2.3 Change impact assessment
Overview
A change impact assessment looks at the macro effects of the change and reports on the various skills, processes, performance management, and technology outcomes for each stakeholder group. This assessment is necessary to identify and capture significant differences between the current state and the desired future state. You can use this approach for any change effort to assess the magnitude of change.
Best practices
The change impact assessment should include:
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A gap analysis to understand and document the change (or gap) between the current and future states. For example, the gap might be a significant change in operational activities on premises compared with the cloud. In addition to identifying the changes, it is also important to document what stays the same.
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An assessment to understand the impact the change will have when it is implemented, based on the scale, scope, and size of impact (for example, the number of employees or business units that are affected).
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Documentation of potential areas of resistance (issues, risks, or barriers) that could prevent the change from being implemented successfully. This documentation helps you plan the activities in the change management plan and run them effectively. If there are a significant number of risks, you might have to document them in a separate change risk document.
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The identification of impacted stakeholder groups that will be the change targets or need to undergo a personal transition when the change happens.
The following questions facilitate the change impact identification process:
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How many people are impacted by the changes? Where are they located? What are their functions?
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How large is the gap between the current state and future state processes, tasks, and technologies used?
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Who will be impacted by this change (business units, functions, roles, locations, numbers)?
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Are there labor (union) issues associated with the change?
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How will impacted employees react to this change?
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What are the biggest barriers to implementing the change?
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What are the key impacts of the change (processes, technologies, people, and organizations)?
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What are the benefits of adopting the change?
The change impact assessment is typically documented in a template that's similar to the following:
| Impacted area | Definition or description | Current state | Future environment | Change gap or impact | Who is impacted? | Level of impact | Change issues, risks, barriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
For example, leadership, culture, process, policies, structure, skills and capabilities, performance management, systems. |
A brief overview of the change. |
What's the current state? |
What's the desired future state? |
What are the major changes between the current and future states? What stays the same? What has to continue? |
Who are the impacted stakeholders or change targets? |
What is the level of change impact (for example, high, medium, or low). |
What are the key issues or risks that could prevent the successful implementation of this change? |
FAQ
Q. What is a change impact assessment?
A. It's an analysis of the macro effects of change on skills, processes, performance management, and technology for each stakeholder group.
Q. Why is it valuable?
A. It helps clarify changes at lower levels of granularity, determines appropriate steps for change acceleration plans, and identifies tangentially tied stakeholders.
Q. When should a change impact assessment be done?
A. It should be completed for any aspect of a cloud program where there's a substantial difference between current and future states for any stakeholder group. Here are some practical examples to consider:
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For managers, document when employees are likely to need training, when employees might need to have cloud-specific performance metrics incorporated into other annual performance plans, and when speaking points might be required.
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For HR stakeholders, document when key training events might be needed, when hiring plans might be required, how these changes might affect recruiting plans, when skill development opportunities become evident, when organizational design changes might be needed, and whether a compensation assessment should be conducted to market-test the value of cloud talent and skills.
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For working council or labor union stakeholders, document risks and concerns that might be raised and how best to address them, and if a regular meeting cadence should be established to improve transparency in communications.
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For finance stakeholders, document when a budget might be required for headcount and training activities, how budget processes and cycles might be affected by the cloud program, and how the transition from on premises to the cloud might change the way fixed and variable costs are treated in the company.
Q. Who should be involved in creating the change impact assessment?
A. Key participants should include the executive sponsor, cloud leader, OCA leader, HR lead, chief architect, data lead, security lead, operations lead, training lead, finance lead, infrastructure leaders, and lines of business leads.
Q. What are the typical inputs and outputs?
A. Inputs include the business case, process designs, organizational design models, readiness assessments, and subject matter expert (SME) interviews. Outputs include communication plans, training plans, stakeholder engagement plans, sponsor or leader plans, and updates to the business case, migration plan, and risk log.
Additional steps
To start the change impact assessment:
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Define the process and tools.
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Identify and document input sources.
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Establish a cadence for capturing initial change impacts.
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Brief leadership on findings and recommendations.
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Update communication plans to address specific impacts and risks.
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Engage HR if organizational restructuring or significant hiring needs are revealed.
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Update training plans to address newly identified skill gaps.
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Update overall change strategy to address identified impacts.
