Once you’ve created your conceptual solutions, have leadership or a small team pilot the changes. Document the “perfected” process but expect there to be changes to it. 

Throughout any change management project, actively solicit feedback from employees. Once you’ve implemented the new procedure, make sure to monitor it and take regular pulse surveys to measure the effectiveness. This type of continuous improvement will make your procedures the best they can be and set your organization up for success. 

With a firm change management strategy in place, your organization can continue to evolve with the times and figure out the best way forward—delighting your customers along the way.

RELATED POSTS:

  • 10 Quick and Easy Ways to Begin Organizational Change
  • 3 Hidden Traps That Make Mergers and Acquisitions Fail

How To Be A Change Management Hero: Process, How-To Plans, and Steps

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The Most Successful Approaches to Leading Organizational Change

  • Deborah Rowland,
  • Michael Thorley,
  • Nicole Brauckmann

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A closer look at four distinct ways to drive transformation.

When tasked with implementing large-scale organizational change, leaders often give too much attention to the what of change — such as a new organization strategy, operating model or acquisition integration — not the how — the particular way they will approach such changes. Such inattention to the how comes with the major risk that old routines will be used to get to new places. Any unquestioned, “default” approach to change may lead to a lot of busy action, but not genuine system transformation. Through their practice and research, the authors have identified the optimal ways to conceive, design, and implement successful organizational change.

Management of long-term, complex, large-scale change has a reputation of not delivering the anticipated benefits. A primary reason for this is that leaders generally fail to consider how to approach change in a way that matches their intent.

organizational change implementation plan

  • Deborah Rowland is the co-author of  Sustaining Change: Leadership That Works , Still Moving: How to Lead Mindful Change , and the Still Moving Field Guide: Change Vitality at Your Fingertips . She has personally led change at Shell, Gucci Group, BBC Worldwide, and PepsiCo and pioneered original research in the field, accepted as a paper at the 2016 Academy of Management and the 2019 European Academy of Management. Thinkers50 Radar named as one of the generation of management thinkers changing the world of business in 2017, and she’s on the 2021 HR Most Influential Thinker list. She is Cambridge University 1st Class Archaeology & Anthropology Graduate.
  • Michael Thorley is a qualified accountant, psychotherapist, executive psychological coach, and coach supervisor integrating all modalities to create a unique approach. Combining his extensive experience of running P&L accounts and developing approaches that combine “hard”-edged and “softer”-edged management approaches, he works as a non-executive director and advisor to many different organizations across the world that wish to generate a new perspective on change.
  • Nicole Brauckmann focuses on helping organizations and individuals create the conditions for successful emergent change to unfold. As an executive and consultant, she has worked to deliver large-scale complex change across different industries, including energy, engineering, financial services, media, and not-for profit. She holds a PhD at Faculty of Philosophy, Westfaelische Wilhelms University Muenster and spent several years on academic research and teaching at University of San Diego Business School.

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Organizational Change Management: What It Is & Why It’s Important

Business manager speaking to team during meeting

  • 21 Jan 2020

Virtually every organization will, at some point, undergo a transition or change in order to remain viable and scale. Whether onboarding new employees, growing a department, or merging with another company, these changes can have a significant impact on the trajectory of your business.

Unfortunately, organizational change isn’t always easy to adapt to and can be intimidating for all team members who find themselves impacted by it.

As a manager tasked with overseeing organizational change or guiding your employees through it, it’s important to know what the process looks like and what to expect. Change, although challenging, can be a major opportunity for growth and career advancement, so long as you know how to approach it.

Here’s a primer on what organizational change management is and some tips for navigating it.

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What is Organizational Change Management?

Organizational change refers to the actions in which a company or business alters a major component of its organization, such as its culture, the underlying technologies or infrastructure it uses to operate, or its internal processes. Organizational change management is the process of guiding organizational change to a successful resolution, and it typically includes three major phases: preparation, implementation, and follow-through.

organizational change management definition

What Causes Organizational Change?

Many factors make organizational change necessary. Some of the most common faced by managers include:

  • New leadership at the helm of the company or within its departments
  • Shifts in the organizational team structure
  • The implementation of new technology
  • The adoption of new business models

To ensure a smooth transition, it’s important to have a set organizational change management process that can be applied across various types of change.

Types of Organizational Change

2 Types of Organizational Change: Adaptive and Transformational

Adaptive changes are small, incremental changes organizations adopt to address needs that evolve over time. Typically, these changes are minor modifications and adjustments that managers fine-tune and implement to execute upon business strategies. Throughout the process, leadership may add, subtract, or refine processes.

One example of an adaptive change is an organization that upgrades their computer operating systems from Windows 8 to Windows 10.

Transformational changes have a larger scale and scope than adaptive changes. They can often involve a simultaneous shift in mission and strategy, company or team structure, people and organizational performance, or business processes. Because of their scale, these changes often take a substantial amount of time and energy to enact. Though it's not always the case, transformational changes are often pursued in response to external forces, such as the emergence of a disruptive new competitor or issues impacting a company’s supply chain.

An example of a transformational change is the adoption of a customer relationship management software (CRM), which all departments are expected to learn and employ.

Many changes will fall somewhere between adaptive and transformational on the spectrum. For this reason, managers need to understand that the change process must be tailored to the unique challenges and demands of each situation.

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Why Is Organizational Change Management Important?

Organizational change is necessary for companies to succeed and grow. Change management drives the successful adoption and usage of change within the business. It allows employees to understand and commit to the shift and work effectively during it.

Without effective organizational change management, company transitions can be unpredictable and expensive in terms of both time and resources. They can also result in lower employee morale and skill development.

A company’s reaction and adaptation to change is also a critical consideration for key stakeholders like investors, suppliers, and prospective employees when deciding whether to work with or for a company. As a result, a lack of effective change management can lead to an organization’s failure.

A Manager’s Role in Organizational Change

Within an organization, every employee has a different role in assisting with change. While many staff members may complete heavily detailed work, senior-level executives with longer tenure might have different goals. Even within management, leaders and managers perform different tasks.

Leaders, for example, have to be courageous by taking on risks. They need to look at the big picture and articulate high-level change to the company, explain why it’s occurring, and motivate people to support the transition. To be successful as a leader , you must be insightful and know who to put in charge of carrying out change processes.

Managers are more concentrated on making business transitions successful. They focus on implementing change by determining the discrete steps that need to happen and their sequence. Managers are also typically responsible for allocating resources, such as personnel, and determining how success is measured. Ideally, leaders will also be managers , but it’s the primary responsibility of a manager to know how to design, direct, and shape change processes.

To achieve this, you must have a wide array of management skills , such as:

  • Effective communication , including actively listening to your team and colleagues
  • A highly developed level of emotional intelligence
  • Strong organizational skills
  • Attention to detail
  • Problem-solving and decision-making skills
  • Delegating without micromanaging

Preparing for Organizational Change

To prepare for organizational change, it’s essential to first define the organizational change, understand why it’s critical, and garner support from your colleagues.

Then, create a roadmap that clearly articulates and measures success and explains how the business—and its employees, customers, and constituencies—will be affected.

Ensure the process plan aligns with business goals and outlines the implementation and sustainability of the organizational change. Note what challenges may arise and be flexible enough to adjust accordingly. Be sure to celebrate small victories along the way.

Change management doesn’t stop once you’ve successfully executed an organizational transition. Both during and after the process, you need to continuously assess outcomes, track performance to goals, train employees on new methodologies and business practices, and readjust goals as necessary to increase the likelihood of success.

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Developing the Skills You Need to Manage Organizational Change

Many managers experience organizational change throughout their careers. By learning how to preempt and address the challenges associated with change, you can ensure you’re equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to manage it.

If you’re looking for opportunities to improve your organizational change management abilities, enrolling in an online management course, like Management Essentials , is one option that can provide you with real-world skills, teach you common business strategies, and prepare you to handle any transitional challenge that comes your way.

Do you want to become a more effective leader and manager? Download our free leadership and management e-book to find out how. Also, explore our online leadership and management courses to learn how you can take charge of your professional development and accelerate your career.

This post was updated on January 3, 2023. It was originally published on January 21, 2020.

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How to create a change management plan (and get it right!)

Georgina Guthrie

Georgina Guthrie

October 21, 2022

Like death and taxes, change is an inevitable part of life. And how an organization navigates these choppy waters can be a dealbreaker. 

Do it well, and you’ll minimize disruption and seize any opportunities that come knocking (remember, not all change is bad). Make a mess of it, and you’ll miss out, fall behind, or worse, end up on the rocks. So, how do you manage change to make sure it goes off without a hitch?

With a change management plan.

