This article was originally authored by an expert at Change Guides, a Cincinnati-based change management firm acquired by TiER1 Performance in 2024.
People are wired to react to change. How leaders approach change management within organizations will impact employees’ ability to adapt and respond positively to change.
To remain nimble and stay competitive in a fast-paced environment, many leaders are embracing agile change management, an iterative and collaborative approach that prioritizes adaptation to achieve continuous improvement. This differs from a traditional waterfall change management approach, which, although still collaborative, measures success based on achieving sequential milestones. Regardless of the approach, successful change initiatives require an intentional focus on how the organization’s people will be impacted.
Due to the iterative nature of agile change management, flexibility, stakeholder engagement, and a collaborative culture are key. Leaders must be able to pivot change plans according to data and feedback from stakeholders, specifically those who will be most impacted by the change. Leaders must also ensure the organization’s culture supports an agile, collaborative approach. If the organization has a history of embracing traditional change management practices, employees may be more resistant to the speed of change and iterative nature of an agile approach. Introducing agile practices at a slower pace can help employees become comfortable engaging with agile practices and confident in embracing an agile mindset.
Not only do leaders need to ensure their people feel ready and capable of integrating agile practices, but they also need to understand how their people will be impacted by the change, so they can support their needs throughout the process. Using tools like the People Impact Scan can help leaders measure the impact a change initiative will have on their people.
By determining how a change initiative will impact employees, the People Impact Scan can help leaders identify where to focus agile change management activities. The People Impact Scan should be conducted at the beginning of a change initiative and repeated every time a new iteration is identified. The process should take a change leader no more than one to two hours for each iteration/sprint/planning cycle.
How to Use the Tool:
Start by identifying the functional areas or teams that will be affected by the change. (If you’re unsure who will be impacted by the change, use our framing Who/Do Tool to identify and clarify your audience.) Next, engage stakeholders from each area/team and ask them to assign an impact rating for how the change will affect their specific area/team. Remember, various factors will influence the impact levels for each area/team. For example, a “complex” change that affects only a few people may receive the same impact rating as a “simple” change that affects a larger group of people. Finally, follow up with leaders of the impacted functional areas and teams to validate the impact ratings.
Keep in mind that it may take longer to assess and understand how a change will affect different areas/teams if the structure, culture, and job roles are inconsistent across divisions or organization locations. If you encounter changes that impact organizational structure, culture, roles, or staffing levels, raise these issues up to leaders and human resources promptly. Preparing employees to embrace these changes may take more time and may cause greater resistance compared to less complex changes.
By understanding the needs of employees and engaging them throughout the change initiative, organizations encourage adoption of new mindsets, enable people to work in new ways, and realize sustainable results in an agile environment. Download your free copy of the People Impact Scan worksheet.
For additional agile best practice tips, check out our Five Steps to Build a More Agile Change Management Strategy blog post.