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Change Leader’s Impact Assessment ToolHow are people impacted by the change you introduce?This impact assessment helps you see a change through the lens of the people who are impacted and helpsyou consider what can be done to make it easier for them to transition to the future you have in mind.As a first step, use the questions on the next page to think through their perspective. You may not know allof the answers but even just considering the questions shifts you to an empathetic mindset. Once youanswer the questions, you can then seek information to confirm and broaden your understanding. Thiscan be done by having a conversation with a specific individual if they are your focus, or with an individualrepresenting a group, or talking to a whole group. In that conversation, ask if you’re seeing the impactaccurately and ask what else is important for you to know.This tool is a good first step to help you decide what you want the change process experience to be like foreveryone and what you can do as a change leader to make that happen. Even taking 10 minutes to thinkthrough these questions before meeting with others can help you stay in a curious mindset and avoidbeing quick to judge others as resistant to change.1 © 2020 The Change Decision

Assessing ImpactsAnswer these questions to get a better understanding of others’ points of view.1. What does this person (group, team, role, etc.) need to do differently?2. From their perspective how big a change is that?3. What is their expected reaction? Why?4. What changes are in recent memory and how did they go?5. What would an ideal and successful transition look like?6. What would make it easier for them to change?Who do you focus on?If you’re introducing a change to a small team and are concerned about how the change will go, you maywant to assess the impact for each individual. If you are introducing a change to several stakeholdersgroups, you may want to narrow your focus on the groups that are most critical to a successful outcomeand are likely to have the most difficulty with the transition. If you are introducing change to a largeorganization, you may want to talk to representatives of each major stakeholder group to understand theimpact.What did you learn?Once you’ve assessed several stakeholders, take a step back and notice what your answers are telling you.What are the common themes? Are the outliers? Are there concerns you could easily take care of thatwould make a big difference? What else do your answers indicate? If you could learn more about theimpact, what would you most want to know? What would that information help you decide?What don’t you know?When attempting to answer the questions, you may realize how little you know about the perspective ofothers. The questions to ask next are: How big a risk is this? How do I know? If you’re confident it’s fairlylow risk then you may have enough information to decide what actions to take. If you believe it's a higherrisk or if it’s hard to assess the risk, you can learn more and evaluate the situation by talking to people.Through this assessment, you may realize that the change is at significant risk given the scope andcomplexity of the impact on people. This is when you may want to hire someone to do a thorough impactanalysis to identify strategies that reduce this risk.Although most employees won’t have a choice about what a change decision is, they alwayshave a choice in how well they adapt. As a change agent, you can set an intention for how youwant others to experience the change process and take steps to make that happen. You can alsohelp others see that they have a choice in how they experience the change process and supportthem to take ownership of that choice.2 © 2020 The Change Decision

One more thought:● How do you want people to feelabout the change process?● What would most help them feelthat way?● How does this align with yourcompany’s values? How does it alignwith your company’s purpose andlong-term goals?3 © 2020 The Change Decision