Change Management Plan

When to Use

• When rolling out a new system or tool to an organization
• When restructuring teams or processes
• When policy changes affect daily workflows
• When previous change initiatives failed due to poor adoption

Procedure

Step 1 — Change Definition

Element	Description
What is changing?	[Current state → Future state]
Why?	[Business driver / burning platform]
Who is affected?	[Roles, teams, departments]
When?	[Timeline with milestones]
Scale	Minor (team) / Moderate (department) / Major (organization)

Step 2 — ADKAR Assessment

Score each element 1–5 for the affected population:

ADKAR Element	Score	Gap?	Intervention
Awareness — know why change is needed	3	Yes	Leadership comms
Desire — want to participate	2	Yes	WIIFM messaging
Knowledge — know how to change	1	Yes	Training program
Ability — can demonstrate new skills	1	Yes	Practice + coaching
Reinforcement — sustain the change	TBD	—	Post-launch support

Focus on the first gap — you can't build Desire without Awareness.

Step 3 — Stakeholder Map

Stakeholder	Impact	Influence	Current Stance	Target Stance	Strategy
CTO	High	High	Champion	Champion	Activate as sponsor
Team leads	High	Medium	Neutral	Supportive	1:1 briefings
End users	High	Low	Resistant	Accepting	Demo + early wins

Step 4 — Communication Plan

Date	Audience	Channel	Message	Sender	Goal
Week 1	All staff	Town hall	Why we're changing	CEO	Awareness
Week 2	Team leads	Workshop	What it means for your team	PM	Desire
Week 3	Users	Email + Video	How it works	Project team	Knowledge
Ongoing	All	Slack channel	Tips, wins, FAQ	Champions	Reinforcement

Step 5 — Training Schedule

Session	Audience	Format	Duration	Pre-requisite
Overview	All users	Webinar	30 min	None
Hands-on	Power users	Workshop	2 hours	Overview
Admin training	IT admins	Lab	4 hours	Hands-on

Step 6 — Resistance Management

Common resistance patterns and responses:

Resistance	Root Cause	Response
"This is a waste of time"	No awareness of why	Share business case + data
"The old way works fine"	Comfort with status quo	Show pain points of current state
"I don't know how"	Lack of training	Provide resources + coaching
"This won't work here"	Past failures	Address specifically with new approach

Step 7 — Adoption Metrics

Metric	Target	Measurement	Cadence
Training completion	>90%	LMS records	Weekly
System usage (DAU)	>70% of target	Analytics	Daily
Help desk tickets	Decreasing trend	Ticket system	Weekly
User satisfaction	>3.5/5	Pulse survey	Monthly
Process compliance	>85%	Audit checks	Monthly

Inputs

Input	Required	Format
Change description	Yes	Current → future state
Affected stakeholders	Yes	Roles and departments
Timeline	Yes	Key milestones
Previous change attempts	Recommended	What worked / didn't

Output

## Change Management Plan — [Initiative Name]

### Change Summary
Migrating from Jira to Linear for project management across 4 engineering
teams (85 people). Go-live: Q2 2024.

### ADKAR Assessment
[Scored table with gaps and interventions]

### Stakeholder Map
[Impact × influence matrix]

### Communication Calendar
[Phased communication plan]

### Training Schedule
[Session plan by audience]

### Adoption Dashboard
[KPIs with targets and measurement plan]

Definition of Done

• Change clearly defined (current → future state)
• ADKAR assessment identifies intervention points
• Stakeholder map with engagement strategies
• Communication plan with dates and channels
• Training schedule with formats and pre-requisites
• Adoption metrics defined with targets

Quality Criteria

• All placeholder sections are filled with domain-specific content
• Structure follows the relevant industry standard or framework
• Language matches target audience (technical / executive / legal)
• Output is ready for review — not a rough draft requiring major rework

Verification (4C)

Check	Question
Correctness	Does the draft structure follow the stated framework or industry standard?
Completeness	Are all required sections present with substantive (not placeholder) content?
Context-fit	Does tone, detail level, and terminology match the intended audience?
Consequence	If sent to the intended recipient without further editing, what would fail?

Edge Cases

• No existing template for this type — Use the closest available template and document all customizations made.
• Stakeholder requirements conflict — Flag conflicts explicitly in the draft. Do not silently choose one requirement over another.
• Output required in multiple formats — Produce the canonical format first, then derive others. Note any formatting limitations.

Changelog

• v1.0.0 — Initial release