Change management is a process that helps organizations understand how to navigate change effectively. And one of the most important aspects of change management is the plan document. But what is it? And how do you create one? We’re here to help…

What is change?

The definition may seem obvious, but it’s worth being clear. In business, change can mean lots of things: a new product launch , an acquisition or merger, a rebrand, a relocation of your premises, or a shift to remote work. The list goes on. 

Change can be internal — like a new process or way of work — or external — like a change in the marketplace. It can be planned (we’re implementing a new CRM system in three months) or unplanned (a global pandemic throws our business plans into disarray).

In every case, though, it’s vital to have a plan that sets out how you’re going to manage the transition and ensures everyone is aware of what’s happening, when it’s happening, and what they need to do. That’s where change management comes in…

What is change management?

In short, change management is the process of managing change within an organization. But it’s not just about making changes; it’s about doing so in a way that minimizes disruption, maximizes efficiency, and keeps everyone on board.

Think of it this way: if your company is a ship, change management is the process of keeping it sailing smoothly through choppy waters. And just like a ship needs a map to stay on course, an organization needs a plan to manage change effectively.

What is a change management plan?

A change management plan is a document that outlines how an organization will manage change.

This can include everything from small changes, like adding a new employee to the payroll, to large-scale changes, like moving the company’s headquarters. 

It covers every little detail — from outlines of the change plan to task assignments for each stage to implementation guidelines. Just like a map that guides you to your destination, a change management plan outlines how you’ll navigate through the change and the aftermath. And just like any good roadmap, a change management plan should be clear, concise, and easy to follow.

Why is a change management plan important?

A change management plan helps organizations manage change effectively. By outlining the hows, whats, whys, and whos, you can ensure everyone is on the same page and keep disruption to a minimum.

Understanding different change management processes

There are a number of different change management processes out there to make transitions easier. Here are the most popular: 

  • The Kubler-Ross model: the Kubler-Ross model, also known as the five stages of grief model, helps people understand and come to terms with change. Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross first developed it in 1969, and organizations continue to use it to manage all sorts of changes, from downsizing to mergers and acquisitions.
  • The Lewis model: in this model, organizations manage change by understanding how people respond to change. Developed by organizational change management expert Richard Lewis, the Lewis model is based on the idea that people go through three stages when confronted with change: denial, resistance, and acceptance.
  • The Prosci model: this approach helps organizations understand and address the three areas most affected by change: people, processes, and technology. It was developed by Prosci, a leading provider of change management research, tools, and training.
  • Kotter’s 8-step Change Management Process: this method is built around eight key steps: creating a sense of urgency, forming a guiding coalition, developing a vision and strategy, communicating the vision, empowering employees to act on the vision, generating short-term wins, consolidating gains and producing more change, and institutionalizing new approaches.
  • The McKinsey 7-S Framework: created by management consulting firm McKinsey & Company in the early 1980s, this process addresses seven key areas: strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff, and skills. 

As you can see, there are a wealth of options. Choose the one that best fits you and your team, as well as your project. Or try a blend, as we’ve done below with our tips! When it comes to change, the more you structure it, the smoother things will be. 

How do you create a change management plan?

Creating a change management process is relatively simple. Just follow these steps: 

  • Define the scope of the change.
  • Identify the stakeholders.
  • Assign responsibility for making each change.
  • Develop a timeline for implementing each change.
  • Create a budget .
  • Determine how you will measure the success of each change.
  • Document everything in a clear and concise manner.
  • Review and update your change management plan regularly.

Let’s go into each of these in a little more detail.

1. Define the scope of the change

The first step is to identify the necessary changes. This can be anything from adding a new vending machine to the breakout area or rebranding to introducing new tech or moving the company’s headquarters. Be as specific as possible when identifying the changes on the way. 

  • Read our guide to avoiding scope creep for more tips 

2. Identify the stakeholders

Once you’ve defined the scope of the change, you need to identify who will be affected by it. This is known as a stakeholder analysis and should include everyone from senior managers to front-line employees.

  • Here’s a guide to how to identify and manage stakeholders  

3. Assign responsibility 

Who’s doing what? Nurturing a sense of personal accountability is important when it comes to organizational change. With so much going on, you need everyone on the team to know exactly what’s expected of them. As project manager, you have to clearly identify who will be responsible for making each change and make sure they’re empowered to do so. 

4. Develop a timeline

Once you’ve identified the scope and responsibilities, the next step is to develop a timeline for implementing each change ( here’s a free project timeline template ). This will include deliverables and project milestones and act as the heartbeat of the project, driving you forward. 

Project Management Gantt Chart in Backlog by Nulab

5. Create a budget 

Budget forms one-third of the triple-constraint triangle . So, if you’re a project manager, you’d better be sure you have it under control. Change is a project like any other, and it’ll almost certainly incur costs. Set a budget for your change. This will help ensure you have the resources necessary to actually implement the changes. 

6. Determine how you’ll measure success 

If you aren’t measuring success, how do you know the project’s over? Make sure you have a process in place for documenting your achievements beyond the timeline or Gantt chart. This can be anything from customer satisfaction surveys to financial metrics. By determining how you’ll measure the success of each change, you can confirm whether your change management plan is achieving the desired results. Change can also be challenging and stressful, so celebrate your wins! 

7. Document everything in a clear, concise manner

Jargon, messy documents, convoluted processes — no thank you! When you’re creating a change management plan, pay attention to form as well as content. Are your documents organized coherently and easily accessible? Have you checked your spelling and grammar? Did you use diagrams to visualize data where possible (it’s much easier to take in data when it’s presented as an image)? Is everything written in plain language? These things matter. 

8. Review and update your change management plan regularly 

It’s important to review and update your change management plan on a regular basis to make sure it’s still relevant and effective. The best way? Create the document in your project management tool . Then, you can store everything in a single repository (a.k.a. a single source of truth ). 

Checklist: which documents should your change management plan include? 

Your change management plan should include the following documents:

  • A list of the changes 
  • A responsibility assignment matrix , including stakeholders 
  • A change roadmap, with a timeline for implementing each change
  • A budget for each change
  • A communication plan

Alongside these formal documents, your change management plan should include/address:

  • The reasons and scope of the change
  • A list of stakeholders, which may include a change control board
  • A detailed description of the expected benefits

Change management plans: best practice

Some tips to guide you: 

  • Make it clear: the plan should be clear and concise and feature easy-to-follow processes. All stakeholders should be able to understand it and know their roles in the change management process. 
  • Be realistic: keep the plan realistic and achievable. Take into account the resources available and the timeline for implementing each change.
  • Be flexible: the plan should be adaptable to fit the changing needs of the organization and employees. And it should be in a format that easily accommodates changes as they occur.
  • Communicate regularly : keep the lines of communication open, especially when the plan changes. This helps everyone stay abreast of the developments, so they know what’s required of them throughout the process.
  • Review and update regularly: keep the plan up to date to ensure it remains relevant and effective.
  • Set targets: targets drive your project forward. When setting them, ensure they’re specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (a.k.a. SMART goals) . And don’t forget to set up key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring the progress and effectiveness of your plan. 
  • Ensure buy-in from all stakeholders: stakeholders are important and play a key role in determining whether or not the change was a success. So, don’t forget them! Make sure they understand the need for the change and are committed to supporting it. By seeking their input, getting sign-off on every development, and communicating regularly, you’ll keep these important people smiling. 
  • Use project management software : spreadsheets, MS Word formatting, version control , progress update emails — say no to it all, and go with a simpler solution. Project management software is the best option when it comes to change management plans, since you can get everything you need in one program. Project management software is a digital way to create, track, and monitor your plan from start to finish — all from one central repository, which everyone on the team can access in real-time.

Look for a project management tool that offers a way to:

  • Create and edit change request forms
  • Set different monitoring, access, and approvals capabilities 
  • Update the change plan, including reclassifying items
  • Break down tasks and assign work to individuals or teams
  • Change scheduling capabilities 
  • Configure the change management process
  • Access a change log for historical tracking
  • Alert team members with automatic notifications

Final thoughts

Change is inevitable, but that doesn’t mean it has to be chaotic. Armed with an effective change management plan (and some good collaboration tools ), you’ll be able to navigate even the most challenging of changes with ease. Good luck! 

How project managers design a change management process

How project managers design a change management process

Stop project failure in its tracks with a contingency plan

Stop project failure in its tracks with a contingency plan

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Change Management Plan What is it with Example and How to Create Yours?

Published: 26 December, 2023

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Stefan F.Dieffenbacher

Organizational Development

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Plenty of businesses and business people claim they want to generate change in their companies and industries, but despite having big dreams, very few succeed. We believe the main reason these ventures fail is that they lack a Change Management Plan.

