Subject: Change Management

Instructions: Assessment Tool

A change assessment or change readiness assessment tool is designed to gather information indicative of several factors contributing to change management success. In general, this should include:

• Leadership: Does company leadership embrace change as a necessary element of growth and progression? Does the organization have a history of change leaders?
• Capacity: Does the organization cultivate and exhibit the necessary skills to support change, such as:
  • Project Management
  • Problem Solving
  • Training
  • Communication
  • Teamwork
• Urgency: Is the project a high priority? Connected to strategic plan? Budgeted? Internally resourced? Connected to customer? Regulator?
• Disposition toward Improvement: Is the need for continuous improvement communicated and embraced throughout the organization? Do recent previous project suggest that this is acted on.
• Clarity of Destination: Are the mission, vision and values clearly articulated and understood? Does the organization regularly generate and monitor strategic goals?
• Resourcing: Does the organization have a mechanism to adequately resource change projects? Funding, resources, time.
• Project Alignment with High Level Goals: Does your project directly relate to a stated organizational goal

The assessment should also address the current state, paying special attention to those elements emphasized in the course:

• Factors influencing ability of the organization to "unfreeze"
  • Creative Tension
  • Creating a sense of urgency
  • Existing trigger issues
• Factors identified in redesign
  • Control mechanisms
  • Decision making
  • Job design/empowerment
  • Autonomy/Coordination
• Factors supporting redesign
  • Training
  • Recruitment
  • Structure
  • Process/Technology

Question:

Develop a change assessment tool to gather pertinent information on key change management elements of any organization