Supporting a

Change Journey
to Anywhere

A change strategy to
support teams through
change – when the future
state is undefined

Kendra Modzelewski, PMP

Sara Webber, PMP

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Table of Contents

Page 04 Transitioning from an Ad Hoc Current to Unknown Future State

Page 08 Template A: Weighing Change Impacts Exercise
Page 11 Template B: Current State Change Evaluation
Page 15 Prepare for Change
Page 17 Template C: Future State People Dependency
Page 21 Template D: Risk Mapping of Stakeholder Groups
Page 24 Manage Change
Page 28 Template E: Enterprise Data Collection
Page 31 Template F: Employee Experience Data Collection
Page 41 Measure Change
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In this eBook, you will:

Identify the opportunities  Lead the change

Understand your unique current
state.  turbulent times.
The COVID-19 crisis disrupted our day-to-day
operations and many of us quickly assembled
a current state that is ad hoc, temporary, and
reactive. Before we transition to the "new
normal", we need to first understand all the
aspects of this current state.
Leverage tools to evaluate the current
state of your project or organization &
find the opportunities.
Proactively lead change in
  
You can play an important role in leading
others to thrive in any situation the future
state brings. 
Receive a customizable change
management plan to be used with
templates in our eBook. 
Apply Change Management tools
and techniques to proactively transition
stakeholders from this ad hoc current
state to an unknown future state.

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Our Current State
Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19
pandemic in Q1 and Q2 of 2020, global
business leaders were forced to make
dramatic, abrupt changes to maintain
business continuity and ensure employee
safety.

These changes were often made with

only hours or days of notice. Millions of
employees found themselves suddenly
needing to “make it work” at home –
often with no previous experience
working remotely.

While our efforts may have been

reactive and rushed, there are both
positive and negative results coming out
of this temporary, ad-hoc phase.

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Our Future State
And yet, we don’t know what the future state
holds either. We don’t know what aspects of
this current state will remain, and what
aspects of our old ways of working will
return.

We can make some guesses. Maybe there

will be some real differences in the balance
of onsite and remote working. We can be
pretty sure that whatever changes are
implemented will need to be adjusted again.
For example, we could see a resurgence of
the virus, or we could learn new policies
aren’t effective.

We are tasked with a challenge: preparing

employees to transition from an ad hoc
current state to an unknown future state.

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What might be considered positive
about our current state?

• No commuting
• More flexible hours
• Opportunity to choose a mix of solo
versus virtual collaborative work
• More casual dress code
• Fewer meetings

What unique positive experiences is your

team currently having?

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What might be considered negative
about our current state?
• Balancing new responsibilities
(homeschooling, child care, pet care)
• No control over work environment
• Difficulty in disconnecting from work at
the end of the day
• Virtual meeting fatigue
• Feeling anxiety about current events
• Feeling isolation

What unique negative experiences is your

team currently having?

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Template A. Weighing Change Impacts Exercise

To use this template

Complete the grid on the following page, indicating what change impacts are coming, the perception
of the change (positive/negative), and the percentage of employees considered who are impacted by
the change (as a decimal). Multiply across each row to create a numeric indicator of the change
impact.

What to do with the data

When completed, this template can be used to understand the most positive and most negative
impacts of the current state. This data is valuable to understand what benefits should potentially be
preserved in the future state. Conversely, the loss of these benefits would create resistance to a future
state. Those changes with large negative impact indices can be improved in the future state.

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Template A. Weighing Change Impacts Exercise
Stakeholder
Perception Scale of Impact % of Team Impacted Impact Index
Impact
Multiply the scale of the impact by
On a scale of 1-5, rate how impactful
Use a (+) or (-) sign to show whether Of the stakeholder group you are the percentage of the team
Describe the impact to stakeholders the change is, with 1 being “not much
the impact is likely to be seen as considering, what percentage of them impacted and record it here, using
here. change at all” and 5 being “complete
positive or negative. are experiencing this impact? the sign from the “perception
change from normal.”
column.”

Example: Employees
are not commuting to + 3; 95% +2.85
many employees already
the office every day. didn’t commute certain days.

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Discussion: If the current state had been
developed with more planning and over a
longer time, would it look differently?

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Template B. Current State Change Evaluation

To use this template

Complete the grid on the following page, indicating what changed from past state to current state.
Then, use the column on the right hand side to determine what may have been done differently if
more time was allowed to prepare for the change.

What to do with the data

When completed, this template can be used to understand what aspects of the current state could
potentially be further developed if they are going to be carried into the future state. Conversely, the
ad hoc nature of the current state may have produced some positive impacts for teams. Be sure to
consider how to retain those benefits when preparing for the next phase of the change.

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Template B: Current State Change Evaluation
Describe an aspect of the
change to our ad hoc current
state.
Example: Employees are using laptops to
work, but do not have docking stations, extra
monitors, keyboards, and other supplies.
How it would have been different
if there was opportunity for more
planning?
Employees may have been able to request
the opportunity to “check out” equipment that
optimized their work productivity.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2022 12
Regardless of our
current state, it is
temporary. 