A Change Management Plan is an explicit description of how the different segments of a business will navigate innovation and transformation. The way we talk about change is often metaphorical, or aspirational. Your Change Management Plan will distil your vision into actionable processes that enable the advances you’re looking to make.

Change management plays a vital role in guiding organizations through the complexities of change, ensuring smooth implementation, and gaining stakeholder acceptance. At Digital Leadership, we specialize in providing customized strategic management and digital strategy consulting services tailored to meet the unique needs of businesses. As an inaugural measure to assess the current state of innovation within your organization, we offer the Innovation Blueprint service, designed to assist businesses in mapping their current innovation practices and aligning them with specific needs and objectives.

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Corporate training, innovation consulting and much more.

In this article, we will discuss how a Change Management Plan is an effective tool for innovation, and how you can use your own Plan as an engine for transformation and growth.

What is a Change Management Plan

The change management plan is a structured approach that an organization follows to successfully introduce and manage changes within the company. It is typically used for significant or complex changes that have a significant impact on job roles and require a more strategic approach to implementation.

The plan outlines the steps necessary to transition from the current state to the desired future state and includes a plan for monitoring and measuring the success of the change.

One popular model for managing change is the 8-Step Change Model, which consists of eight steps that guide an organization through the process of implementing and managing change. The model begins with identifying the reason for change and gathering and analyzing data to understand the current situation.

It then moves on to developing a vision and strategy for the desired future state, communicating the change to stakeholders, empowering employees for success, creating a detailed plan for implementation, and executing the plan. Finally, the model includes a step for evaluating and adjusting the change as needed to ensure its success.

For a more tangible understanding, consider this change management plan example , A multinational company decided to transition from its legacy project management software to a more modern, cloud-based solution. Recognizing the need for change, they conducted extensive surveys and data analysis, revealing widespread dissatisfaction with the current system.

The vision was to improve collaboration among global teams and enhance project visibility. The change was communicated transparently to all stakeholders, and employees were empowered through comprehensive training programs. The implementation plan included a phased rollout, starting with smaller teams before company-wide adoption. Regular evaluations were conducted, and adjustments were made based on user feedback. The new software significantly improved project efficiency, reduced delays, and fostered better collaboration across departments, demonstrating the success of the change management plan.

The 8-Step Change Model provides a structured approach for managing change and can be used in conjunction with a change management plan to ensure a smooth and effective transition.

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Change Management Importance

Change management can help organizations to:, (1) minimize resistance and increase support for change initiatives..

By having a well-structured change management plan, organizations can reduce resistance to change by effectively communicating the reasons for change and addressing potential concerns.

(2) Ensure that changes align with the organization’s overall strategy and goals.

A change management plan helps ensure that changes align with the overall business strategy and business goals and that the changes are aligned with the organization’s vision and mission.

(3) Enhance the effectiveness and success of change initiatives.

A change management plan helps organizations to implement changes more effectively and increases the chances of success.

(4) Minimize disruption to operations and minimize the impact of change on employees.

By effectively managing change, organizations can minimize the impact of change on employees and reduce disruption to operations, ensuring that the change process is smoother and more efficient.

(5) Improve communication and collaboration during the change process.

A change management plan helps improve communication and collaboration between different stakeholders during the change process, ensuring that everyone is working towards a common goal.

(6) Ensure sustainability of changes by embedding new practices into the organizational culture.

A change management plan helps organizations embed new practices into the organizational culture, ensuring that changes are sustained over time.

(7) Increase the chances of success by anticipating and addressing potential problems before they arise.

By anticipating and addressing potential problems before they arise, organizations can increase the chances of success and reduce the risk of failure.

How do you Write a Change Management Plan?

As you set to write a Change Management Plan, it’s important to remember why you’re writing it to begin with: you want to control the chaos that accompanies any major overhaul of an organization’s way of doing business. Managing the fear and uncertainty that people feel at this time will help change occur far more smoothly; having a clear roadmap of how you’ll bring that change to life is a big help.

Below we walk through the steps involved with writing a Change Management Plan that you can use to move your business forward.

Create the Need for Change

Step (1): Identify the Reasons for change & create urgency

  • Create Awareness of the need for change
  • Articulate a powerful rationale and business case.
  • Open the Dialogue and Create Urgency

Step (2): Form a Powerful coalition and build the guiding team

Assemble and nominate a team with enough power and influence to lead the change effort

Change the Direction

Step (3): Develop a Vision & Strategy for Change

Develop a clear vision of how the future will be different and define a roadmap toward achieving that vision.

Step (4): Communicate the Vision and Strategy

  • Use every possible vehicle to communicate the vision and gain buy-in
  • Address concerns, lead by example, and reward people
Change Behavio r

Step (5): Empower Actions & Remove Barriers

  • Eliminate barriers that impede transformation & empower people to take actions
  • Align resources, systems, and structures to support the vision and strategy

Step (6): Create Quick Wins & Celebrate Achievements

  • Create visible quick wins
  • Identify and Reward change agents involved
Change Sustainability

Step (7): Secure Successes, Accelerate & Build on the Change

  • Consolidate and build on the change
  • Define goals that ride on the momentum
  • Use credibility to change policies and procedures that don’t fit the vision.

Step (8): Make Change Stick & Anchor Change in the Corporate Culture

  • Continually articulate the connections between the new way of working & corporate success.
  • Weave new corporate culture and style into leadership development and succession planning

Change Management Processes

Change management processes and systems pave the way for successful change management. It is important to be able to submit a change request, and then track, schedule, and manage that request through delivery. A change management system will allow a single storage location for all data associated with organizational changes, standardization of procedures, analysis of trends and activity, and easy access anywhere at any time.

Look for a system that offers the following functionality:

  • Ability to break work down into tasks
  • Configurable change request forms
  • Budgeting and cost controls
  • Change log for historical tracking
  • Role assignment
  • Configurable change management processes
  • Schedule of changes (Forward Schedule of Change)
  • Ability to classify as a change and reclassify as a defect
  • Ability to change the assignment to individuals, teams, and/or Change Advisory or Change Control Board
  • Updating changes
  • Change monitoring
  • Change approvals

Change is inevitable.

No marketplace survives intact forever, and successful businesses adapt as necessary to ensure their growth and prosperity. Additionally, businesses should change purposefully for innovation that makes better use of their resources and competitive advantage.

Following an articulated Change Management Plan will help guide your organization successfully through the decisions you make today for the opportunities you’ll find tomorrow.

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Explore the Levels of Change Management

Change Management Plans

organizational change implementation plan

Written by Lisa Kempton

Updated: February 21, 2024

Published: March 29, 2021

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Change management comes to life through change management plans. The objective of the plans is to support impacted individuals and groups to move through their ADKAR journeys effectively and enable them to adopt and use a change. Practitioners develop change management plans during Phase 2 of the Prosci 3-Phase Process.

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The Prosci 3-Phase Process

Master Change Management Plan

The Master Change Management Plan is the deliverable from Phase 2 – Manage Change . It describes the high-level blueprint and specific plan or plans to be developed for the change project, including the actions, roles and timelines to prepare, equip and support people to achieve their ADKAR transitions.

Before developing any specific change management plan, change practitioners create an ADKAR Blueprint to set the direction for a change initiative. The ADKAR Blueprint is a simple and scalable guide, oriented toward people, which enables the practitioner to identify at a high level the milestone dates, expected gaps and initial ideas for each ADKAR element.

Under some circumstances, such as small, low-risk changes, the ADKAR Blueprint may be all that is needed. Or, if you’re a novice practitioner, the ADKAR Blueprint may be all you feel confident developing for your change. For more complex, higher-risk projects, however, the ADKAR Blueprint serves as a starting point to help you identify, scale and develop a set of robust change management plans to meet the needs of your specific project.

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Core Change Management Plans

The core change management plans are the specific, high-value plans recommended for most change initiatives. Designed to be scalable and flexible to your situation, they can be role-based or activity-based:

Sponsor Plan

People manager plan, activity plans, communications plan, training plan.

While the ADKAR Blueprint addresses all elements of ADKAR, each core change management plan includes tactics to address certain ADKAR elements. Again, you may or may not need all four core plans. The number, type and depth of plans required depend on the project as well as the organization’s unique needs.

Effective sponsorship is consistently cited as the top contributor to project success in every Prosci Best Practices in Change Management benchmarking study. Unfortunately, even the best senior leaders sometimes do not demonstrate effective sponsorship. They may misunderstand the importance of their role, struggle with competing priorities, or simply not know what to do. To ensure successful sponsorship, the change practitioner must provide the needed support and structure, and enable sponsors to execute their employee-facing responsibilities.

