Who this is for: Change managers starting work on a new or in-flight initiative.
This is the recommended order for planning an initiative in ChangePlan, from sizing the change to reporting on it. Each step links to a detailed guide.
Size the change
- Open the initiative's dashboard.
- Work through the Initiative Setup panels: upload documents, then answer the 12-question Change Effort Assessment. ChangePlan gives the initiative an overall effort size so you can plan the right level of support.
Set goals and milestones
- Open Change canvas in the initiative's left menu and capture the high-level goals and perspectives. This is the foundation for the rest of your plan.
- Open Change checklist to set dates for milestones and deliverables. Add colleagues to tasks so you can track time spent.
Understand who is affected
- Open Audience and pull in the groups and people affected.
- Open Impacts and assess what changes for each group.
Plan for risks
- Open Risks and add the change risks for the initiative.
- Open Activities and build a change management activity plan of stakeholder-facing activities that address those risks and impacts.
Report on progress
Use Reports in the left menu for stakeholder or audience matrices, impact heatmaps and risk heatmaps to communicate the initiative's progress and needs.
Why this order helps
- Stay organised: every part of the initiative is aligned and easy to find.
- Collaborate: assign tasks, track time and make sure stakeholders are supported.
- Communicate clearly: data-driven reports make it easy to share progress and needs with leaders.
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Last updated: 20 October 2026