How can we
proactively plan for
teams to be
successful in a future
state?

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With this change management plan, you will:

Prepare for Change Manage Change Measure Change

  Evaluate current and Engage & enable Measure your success &
begin to define future stakeholders. adapt.
states.

Leverage tools to evaluate Identify tactics to inspire Monitor and measure the
the current state and to and engage team results of your change tactics
consider impacts of members to participate in so you can continually learn
potential future states. a future state. and adapt.

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Prepare for Change
• Evaluate current state
• Identify risks
• Consider adoption needs
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Do we really need people to
transition with us to the future
state?

• Can we be successful without our team

members transitioning?

• What percentage of the team do we

need to transition in order to be
successful?

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

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Template C. Future State People Dependency

To use this template

Complete the boxes on the following page to indicate what potential organizational impacts would
be experienced if only certain percentages of employees adopted the future state.

What to do with the data

Use this data as an input into your risk evaluation, and also as an input to developing your future
state. Most likely your changes will be highly dependent on your team members so you will want to
give more attention to the people side of change and leading individual change journeys to the future
state.

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Template C. Future State People Dependency
How much of this project’s success is dependent on people, in terms of employee acceptance and/or user adoption?

Describe the impacts if the following

percentages of people adopted the change.

75%
25%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

75%
50%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

75%
75%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

What is the optimal percentage of people you’d like to participate in the future state?
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Where might employees fall on this risk register with regard to transition to a future state?
Significant

High Risk Medium Risk

Scale of Change
Change Resistant Attitude towards Change Change Supportive

Medium Risk Low Risk

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Little to No Impact
Where might employees fall on this risk register with regard to transition to a future state?
Significant

High Risk
• Impacts to personal and professional lives
• Change saturated environment
• Previous experience with change was ad hoc.

Scale of Change
• Individuals may prefer the current state.
• No clear understanding of what future state looks like.

Change Resistant Attitude towards Change Change Supportive

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Little to No Impact
Template D. Risk Mapping of Stakeholder Groups

To use this template

While the previous example considered the impacts to the broad population of employees, you can
use this grid to consider more nuanced impacts to specific stakeholder groups like project teams or
functional areas.

What to do with the data

This data can inform how you approach the change with individual groups of stakeholders.
Stakeholder groups who have a lower degree of risk may simply need to be kept informed of the
changes, while stakeholders who have higher degree of risk may need to understand the business
case for change or have barriers to change removed in order to be converted.

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Template D: Risk Mapping of Stakeholder Groups
Significant

High Risk Medium Risk

Scale of Change
Change Resistant Attitude towards Change Change Supportive

Medium Risk Low Risk

Little to No Impact 22
Change Management Plan

1 2 3
Leverage enterprise and Use a collaborative Build resilience and
individual data to approach to developing agility in your teams to be
understand and the future state. productive regardless of
communicate about the future state.
potential future states.

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Manage Change
• Tactics to engage stakeholders
• Tactics to enable stakeholders

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Change management plan

1 2 3
Leverage enterprise and Use a collaborative Build resilience and agility in
individual data to approach to developing your teams to be productive
understand and the future state. regardless of the future state. 
communicate about
potential future states.

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Tactic 1 The value of data collection

Where are we?

We don’t have an intentional current state, so
this data allows us to understand what current
state has formed on its own.

How are we doing here?

We can use knowledge about the current state
to understand why team members may or may
not want to change.

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Tactic 1 Leverage enterprise data to learn about the current state.

Has productivity
dropped? Have burn-down
Consider measures rates changed?
unique to your org.
What What, if any,
functionality, if security
any, has been
Enterprise concerns have
compromised/ Data been raised in
lost? Are there new the current state?
Has customer
trends in voice
satisfaction
of customer
changed?
data?
What costs were
saved/incurred
as a result?

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Template E. Enterprise Data Collection

To use this template

Use this template to take discussion questions and augment them with data that your
organization already collects and leverages to make decisions. Consider creative ways to
understand the answers to these questions, and identify the resources you need from teams to get
a 360 degree view of the impacts. For example, productivity may refer to the number of
applications processed or products developed, but it may also refer to the length of time it takes
to resolve IT tickets or process reimbursements.

What to do with the data

This data will help you to understand what aspects of the current state are sustainable, and
which are not. This data can also be used to help teams understand the case for change. If
productivity is down in measurable ways in the current state, employees may better understand
why the future state is being developed to look a specific way.

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Template E. Enterprise Data Collection
What team members
What data exists to
Question should be involved in a
respond to this question?
discussion of this question?
Has productivity dropped?
Consider measures unique to your organization.
What functionality, if any, has been
compromised/lost?
Has customer satisfaction changed?

What costs were saved/incurred as a result?

Have burn-down rates changed?

Are there new trends in voice of customer data?