The Sponsor Plan is a recommended core role plan to target the Awareness, Desire and Reinforcement elements of the ADKAR Model . This change management plan, implemented by the primary sponsor and other members of the sponsor coalition, enables them to effectively carry out their roles—to be active and visible, build a coalition of support, and communicate directly with employees.

As “people managers,” middle managers and supervisors directly impact front-line employees because these employees will typically emulate their manager’s attitudes about the change, whether those attitudes are supportive or not.

A recommended core role plan, the People Manager Plan targets all elements of the ADKAR Model. This plan, carried out by people managers, enables them to effectively perform their CLARC roles:

  • Communicator – Build Awareness by addressing “Why?” “Why now?” and “What’s in it for me?”
  • Liaison – Solicit and relay feedback between employees and change teams about implementation progress
  • Advocate – Promote support for change with words and deeds
  • Resistance Manager – Identify root causes and address individual resistance to change
  • Coach – Help teams gain Knowledge and Ability through one-on-one and one-to-many opportunities

The People Manager Plan outlines the steps for involving managers in these change management activities. The plan starts by laying out how the project team and change management resources will build commitment, and train and prepare managers and supervisors for their role in a change. Once on board, managers and supervisors work with front-line employees to understand their needs and help them adopt and use changes.

People often mistakenly equate change management with communication. While many organizations have communications departments and many project teams create communications plans, they often fail to recognize how communication fits into the broader change process. Communication is a critical component of implementing change but is by no means the only requirement for success.

A recommended core activity plan, the Communications Plan targets the Awareness and Reinforcement elements of the ADKAR Model. The Communications Plan identifies audiences, develops key messages, and determines the frequency of communications, delivery mechanisms, and senders.

Note that effective communication does not mean an attractive newsletter, the use of a standard template, or even a high frequency of messages. Effective communication is targeted for each of the different audiences impacted by the change and focuses on what they care about and what they need to know. A structured communication plan presents the right messages at the right time, in the right format or via the right channel, and from the right sender.

Absent a holistic approach to change management, organizations sometimes use training alone to manage changes without critical activities like sponsorship and coaching. This is one of the biggest errors a team can make when introducing a change and a prime example of poor change management.

A recommended core activity plan and one of the most-used change management plans, the Training Plan targets the Knowledge and Ability elements of the ADKAR Model. The plan is created by identifying the different audiences that need training, conducting a needs assessment and gap analysis, and documenting requirements for the training organization.

In addition to project-specific training, it is important to include training about change management in this plan. Sponsors and people managers need training to understand their important roles and responsibilities in managing change.

When change management is applied effectively, a partnership forms between the change management team (which documents knowledge needs) and the training group (which develops and delivers the needed training).

Plans-with-ADKAR

Extend Plans

“Extend” Plans are the potential additional plans you may decide to include in your Master Change Management Plan to address issues that are unique to your change.

Resistance Management Plan

Resistance to is a natural reaction to change and is consistently cited as a top obstacle to success in Prosci research. Sponsors and people managers can take meaningful steps early in a project to mitigate potential impacts through resistance prevention.

An extend activity plan that may be created during Phase 2 – Manage Change , the Resistance Management Plan targets the Desire element of the ADKAR Model by preventing, addressing and responding to resistance. The plan identifies potential sources and forms of resistance, steps to answer objections before they manifest, who will be involved in managing resistance , and how you will prepare them to effectively address the resistance.

A complete resistance management plan will also include steps for monitoring and responding to resistance, including identifying triggers and taking appropriate actions.

Additional Extend Plans

You may decide you need additional change management plans to meet the specific requirements of your change. Such plans can be completely unique to your change and organization, or they may resemble the typical extend plans below.

  • Change Agent Network Plan – This plan directs the activities of an engaged group of change advocates who represent the interests of their respective impacted groups. The specific role and contribution of change agents is defined by the organization and may be unique to the initiative.
  • Sponsor Coalition Plan – This plan is intended to ensure that all members of the coalition support the change and are aligned with respect to the desired outcomes. The change practitioner develops the plan for the primary sponsor, who executes the plan with members of the sponsor coalition.
  • Sustainment Plan – This plan helps ensure that individuals will continue to use adopted changes over time, sustaining the change so that the organization realizes intended benefits. The Sustainment Plan also identifies activities necessary to ensure the transfer of ownership of the change from the change management team to the appropriate business owners.

Putting Together Your Change Management Plans

Every change initiative needs a combination of plans, and the right combination depends on your needs. The Prosci Methodology encourages change practitioners to take a flexible approach to developing change management plans based on numerous factors including the risk level of the change, culture of the organization, and the practitioner’s change management competency level. These factors influence which plans to choose—whether the ADKAR Blueprint alone or some other combination of core and extend plans—to support your work and success with change.

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Lisa Kempton is a Prosci Senior Development Partner who has been helping organizations excel at change for more than 20 years. She is best known for her work in collaboration with Tim Creasey to build and develop the Prosci Change Scorecard – a holistic, research-based tool to bring clarity, alignment and credibility to the Change Management process. Previously, as a senior consultant and change leader in the healthcare, insurance, IT, and utilities industries, Lisa led large-scale strategic transformations, established a Change Management practice and infrastructure, designed organizational effectiveness solutions, and more.

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How to Make a Change Management Plan (Templates Included)

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A change management plan is a critical part of any project plan can be the difference between project success and failure. Let’s break down how to create one so you can better manage project change, no matter where it shows up in your project life cycle.

What Is a Change Management Plan?

A change management plan is a process that implements a change or changes in a project or across an organization. You can think of a change management plan as a roadmap that shows all the steps you need to take from identifying the change to realizing it. This plan not only sets the course by which you can execute the change, but asks how it will impact the project or organization, how workflows will be affected and whether it will alter your relationship with your customers or teams.

Manage Change, Reap the Benefits

By using an effective change management plan you’re able to manage the process and thereby be more productive in its execution. It helps you control the budget, schedule , scope and resources. It even impacts your communication process. In fact, the change management plan is systemic, touching on all aspects of project management. When done correctly, it will minimize the impact to your project or organization.

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Change Log Template

Use this free Change Log Template for Excel to manage your projects better.

Elements of a Change Management Plan

Define the following elements below to create an effective change management plan for your project.

  • Change Management Roles:  First, who is going to be doing what in your change management plan? Who has the authority to submit a change request, who reviews them and who authorizes them? You’ll need to define roles and responsibilities for effective change control
  • Change Control Board:  Staff your change control board with people who will receive the change requests and have the authority to approve or veto them.
  • Develop a Process: You need a process in order to effectively submit, evaluate, authorize and manage and control the change requests. Without a process, change management is unmanageable.
  • Change Request Form: You can’t have a process, however, if you don’t first create a change request form to capture the data. It’s important that the information you collect is consistent throughout the project.
  • Change Log: Basically, this is a place to collect, and then track all the change orders . Without a central location where changes can be identified, requests approved and assignments documented, there’s no way to know if there’s been any progress.
  • Use a Tool: A project planning software  can help you keep track of changes through every phase of the project until it’s finally resolved.

Project management software can help you execute your plan. ProjectManager has an award-winning Gantt chart that can be used to create your change management plan: organize tasks, link dependencies, set milestones and even filter for the critical path. The plan can be shared with your team, who can use our multiple project views to collaborate better. You won’t find an easier-to-use or more powerful change management software. Get started with ProjectManager today for free!

ProjectManager's Gantt chart

How to Make a Change Management Plan

Jennifer Bridges, PMP, breaks down how to create a change management plan in the following video. She explains how change is measured against the project baseline , which is the detailed description of the time, cost, scope and quality of the project that you have determined when planning. Therefore, a change management plan is going to take that baseline and ask how, what, when where, why and how to figure out change and how to manage it.

After you watch the video, be sure to try some of our free templates below to help you manage change and your project.

Pro-Tip: There are different types of change management, and the best way to get a holistic understanding of it is through the triple constraint. There are processes established to help with the change management process , and it’s crucial to know them. Also, keep in mind that change management procedures vary depending on the industry you’re in. For example, change order forms are used primarily in construction to change the scope of projects.

Take it Further: Sometimes, when tough changes happen in the midst of execution, technical debt can be accrued. Learn all about it and how to minimize it.

Our free change log template for Excel is part of any thorough change management plan.  It is the next step once a change has been proposed and authorized by the project manager. This free template has space to write the change request type, the date it was identified, a brief description, the priority and its status.

organizational change implementation plan

More Change Management Plan Templates

Change management can be planned, executed and monitored best with project management software , but if you’re not using that tool then you can still get by with templates. ProjectManager has dozens of free templates on its site, which touch on every aspect of a project, including the change management plan. Below are three free templates to get you started.

