When an organization goes through a transformation, individuals and groups are impacted by the change. A change impact assessment is intended to identify the specific impacts to all stakeholders. It provides a detailed comparison of the current state to the future state.
Why Create a Change Impact Assessment
Creating a change impact assessment is a critical step in the change management process. It plays a large role in steering the change strategy because it identifies who is impacted, how they are impacted, and the severity of impact. The assessment will help dictate what needs to be done to support employees throughout the change process. It will help determine:
training requirements
communication and engagement touchpoints
role of the Change Agent network
resistance management
knowledge management, including job aids and reference guides
systems, processes, roles, etc. that are changing
sponsorship needed
coaching plans
measurement strategies
The assessment also minimizes project risk because it helps spell out the resources, work load, and timelines needed for the project.
How to Create a Change Impact Assessment
The steps to complete a change impact assessment are fairly straight forward. The important thing is to avail yourself to the right resources to ensure you receive the proper and complete information that will go into the assessment template.
1. Identify Your Resources
You need to determine who you need to speak to understand both the current state and future state. Ask yourself who understands the systems, processes, etc. that are being changed. For example, if your organization is transforming its performance management and rewards systems, speak to those who know the performance management process inside and out.
2. Get Access to Documentation
In addition to speaking with the proper subject matter experts, you want to get your hands on any documentation that outlines the processes. This documentation can include process maps, project scope documentation, etc. Do not hesitate to ask the subject matter expert to create some of the documents if they do not currently exist.
Also, use all data collection activities at your disposal that you feel will help you understand the process. These can include surveys, interviews, feedback sessions, etc.
3. Validate Your Findings
After you have summarized your findings, it is time to validate them. First, disseminate your findings to your project team members and incorporate their feedback. Next, circle back to the experts, team leads, etc. who provided the information to see if they have any corrections or suggestions.
4. Complete Your Template
Your Change Impact Assessment Template will vary slightly based on the project type. An assessment template for a software implementation will certainly look different than a template for a culture change initiative. However, most fields in the template will be the same. A template may consist of the fields below and it can be tweaked to meet the needs of your project.
System/process/functionality that is changing
System/process/functionality sub-area that is changing (if applicable)
Department
As-is/current State
To-be/future State
Roles impacted
Role change (Yes/No)
Impact level (Low, Medium, High)
Timeline/phase of change
Communication requirement
Knowledge management requirement
Training requirement
The change impact assessment helps set the foundation for your change management strategy. Be sure to take it seriously. Any shortcuts taken here are likely to cause major headaches down the road.
Take it to the next step. See our related post: Questions to Ask for Your Change Impact Assessment
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