Who this is for: All users
The change impact heatmap shows which groups face the most change, and when. It’s built from the impacts you record on each initiative, so it shows exactly which groups are affected and how heavily.
Open the report
- Click Reports in the left menu.
- Choose Change impacts.
Set up and generate the heatmap
The report doesn’t load until you choose what you want to see.
- Org chart tier: pick the level of your org chart to show as rows, such as division or team.
- Time scale: choose weekly, monthly or quarterly columns.
- Start date and End date: set the period to cover.
- Filter: narrow the report to particular initiatives. With nothing chosen, it includes them all.
- Filter by audience: pick the groups you want to see.
- Click Generate report.
ChangePlan remembers your date range for next time.
Read the heatmap
- Rows are groups from your org chart. Columns are time periods.
- Cell colours show the impact level for that group in that period. The legend explains each colour.
- Expand a group to see the teams beneath it.
- Click a cell to see the impacts behind it.
How the colours are worked out
Your organisation uses one of two rules:
- Dominance rule: if one impact level makes up at least a third of the impacts in a cell, the cell takes that colour. Otherwise it shows the highest level present, so a few major impacts aren’t hidden by many minor ones.
- Weighted score: each impact level has a weight (by default Low = 1, Medium = 5, High = 10). The weight is multiplied by the number of groups beneath the affected group, then added up for each period.
Scores compare how intense change is across your organisation. They aren’t a measure of cost or effort. Groups with more teams beneath them will naturally score higher. Your admin chooses the rule and the weights.
Options
Use Options to change what the heatmap shows:
- Custom groups: show your custom groups as rows.
- Show only time periods with impacts: hide empty columns.
- Show only impacted groups: hide groups with no impacts.
- Show initiative names: show which initiatives sit in each cell.
- Show values: show the numbers in each cell.
For a leadership view, turn on Show only time periods with impacts and Show only impacted groups to cut the noise.
Export the heatmap
Click the Export icon and choose:
- PNG: a picture of the heatmap, with its legend, for slides.
- XLS (heatmap values): the grid of values as you see it.
- XLS (full data): one row per impact in your date range and filters, for building your own reports.
If nothing shows
If you see “No impacts match these filters”, widen or clear your filters, then generate the report again.
Tips
- Use the heatmap to spot teams handling too many changes at once, and to decide whether to stagger go-live dates.
- Share it with executives to show where support is needed, and time training and communications for heavily impacted teams.
- For the colour rules worked through with examples, see How the Dominance Rule Works for Impact Heatmap Logic and How ChangePlan Calculates Impact Heatmap Scores.
Still stuck?
Email support@changeplan.co with a screenshot of what you see, and we’ll help.