Change Request Form Template

Before a change can be approved, stakeholders or project team members should use a change request form to suggest changing the project scope or project plan. If their request is feasible, it can be approved and turned into a change order.

Change Order Form Template

Our free change order form template for Excel is just the tool to streamline the change approval process. It helps you understand the change, from the opportunity it offers and the reason for the change to how long it’ll take, who requested it and who will authorize or deny it.

Action Plan Template

Get that change management plan executed properly with our free action plan template for Excel. This is where you can organize all the tasks that are necessary to implement the change. You can note which action steps occur during which phase in the project and then assign them to your team. They’ll see the start date and due date as well as the planned hours you expect for the duration of each task. There’s even room for resources and costs related to the work.

Go Beyond Change Management Templates with ProjectManager

ProjectManager is cloud-based work and project management software that connects hybrid teams to help implement change across an organization or project. Real-time data makes it collaborative to the core and multiple project views mean anyone in any department, no matter how, when or where they work can use it the way they want, whether in a task list, Gantt or kanban board.

You’ve seen how a Gantt chart can organize the change management plan but when that plan is assigned to teams that maybe work in a more agile environment, then they need a different tool. Kanban boards visualize workflow and workflows can be customized to automate task approvals, for example. Managers have control and transparency, while team members can manage their backlog and collaborate when planning sprints.

A screenshot of the Kanban board project view

Track Change on the Dashboard

Monitoring change is how you make sure your actual progress is aligned with your change management plan. Our real-time dashboard gets live data and crunches the numbers to display metrics on time, cost and more in easy-to-read graphs and charts. It’s a status report whenever you need one so you can catch issues and resolve them before they cause problems.

ProjectManager’s dashboard view, which shows six key metrics on a project

ProjectManager is award-winning work and project management software that connects hybrid teams for greater productivity. Manage change without impacting your schedule or budget. Get started with ProjectManager for free today!

Click here to browse ProjectManager's free templates

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How to build an organizational development plan: a comprehensive guide (+template), share this article.

Discover the power of strategic organizational development with our comprehensive plan and access a comprehensive template. Learn how to assess your company's current state, set strategic objectives, and create targeted action plans for growth.

Trying to keep up with the constant changes in the market sometimes feels like you’re a tortoise in a race full of hares. But the tortoise won the race in the end, and by taking the time for proper planning and organization, your organization can too.

Organizational development, or OD, is a process of planned change that seeks to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization. An organizational development plan (ODP) is a comprehensive document that outlines how an organization will go about achieving its goals and objectives. 

It includes strategies for improving overall performance, developing employee skills, increasing customer satisfaction, and more. The ODP allows companies to identify their current strengths and weaknesses to create meaningful plans for improvement. 

By having a clearly-defined plan in place, organizations measure progress over time and make necessary adjustments as needed. An effective OD plan makes an organization more efficient, productive, competitive, and profitable. 

The benefits of implementing an organizational development plan include: 

  • Improved employee morale
  • Increased collaboration among staff
  • Reductions in costs associated with reorganizations or restructurings
  • Enhanced customer service levels
  • Higher levels of productivity
  • Improved communication among staff and management
  • More efficient use of resources

Skip ahead:

Assessing Organizational Needs and Readiness

Defining organizational development goals and objectives, identifying key focus areas for improvement, action planning and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, sustaining organizational development, organizational development plan template, case studies and success stories, frequently asked questions.

The first step in crafting an ODP is conducting a thorough organizational analysis. This process involves examining the organization’s current state, including operational effectiveness, efficiency, customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and other relevant areas. Gaining a clear understanding of what requires improvement allows the organization to prioritize its efforts accordingly.

Consideration of External Factors

In addition to assessing internal aspects of the organization, it’s crucial to consider external factors that may impact performance – such as economic conditions or industry trends. By taking these outside influences into account when developing plans for growth and competitiveness can help ensure success.

SWOT Analysis

After completing a comprehensive analysis, organizations should use these findings to conduct a SWOT analysis – identifying strengths and weaknesses along with any opportunities or threats present. This information helps create strategies for capitalizing on strengths while minimizing or mitigating weaknesses as well as recognizing potential new revenue sources or competitive advantages.

Developing an Effective ODP

An effective ODP should include concrete steps addressing issues identified through the assessment process (organizational analysis and SWOT). It’s essential to take both internal factors (e.g., company culture, employee morale) and external forces (e.g., competition in the marketplace) into consideration during plan development so that adjustments can be made accordingly for maximum effectiveness.

The second step in crafting an ODP involves defining the organization’s goals and objectives, which will inform decisions about strategy implementation, resource allocation, and progress measurement. It is crucial to establish measurable, clear goals that align with the organization’s values and mission statement for easy progress tracking over time.

SMART Objectives

Once the overall goals are set, organizations should formulate SMART objectives – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound targets. These criteria ensure that achievable targets are established while enabling organizations to evaluate their progress with tangible results. Moreover, these objectives should align with broader organizational goals to guarantee advancement towards larger ambitions.

Aligning Goals with Vision and Mission

Organizations must also ensure that their defined goals and objectives resonate with their vision and mission statements. This alignment allows organizations to optimize resource utilization in achieving overarching aspirations effectively.

Enhancing Decision-Making through Clarity

A comprehensive understanding of an organization’s desired direction facilitates improved decision-making when implementing strategies for growth or improvement. Setting clear organizational development goals aligned with a company’s vision and mission statement, along with well-defined SMART objectives, will enable organizations to navigate successfully throughout the entire process.

The third step in crafting an ODP involves pinpointing key areas for improvement based on the organization’s overall goals and objectives. Both short-term and long-term objectives should be considered when determining focus areas. Involving employees in this process can yield valuable insights into the current state of the organization and potential improvement points.

Developing Targeted Strategies 

After identifying focus areas, organizations can start formulating strategies and initiatives tailored to their specific needs, taking into account existing capabilities and resources. These strategies must be realistic and achievable to ensure success, with employee participation providing valuable input on potential solutions.

Allocating Resources Effectively

Organizations need to determine resource allocation – both financial and human – for each initiative while considering associated costs to maximize efficiency in resource use. Additionally, it is essential to provide adequate training and support for employees involved in implementing these strategies.

Establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Lastly, setting up KPIs helps measure the success of implemented strategies over time, allowing organizations to track progress or make necessary adjustments as needed. Common KPIs include customer satisfaction, employee engagement, productivity, and profitability.

An effective ODP should consist of actionable steps to achieve desired outcomes. Break down large strategies into smaller tasks with specific timelines to keep the plan on track and ensure everyone is aware of their responsibilities. Establishing milestones also helps teams stay motivated and measure success over time.

Assigning Roles and Deadlines

Once the plan is broken down into manageable tasks, assign specific responsibilities and deadlines for each step. This approach ensures team members understand their roles in achieving desired outcomes while maintaining motivation through clear expectations.

Communication and Change Management Plans

Develop communication plans to keep all stakeholders informed about progress, allowing team members to voice opinions or suggest changes if needed. A concise communication plan promotes seamless organizational change implementation by ensuring everyone remains aligned at all times.

Risk Mitigation through Change Management

A well-defined change management plan enables teams to identify potential risks early in the process so they can be addressed proactively before becoming issues that could hinder progress.

Building Support among Stakeholders

Engage both internal (employees) and external (customers, suppliers, partners ) stakeholders throughout the planning process for widespread support of your ODP’s goals—this builds a sense of ownership that sustains motivation across all parties involved.

A crucial aspect of a successful ODP is setting measurable, specific, realistic, achievable, and timely goals that align with the organization’s values and mission statement. These metrics serve as benchmarks for measuring progress over time.

Tracking Progress and Milestones

Track progress by regularly assessing the organization’s current state against the ODP’s goals and objectives – enabling the identification of improvement areas or potential roadblocks. Monitoring also allows leadership to acknowledge successes while motivating employees toward further achievements.

Conducting Regular Reviews 

Perform regular reviews to examine organizational performance against established metrics, analyze successes and failures, and identify improvement areas or new growth opportunities – all while making necessary adjustments accordingly.

Maintaining Flexibility in ODPs 

Organizational development plans should remain adaptable based on evolving needs. If progress isn’t being made toward set objectives within the ODP framework, consider changes such as altering processes and procedures, adding staff members, or implementing new technologies.

For organizational development to have a lasting impact, it’s crucial to seamlessly integrate the plan into every aspect of company culture. Begin by clearly communicating the plan’s objectives and strategies to employees, ensuring they understand how their roles contribute to achieving these goals. 

Encourage open dialogue about why specific changes are necessary for both individual growth and overall success. By fostering a transparent environment, you’ll cultivate employee buy-in and facilitate smoother transitions throughout your organization.

