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Guide Questions for Creating a

Change Implementation Strategy
Patricia A. McLagan

Before you implement a change, take time to plan a strategy that addresses key issues related to your

organization to ensure support is available and alignment is defined. Your answers to the following

questions will help you shape a change support approach that will make success more likely.

Success Lesson Questions to Ask

1. Be sure the change will
add value.
2. Match the change
process to the change
challenge.
“Will this change make us more successful in our environment?”
“Will this change make work more successful while reducing the
effort required?”
“Will it provide truly better customer service or product
quality?”
“Will it have a positive impact on people at work – their status,
the meaning of their work, the ease of work, the elimination of
barriers to success?
“Will this change really improve performance for our overall
organization?”
“How complex is this change in terms of the number, breadth,
and depth of pieces and actions it contains?”
“For this change, are there obvious and clear solutions and
precedents (that is, it’s relatively predictable)?”
“Is this a transactional (simple and predictable), transitional
(simple but unpredictable, or complex but predictable), or
transformational (complex and unpredictable) change?”
“What is the level of investment we will have to make to ensure
success (low for transactional, moderate to high for transitional,
and very high for transformational changes)?”

“Guide Questions for Creating a Change Implementation Strategy” ©2014 ASTD is a supporting tool for
the ASTD Handbook: The Definitive Reference for Training & Development, 2nd edition. All other rights
reserved.

3. Provide management
support.
4. Prepare the system for
change.
5. Help people align.
“Guide Questions for Creating a Change Implementation Strategy” ©2014 ASTD is a supporting tool for
the ASTD Handbook: The Definitive Reference for Training & Development, 2nd edition. All other rights
reserved.
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“What are our goals for this project and how can we keep them
alive throughout implementation?”
“How can we best organize and structure this change to ensure
an effective blend of discipline and flexibility?”
“What resources and management focus are really required for
success? Are we committed to fully funding and supporting this
change over time?”
“How will we find, notice, acknowledge, and communicate the
little steps forward so that we can keep momentum going on
through this change?”
“What, if any, work processes will be directly or indirectly
affected by this change? How can we align them?”
“What do managers at all levels need to do to support this
change, and how can we support them in their role and actions?
“How do our HR practices support or impede this change, and
what can we do to get the HR system alignment we need for
success?”
“What organizational barriers could defeat this change, and what
will we do about them?”
“As we review our change plans, how confident are we that we
are making enough supportive changes to successfully initiate
and grow the change?”
“What does our current psychological contract imply about how
we will manage this change?”
“What decisions may affect people adversely, and how can we
make these decisions in a fair and just way?”
“What are the key short- and long-term positives of this change
for the organization and its people?”
“Who are the opinion leaders that people listen to, and how can
we get them involved?”
“What are the main messages that leaders need to stand for—
over and over again—until this change is fully implemented?”
“Where do people affected by the change need to be involved
because they have something important to contribute to
defining or implementing the change?”
“What skills do people need to implement and sustain the
change, and how do we help develop these skills?”
“What behavior do we expect from people that will not happen
without offering incentives?”
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The Author of This Tool

Patricia A. McLagan wrote chapter 47, “The Training and Development Professional’s Role in Guiding

Change,” in the ASTD Handbook: The Definitive Reference for Training & Development, 2nd edition.

This tool is available for use as part of readers’ presentations and programs provided the copyright
attribution statement, shown below, is retained on all copies. For other uses or permission, please
contact ASTD Publications at publications@astd.org.

“Guide Questions for Creating a Change Implementation Strategy” ©2014 ASTD is a supporting tool for
the ASTD Handbook: The Definitive Reference for Training & Development, 2nd edition. All other rights
reserved.