What, if any, security concerns have been raised in

the current state?

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Tactic 1  Leverage individual data to learn about the current state.

What aspects of the What aspects of the

current culture current culture
would you like to would you like to
keep? eliminate?
What functions of
your role are Employee What have you
learned about your
difficult to Experience work preferences
complete in this
way of working? Data during this time?
Are you Are you able to
experiencing more structure your day
job satisfaction in to stay as
this way of productive as you
working? were before?

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Template F. Employee Experience Data Collection
To use this template
Use this template to take these discussion questions and tailor them in a way that makes sense for
your organization. Consider creative ways to understand the answers to these questions, and identify
the resources you need from teams to get a 360 degree view of the impacts. You may determine that
you need a combination of existing data collection tools, like ongoing survey efforts, as well as new
tools, like a task force or anonymous reporting tool.

What to do with the data

This data will help you to understand what aspects of the current state are sustainable, and which are
not. This data can also be used to help teams understand the case for change. If certain aspects of
the current state are not meeting employees’ needs, that information could be used to create better
understanding of why the future state is being developed to look a specific way.

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Template F. Employee Experience Data Collection
How can we collect this data What team members should
Question from across the be involved in a discussion
organization? of this question?

What aspects of the current culture would you like to

keep?

What functions of your role are difficult to complete in this

way of working?

Are you experiencing more job satisfaction in this way of

working?

Are you able to structure your day to stay as productive

as you were before?

What have you learned about your work preferences

during this time?

What aspects of the current culture would you like to

eliminate?

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Change management plan

1 2 3
Leverage enterprise and Use a collaborative Build resilience and agility in
individual data to approach to developing the your teams to be productive
understand and future state. regardless of the future state. 
communicate about
potential future states.

33
Tactic 2 The value of stakeholder engagement

What don’t we know?

Because of the ad hoc current state, we don’t
know exactly how individual stakeholders are
doing in this change.

Why should we care?

The practices people are choosing for
themselves right now may be working – and
we can consider how to include them in the
future state.

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Tactic 2 Use a collaborative approach to developing the future state.

What? Why?

Turbulent times call for diverse perspectives to

Identify a subset of employees that is
generate the most innovative and relevant
representative of all stakeholder groups.
solutions.

Data leads to informed decisions that truly meet

Make data-based decisions.
the needs of your stakeholders.

Consider multiple future states given the Preparing for multiple future states means
uncertainty. changes can be developed thoughtfully,
regardless of uncertainty.

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Tactic 2 Develop an authentic communications strategy to build credibility and trust.

Transparent Cadenced

Tenets
 
of
Effective
Communications

Empathetic Diverse

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Change management plan

1 2 3
Leverage enterprise and Use a collaborative approach Build resilience and agility
individual data to to developing the future in your teams to be
understand and state. productive regardless of
communicate about the future state.
potential future states.

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Tactic 3 Build resilience and agility in your teams
What have you learned from this crisis
period that can be leveraged to build
long-term resilience and agility in your
teams?
Many organizations are concerned about
employee welfare during this trying time.
Teams are coming together in innovative,
supportive ways to rise to the challenge. Some
organizations are even providing wellness
resources and stress management support. But
we should be equally concerned about the
friction caused by “re-entry” because the
challenges of transitioning to the future state
could be just as disruptive and stressful. This is
the right time to build resiliency in your teams.
The lessons learned from dealing with this
crisis could be extremely valuable for building
long-term business agility.
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Tactic 3 Build resilience and agility in your teams

What we need to succeed… How resilience and agility will help…

Speed in interpreting new data and Stay responsive and high performing by
making decisions focusing energy on priority decisions

Innovation for adapting or reinventing Leverage the connection and ideas in your
operating models teams to find innovative solutions

Cultivate cognitive flexibility to stay receptive to

Openness to a new way of working changes in how work gets done

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Tactic 3 Build resilience and agility in your teams

Protect your talent by right-sizing workloads

Invest in your talent through continuous learning and development

Cultivate connection by practicing compassion

Curb the cognitive load through information management

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Measure Change
• How will we know if we have
been successful?

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How to Measure Successful Adoption

Collect Feedback
Continually collect feedback on your progress in
transitioning team members to the future state.
Consider employee retention rates (measure against
Feedback baseline), employee engagement or satisfaction
survey results, and exit interview data.

Learn from the data

Continuously learn from this data by evaluating the
results, identifying gaps and understanding the root
cause of the problems.

Adapt Learn Adapt

Use a collaborative problem-solving approach to
refine the future state in ways that drive adoption
and enable success.

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Continue the conversation

We hope you found this e-book

useful for preparing, managing
and measuring your transition to a
successful future state. Feel free
to reach out on
projectmanagement.com or
Linked In to continue the
Kendra Modzelewski, PMP
conversation. Sara J. Webber, PMP

Change Management Specialist

Project Management Institute Manager, Change Management
Project Management Institute

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