Empowering Employees with Resources

Support your team by offering diverse resources tailored to their needs, like customized training programs , engaging workshops, insightful seminars, mentorship opportunities, or access to online learning platforms. 

Providing these tools ensures everyone stays aligned with your vision while knowing what they need to do for collective triumph. Empowering employees with resources helps them feel valued and nurtures personal growth that benefits the organization as a whole.

Cultivating a Learning Environment

Embrace a culture that prioritizes continuous learning and improvement at all levels within your organization. By regularly assessing processes and investing in employee skill development through targeted training initiatives or knowledge-sharing sessions, you’ll stay agile in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape. An ongoing commitment to nurturing talent will not only help attract top candidates but also retain existing talent eager for professional growth.

Acknowledging Accomplishments

It’s essential not just to celebrate major milestones but also to recognize small wins along the way; these acknowledgments fuel motivation, boost morale, and strengthen unity within an organization. In team settings where collaboration is key, recognizing personal contributions fosters camaraderie across all levels while encouraging further cooperation among coworkers.

Sharing success stories internally via newsletters or social media channels can inspire others on how their efforts play an essential role in achieving common goals – ultimately creating a positive feedback loop that benefits everyone involved.

Adapting Through Feedback Loops

Establish feedback loops to fine-tune your organizational development plans (ODP) effectively. These can involve employee surveys, one-on-one meetings, or regular team debriefs where employees openly discuss progress made and any challenges encountered. This regular input from employees helps identify areas needing improvement while adjusting ODPs accordingly.

To get started implementing your plan quickly, try this handy organizational development plan template .

This organizational development plan template provides a comprehensive structure for planning and implementing your organization’s development initiatives. You can customize the template to suit your organization’s specific needs and objectives.

The template also comes with charts for the ten organizational development plan frameworks.

These fillable templates can help you apply each of the ten organizational development frameworks to your organization. Customize them to suit your organization’s specific needs and objectives.

Organizational development plans can be implemented across many different industries. 

Marriott International, a prominent player in the hospitality industry, implemented an organizational development plan (ODP) aimed at enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Leveraging data analytics to pinpoint areas needing improvement, they devised targeted strategies that led to significant growth in customer ratings and an 8% increase in overall profits.

Enhancing Patient Experience in Healthcare

In healthcare, Kaiser Permanente created an ODP encompassing process improvements and employee training initiatives to elevate patient satisfaction levels. This comprehensive strategy resulted in their patient experience scores soaring from an already impressive 84% satisfaction rate to a remarkable 94%.

Streamlining Manufacturing Processes

Toyota’s manufacturing sector adopted an ODP focused on augmenting quality, efficiency, and safety. Consequently, the company reduced production costs by 10% while simultaneously increasing customer satisfaction levels by 7%.

The Key to Successful Organizational Development Plans

These success stories illustrate how effective ODPs can benefit organizations across various industries. A well-crafted plan enables companies to monitor progress over time and make necessary adjustments as required.

For optimal results, it’s crucial for ODPs to be tailored specifically for each organization – identifying areas needing improvement while addressing potential obstacles that may hinder growth. Managers play a pivotal role here, ensuring employees comprehend the plan’s objectives and their individual roles within its execution.

Regularly measuring progress allows businesses to stay current with industry trends or internal changes within their organization and make adjustments or updates when needed accordingly.

Finally, communication is essential to keep all stakeholders informed of ongoing progress and fosters transparency while maintaining motivation toward achieving shared goals. 

Organizational development plans are a valuable tool for any type of organization. By creating an ODP, organizations can identify their current strengths and weaknesses to create meaningful plans for improvement. 

An effective OD plan should be tailored to an organization’s needs and goals, measure progress over time, communicate results regularly with all stakeholders involved, and make necessary adjustments or changes if needed. 

With careful planning and implementation, an organizational development plan increases performance, develops employee skills, increases customer satisfaction levels, reduces production costs, improves safety standards, and much more.

Download the Organizational Development Plan Framework: Propel Your Company’s Growth

Drive the growth and success of your organization with our comprehensive Organizational Development Plan Framework. This essential resource provides a structured approach to strategically enhance your company’s capabilities and maximize its potential.

Q. What is an organizational development plan? 

An organizational development plan (ODP) is a comprehensive document that outlines how an organization will achieve its goals and objectives. It includes strategies for improving overall performance, developing employee skills, increasing customer satisfaction, and more. 

Q. Why is an organizational development plan important for businesses? 

An organizational development plan improves performance and gets organizations closer to their goals. It provides a roadmap for the organization to follow to achieve success. 

The ODP outlines specific strategies to implement, such as training programs , process improvements, or changes in organizational culture. Having an effective plan will ensure that resources are allocated properly and progress is monitored over time.

Q. How do I assess the needs and readiness of my organization for development?

Assessing needs and readiness involves evaluating current performance, analyzing data on employee engagement and satisfaction, identifying areas where improvement is needed, and understanding the organization’s goals. 

It also requires looking at external factors that could affect your business such as changing customer demands or market trends. Once you have completed this assessment process, you will be better prepared to develop a comprehensive plan for achieving organizational success. 

Q. What are the key components of an effective organizational development strategy?

The key components of an effective organizational development strategy include: 

  • Establishing a vision and mission statement
  • Developing core values and objectives that align with the company’s vision and mission statement
  • Identifying areas of improvement within the organization and developing plans to address them
  • Implementing an effective communication plan
  • Measuring progress against established benchmarks to determine success
  • Evaluating and revising the ODP as needed based on feedback

Q. How do I implement an organizational development plan within my organization?

Implementing an ODP requires a comprehensive analysis of your current organizational structure and processes. This means assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your current system to identify areas for improvement. 

Once you have identified these areas, you can develop strategies for making improvements. These strategies should be tailored to your organization’s specific needs and goals and may include changes to policies, procedures, or even technology. 

Additionally, all stakeholders must be involved in the development process so that they understand why these changes are being made and how they will benefit them.

Q. How can I measure the effectiveness of an organizational development plan?

Organizational development plans should be evaluated regularly to determine if they are achieving their intended outcomes. Different metrics can be used depending on the type of plan, such as customer satisfaction surveys, employee engagement surveys, and performance reviews. Financial statements and other key performance indicators (KPIs) can give insight into an organization’s overall progress, too.

Q. Are there any templates available for creating an organizational development plan?

There are many templates available online that you can use to create an organizational development plan. These templates usually include sections for objectives, strategies, and action plans. They also offer guidance on what information to include in each section. This template is a fantastic resource for starting your ODP.

Q. Can you provide examples of organizations that have successfully implemented an organizational development plan?

Google has used an ODP to develop its internal structure and culture to create a more collaborative and innovative workplace. Similarly, Amazon has used OD plans to increase customer satisfaction by streamlining processes and creating better communication channels between employees and customers. Apple Inc. has also regularly utilized OD plans to update its product lines for maximum customer appeal and profitability.

Daniela Ochoa is the go-to Content Marketing Specialist here at Thinkific Plus! With years of experience in marketing and communications, she is passionate about helping businesses grow through strategic storytelling, innovative digital campaigns, and online learning at scale.On this blog, she shares her expertise in content marketing, lead generation, and more.

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College of Nursing

Driving change: a case study of a dnp leader in residence program in a gerontological center of excellence.

View as pdf A later version of this article appeared in Nurse Leader , Volume 21, Issue 6 , December 2023 . 

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) published the Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Practice Nursing in 2004 identifying the essential curriculum needed for preparing advanced practice nurse leaders to effectively assess organizations, identify systemic issues, and facilitate organizational changes. 1 In 2021, AACN updated the curriculum by issuing The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education to guide the development of competency-based education for nursing students. 1 In addition to AACN’s competency-based approach to curriculum, in 2015 the American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL) released Nurse Leader Core Competencies (updated in 2023) to help provide a competency based model to follow in developing nurse leaders. 2

Despite AACN and AONL competency-based curriculum and model, it is still common for nurse leaders to be promoted to management positions based solely on their work experience or exceptional clinical skills, rather than demonstration of management and leadership competencies. 3 The importance of identifying, training, and assessing executive leaders through formal leadership development programs, within supportive organizational cultures has been discussed by national leaders. As well as the need for nurturing emerging leaders through fostering interprofessional collaboration, mentorship, and continuous development of leadership skills has been identified. 4 As Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) nurse leaders assume executive roles within healthcare organizations, they play a vital role within complex systems. Demonstration of leadership competence and participation in formal leadership development programs has become imperative for their success. However, models of competency-based executive leadership development programs can be hard to find, particularly programs outside of health care systems.

The implementation of a DNP Leader in Residence program, such as the one designed for The Barbara and Richard Csomay Center for Gerontological Excellence, addresses many of the challenges facing new DNP leaders and ensures mastery of executive leadership competencies and readiness to practice through exposure to varied experiences and close mentoring. The Csomay Center , based at The University of Iowa, was established in 2000 as one of the five original Hartford Centers of Geriatric Nursing Excellence in the country. Later funding by the Csomay family established an endowment that supports the Center's ongoing work. The current Csomay Center strategic plan and mission aims to develop future healthcare leaders while promoting optimal aging and quality of life for older adults. The Csomay Center Director created the innovative DNP Leader in Residence program to foster the growth of future nurse leaders in non-healthcare systems. The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of the development and implementation of the Leader in Residence program, followed by suggested evaluation strategies, and discussion of future innovation of leadership opportunities in non-traditional health care settings.

Development of the DNP Leader in Residence Program

The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle has garnered substantial recognition as a valuable tool for fostering development and driving improvement initiatives. 5 The PDSA cycle can function as an independent methodology and as an integral component of broader quality enhancement approaches with notable efficacy in its ability to facilitate the rapid creation, testing, and evaluation of transformative interventions within healthcare. 6 Consequently, the PDSA cycle model was deemed fitting to guide the development and implementation of the DNP Leader in Residence Program at the Csomay Center.

PDSA Cycle: Plan

Existing resources. The DNP Health Systems: Administration/Executive Leadership Program offered by the University of Iowa is comprised of comprehensive nursing administration and leadership curriculum, led by distinguished faculty composed of national leaders in the realms of innovation, health policy, leadership, clinical education, and evidence-based practice. The curriculum is designed to cultivate the next generation of nursing executive leaders, with emphasis on personalized career planning and tailored practicum placements. The DNP Health Systems: Administration/Executive Leadership curriculum includes a range of courses focused on leadership and management with diverse topics such as policy an law, infrastructure and informatics, finance and economics, marketing and communication, quality and safety, evidence-based practice, and social determinants of health. The curriculum is complemented by an extensive practicum component and culminates in a DNP project with additional hours of practicum.

New program. The DNP Leader in Residence program at the Csomay Center is designed to encompass communication and relationship building, systems thinking, change management, transformation and innovation, knowledge of clinical principles in the community, professionalism, and business skills including financial, strategic, and human resource management. The program fully immerses students in the objectives of the DNP Health Systems: Administration/Executive Leadership curriculum and enables them to progressively demonstrate competencies outlined by AONL. The Leader in Residence program also includes career development coaching, reflective practice, and personal and professional accountability. The program is integrated throughout the entire duration of the Leader in Residence’s coursework, fulfilling the required practicum hours for both the DNP coursework and DNP project.

The DNP Leader in Residence program begins with the first semester of practicum being focused on completing an onboarding process to the Center including understanding the center's strategic plan, mission, vision, and history. Onboarding for the Leader in Residence provides access to all relevant Center information and resources and integration into the leadership team, community partnerships, and other University of Iowa College of Nursing Centers associated with the Csomay Center. During this first semester, observation and identification of the Csomay Center Director's various roles including being a leader, manager, innovator, socializer, and mentor is facilitated. In collaboration with the Center Director (a faculty position) and Center Coordinator (a staff position), specific competencies to be measured and mastered along with learning opportunities desired throughout the program are established to ensure a well-planned and thorough immersion experience.

Following the initial semester of practicum, the Leader in Residence has weekly check-ins with the Center Director and Center Coordinator to continue to identify learning opportunities and progression through executive leadership competencies to enrich the experience. The Leader in Residence also undertakes an administrative project for the Center this semester, while concurrently continuing observations of the Center Director's activities in local, regional, and national executive leadership settings. The student has ongoing participation and advancement in executive leadership roles and activities throughout the practicum, creating a well-prepared future nurse executive leader.

After completing practicum hours related to the Health Systems: Administration/Executive Leadership coursework, the Leader in Residence engages in dedicated residency hours to continue to experience domains within nursing leadership competencies like communication, professionalism, and relationship building. During residency hours, time is spent with the completion of a small quality improvement project for the Csomay Center, along with any other administrative projects identified by the Center Director and Center Coordinator. The Leader in Residence is fully integrated into the Csomay Center's Leadership Team during this phase, assisting the Center Coordinator in creating agendas and leading meetings. Additional participation includes active involvement in community engagement activities and presenting at or attending a national conference as a representative of the Csomay Center. The Leader in Residence must mentor a master’s in nursing student during the final year of the DNP Residency.

Implementation of the DNP Leader in Residence Program

PDSA Cycle: Do

Immersive experience. In this case study, the DNP Leader in Residence was fully immersed in a wide range of center activities, providing valuable opportunities to engage in administrative projects and observe executive leadership roles and skills during practicum hours spent at the Csomay Center. Throughout the program, the Leader in Residence observed and learned from multidisciplinary leaders at the national, regional, and university levels who engaged with the Center. By shadowing the Csomay Center Director, the Leader in Residence had the opportunity to observe executive leadership objectives such as fostering innovation, facilitating multidisciplinary collaboration, and nurturing meaningful relationships. The immersive experience within the center’s activities also allowed the Leader in Residence to gain a deep understanding of crucial facets such as philanthropy and community engagement. Active involvement in administrative processes such as strategic planning, budgeting, human resources management, and the development of standard operating procedures provided valuable exposure to strategies that are needed to be an effective nurse leader in the future.

Active participation. The DNP Leader in Residence also played a key role in advancing specific actions outlined in the center's strategic plan during the program including: 1) the creation of a membership structure for the Csomay Center and 2) successfully completing a state Board of Regents application for official recognition as a distinguished center. The Csomay Center sponsored membership for the Leader in Residence in the Midwest Nurse Research Society (MNRS), which opened doors to attend the annual MNRS conference and engage with regional nursing leadership, while fostering socialization, promotion of the Csomay Center and Leader in Residence program, and observation of current nursing research. Furthermore, the Leader in Residence participated in the strategic planning committee and engagement subcommittee for MNRS, collaborating directly with the MNRS president. Additional active participation by the Leader in Residence included attendance in planning sessions and completion of the annual report for GeriatricPain.org , an initiative falling under the umbrella of the Csomay Center. Finally, the Leader in Residence was involved in archiving research and curriculum for distinguished nursing leader and researcher, Dr. Kitty Buckwalter, for the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, the University of Pennsylvania Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing, and the University of Iowa library archives.

Suggested Evaluation Strategies of the DNP Leader in Residence Program

PDSA Cycle: Study

Assessment and benchmarking. To effectively assess the outcomes and success of the DNP Leader in Residence Program, a comprehensive evaluation framework should be used throughout the program. Key measures should include the collection and review of executive leadership opportunities experienced, leadership roles observed, and competencies mastered. The Leader in Residence is responsible for maintaining detailed logs of their participation in center activities and initiatives on a semester basis. These logs serve to track the progression of mastery of AONL competencies by benchmarking activities and identifying areas for future growth for the Leader in Residence.

Evaluation. In addition to assessment and benchmarking, evaluations need to be completed by Csomay Center stakeholders (leadership, staff, and community partners involved) and the individual Leader in Residence both during and upon completion of the program. Feedback from stakeholders will identify the contributions made by the Leader in Residence and provide valuable insights into their growth. Self-reflection on experiences by the individual Leader in Residence throughout the program will serve as an important measure of personal successes and identify gaps in the program. Factors such as career advancement during the program, application of curriculum objectives in the workplace, and prospects for future career progression for the Leader in Residence should be considered as additional indicators of the success of the program.

The evaluation should also encompass a thorough review of the opportunities experienced during the residency, with the aim of identifying areas for potential expansion and enrichment of the DNP Leader in Residence program. By carefully examining the logs, reflecting on the acquired executive leadership competencies, and studying stakeholder evaluations, additional experiences and opportunities can be identified to further enhance the program's efficacy. The evaluation process should be utilized to identify specific executive leadership competencies that require further immersion and exploration throughout the program.

Future Innovation of DNP Leader in Residence Programs in Non-traditional Healthcare Settings

PDSA Cycle: Act

As subsequent residents complete the program and their experiences are thoroughly evaluated, it is essential to identify new opportunities for DNP Leader in Residence programs to be implemented in other non-health care system settings. When feasible, expansion into clinical healthcare settings, including long-term care and acute care environments, should be pursued. By leveraging the insights gained from previous Leaders in Residence and their respective experiences, the program can be refined to better align with desired outcomes and competencies. These expansions will broaden the scope and impact of the program and provide a wider array of experiences and challenges for future Leaders in Residency to navigate, enriching their development as dynamic nurse executive leaders within diverse healthcare landscapes.

This case study presented a comprehensive overview of the development and implementation of the DNP Leader in Residence program developed by the Barbara and Richard Csomay Center for Gerontological Excellence. The Leader in Residence program provided a transformative experience by integrating key curriculum objectives, competency-based learning, and mentorship by esteemed nursing leaders and researchers through successful integration into the Center. With ongoing innovation and application of the PDSA cycle, the DNP Leader in Residence program presented in this case study holds immense potential to help better prepare 21 st century nurse leaders capable of driving positive change within complex healthcare systems.

Acknowledgements

         The author would like to express gratitude to the Barbara and Richard Csomay Center for Gerontological Excellence for the fostering environment to provide an immersion experience and the ongoing support for development of the DNP Leader in Residence program. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

  • American Association of Colleges of Nursing. The essentials: core competencies for professional nursing education. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/42/AcademicNursing/pdf/Essentials-2021.pdf . Accessed June 26, 2023.
  • American Organization for Nursing Leadership. Nurse leader core competencies. https://www.aonl.org/resources/nurse-leader-competencies . Accessed July 10, 2023.
  • Warshawsky, N, Cramer, E. Describing nurse manager role preparation and competency: findings from a national study. J Nurs Adm . 2019;49(5):249-255. DOI:  10.1097/NNA.0000000000000746
  • Van Diggel, C, Burgess, A, Roberts, C, Mellis, C. Leadership in healthcare education. BMC Med. Educ . 2020;20(465). doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-02288-x
  • Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Plan-do-study-act (PDSA) worksheet. https://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/Tools/PlanDoStudyActWorksheet.aspx . Accessed July 4, 2023.
  • Taylor, M, McNicolas, C, Nicolay, C, Darzi, A, Bell, D, Reed, J. Systemic review of the application of the plan-do-study-act method to improve quality in healthcare. BMJ Quality & Safety. 2014:23:290-298. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2013-002703

Return to College of Nursing Winter 23/24 Newsletter

IMAGES

  1. Change Management Plan Examples

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  2. Organizational Change Management: Then and Now

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  3. Organizational Change Management Plan Template

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  4. Change Management Plans: Expert Guide and Templates

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  5. Change Management Implementation Plan Template

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  6. Change Management Planning: 7 Key Steps to Implementing Change

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  6. The Role of Leaders in bringing about Organisational Change (STML8422

COMMENTS

  1. How to Implement Organizational Change Successfully

    What Is Organizational Change? Organizational change involves altering one or more of a company's major components, such as its culture, infrastructure, and internal processes. To guide your organization toward success, you must be proficient at navigating change. Change can be difficult to manage.

  2. 5 Steps in the Change Management Process

    Organizational change refers broadly to the actions a business takes to change or adjust a significant component of its organization. This may include company culture, internal processes, underlying technology or infrastructure, corporate hierarchy, or another critical aspect. Organizational change can be either adaptive or transformational:

  3. Developing an Effective Change Management Plan: A Step-by-Step Guide

    A change management plan is a crucial component of any organization's change management process. It outlines the sequence of tasks, activities, deliverables, and resources required to execute a change strategy while applying project management discipline through phases, workstreams, decision points, and milestones.

  4. Expert Guide to Writing a Change Management Plan

    World-renowned change expert, John Kotter, outlined this 8-step process for change: create urgency, form a powerful coalition, create a vision for change, communicate the vision, remove obstacles, create short term wins, build on the change, and anchor the change into corporate culture.

  5. How to Implement Change Management: A Step-By-Step Guide to ...

    1. Prepare for change In the first phase of change management, you'll lay the groundwork for your entire change management plan. During this phase, you'll develop a situational awareness, identify potential challenges with leadership, and perform an impact assessment. With this insight, you can begin to create your change management strategy. 2.

  6. Implementing organizational change—and sustaining it

    In this episode of the McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey senior implementation leaders Blake Lindsay and Nick Waugh speak with Simon London about the hard work of implementing and sustaining change in organizations—a priority that needs attention from the executive leadership and the frontline managers of each team. Podcast transcript

  7. Secrets of successful change implementation

    Organizations that excel at implementation foster a leadership style that sets bold aspirations with clear accountability—emphasizing the challenging and supportive dimensions of leadership over the authoritative and consultative qualities that may be effective in other situations.

  8. The Most Successful Approaches to Leading Organizational Change

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  9. What's needed for successful organizational change

    Companies face different challenges today when implementing large-scale changes than they did in 2014, according to a new McKinsey Global Survey on the subject. 1 In particular, digitization poses new obstacles to implementation, and digital transformations require executives to focus on different priorities and capabilities.

  10. What Is Organizational Change Management?

    Organizational change management is the process of guiding organizational change to a successful resolution, and it typically includes three major phases: preparation, implementation, and follow-through. What Causes Organizational Change? Many factors make organizational change necessary. Some of the most common faced by managers include:

  11. Developing a Change Management Plan

    A change management plan is a process a business follows to implement changes across the organization. Change management plans are typically used for significant or complex organizational changes that require a more strategic approach because of their impact on someone's job. We all react differently to change.

  12. How to create a change management plan (and get it right!)

    A change management plan is a document that outlines how an organization will manage change. This can include everything from small changes, like adding a new employee to the payroll, to large-scale changes, like moving the company's headquarters.

  13. 13 Strategies for Successful Change Implementation| Whatfix

    Change implementation is the process of translating planned changes or initiatives into action. It involves executing the strategies and action plans developed during the change planning phase, allocating necessary resources, communicating effectively with stakeholders, and monitoring progress.

  14. Change Management Plan: What is it and How to Create Yours?

    (1) Minimize resistance and increase support for change initiatives. By having a well-structured change management plan, organizations can reduce resistance to change by effectively communicating the reasons for change and addressing potential concerns. (2) Ensure that changes align with the organization's overall strategy and goals.

  15. Change Management Plans

    5 Mins Updated: December 19, 2023 Published: March 29, 2021 Change management comes to life through change management plans. The objective of the plans is to support impacted individuals and groups to move through their ADKAR journeys effectively and enable them to adopt and use a change.

  16. 8 Free Change Management Plan Templates (2024)

    Download now! 7 Useful Change Management Plan Templates in 2024 Here are 6 of the most useful change management plan templates in 2024 - plus a bonus ebook download to help craft your enterprise change strategy. Download and use these templates for your own organizational change initiatives - let's get started. 1. Change Proposal Template

  17. PDF Create an organizational change management plan

    Step 1 - Prepare to manage organizational change KEY INSIGHTS Focus on assembling the right expertise to manage OCM. Start with a deep understanding of why the change is occurring and what success will look like. Getting some organizations to invest in OCM can be a tough sell.

  18. How to Make a Change Management Plan (Templates Included)

    A change management plan is a process that implements a change or changes in a project or across an organization. You can think of a change management plan as a roadmap that shows all the steps you need to take from identifying the change to realizing it.

  19. 8 Steps For Implementing Change in Your Organization

    1. Identify the change and perform an impact assessment To begin, you should first identify the necessary change and make sure that it aligns with your company's overall objectives. Once you identify your goal, perform an impact assessment to evaluate how the change will affect all levels of your organization.

  20. 8 Steps To Implementing Successful Organizational Change

    1. Hire People Who Thrive on Change Boredom and restlessness are poor reasons to seek change. Pursuing it for these reasons alone usually results in wasting time and resources. Who you choose...

  21. PDF How the implementation of organizational change is evolving

    2 ow the implementation of organizational change is evolving The changing face of transformations The latest survey results indicate that success remains elusive. Only 37 percent of respondents report successful implementations; we call this group "top implementers." 2 The most common practices for supporting successful change efforts remain the same as in 2014.

  22. How to Build an Organizational Development Plan: A Comprehensive Guide

    A concise communication plan promotes seamless organizational change implementation by ensuring everyone remains aligned at all times. Risk Mitigation through Change Management A well-defined change management plan enables teams to identify potential risks early in the process so they can be addressed proactively before becoming issues that ...

  23. The determinants of organizational change management success

    Several studies have highlighted that most organizational change initiatives fail, with an estimated failure rate of 60-70%. 1,5,6 High failure rate raises the sustained concern and interest about the factors that can decrease failure and increase the success of organizational change. 7 Researchers and consultancy firms have developed several change management models that can improve the ...

  24. Driving change: a case study of a DNP leader in residence program in a

    The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of the development and implementation of the Leader in Residence program, followed by suggested evaluation strategies, and discussion of future innovation of leadership opportunities in non-traditional health care settings.Development of the DNP Leader in Residence ProgramThe Plan-Do-Study ...