Free 2024 Change Management Plan, Template, Sample for Change Mgrs

Free Change Management Plan Templates & Workflow
for New & Experienced Change Practitioners

This guide has been published to provide you with the step-by-step workflow for delivering all aspects of organizational change management, including a 5-phase implementation plan, free change management plan templates, and free OCM tools for both novice and experienced change practitioners.

Without a comprehensive change management plan or template, change projects are at risk of failure.

Whether you’re a new change practitioner that’s just been assigned a change project position or a seasoned pro, having a comprehensive change management checklist is essential and saves you A LOT of time.
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Quick Summary

Versatile OCMS Change Management Framework: Streamlining Change Across Five Phases

The OCM Solution Change Management Framework, with five phases, offers a versatile and scalable model for managing changes of all sizes. Combining science and art, an effective OCMS framework streamlines change management through 5 key phases for a seamless transition.

Phase 1 (Assess): Conduct assessments to understand the project’s impact on the organization and create a change management strategy document.
Phase 2 (Develop): Analyze assessments and create change management plans, including a strategic playbook, roadmap, and detailed tasks.
Phase 3 (Deploy): Actively engage with stakeholders, leadership, and target audiences to execute change management plans.
Phase 4 (Normalize): Provide support and reinforcement after the project goes live, track metrics, and ensure the change becomes the new norm.
Phase 5 (Exit): Hand off responsibilities, close out the change management plan, and archive project documents.

What makes OCMS Change Management Workflow great is that it can be can adapted for various change programs. It provides a structured approach to successful change management, with a focus on deliverables and tasks tailored to project requirements.

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Get Your Free Change Management Resources Today (Free OCMS Tools and Templates)

Sign up today for a free account and get access to our free OCMS Change Management templates and tools to access a range of resources designed for change management planning.

Discover a vault of free OCM tools and templates including:

change management plan template with deliverables and tasks,
change management roadmaps,
changer management strategic playbooks,
and much more…

Illustration: free change management softwares

Comprehensive Change Management Plan Template and Workflow Guide

A robust change management plan is the bedrock of successful organizational transformation, offering guidance for a broad spectrum of changes, from gradual transitions to unexpected shifts. Flexible templates in Excel, cloud platforms, or PDF are essential for accommodating diverse change programs.

This OCMS change management guide has got you covered with everything you need to know about:

change approach,
data management tools,
a strategic playbook,
a change roadmap,
workflow details, and
a comprehensive plan covering communication, stakeholder management, training, and resistance.

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Change management deliverables, tailored to project requirements, are essential components, categorized by change phases for a structured approach.

A well-structured change management plan:

allocates resources,
establishes a sensible timeline, and
outlines necessary activities in the correct order.

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Do you have any questions about the OCMS free change template plan? Please reach out and let us know.

Detailed Deep Dive

Table of Contents – OCMS Change Management Plan & Framework

Click to visit each section individually or scroll down to read the entire change management plan workflow.

1. Change Management Workflow for Any Type of Change Methodology
2. Complete Change Management Plan & Workflow Overview
3. Change Management Defined. What do You Need to Know?
4. Why Do You Really Need a Plan for Organizational Change?
5. What is a Change Management Plan in Project Management?
6. What are the Real Ingredients of Good Change Management Planning & Execution
7. What Are the Main Change Management Deliverables for Change Practitioners?
8. What is the OCM Solution Change Management Framework About?
9. The Five Phases of Change Management – Workflow Overview
10. Step-by-Step Change Management Plan & Workflow
11. Change Process Phase 1 (Assess Phase)
12. Change Process Phase 2 (Develop Phase)
13. Change Process Phase 3 (Deploy Phase)
14. Change Process Phase 4 (Normalize Phase)
15. Change Process Phase 5 (Exit Phase)
16. Free Change Management Software’s & Tools You Can Use
17. Free OCM Solution Change Management Roadmap Templates
18. Free OCM Solution Change Management Strategic Playbook Templates
19. More Change Management Template Examples
20. OCM Solution Free Change Management Software FAQs

Do you have any questions about OCM Solution change tools? Please reach out and let us know. See also: Best Business Impact Assessment Guide, Templates, Tools, and Step-by-Step Process

Change Management Workflow for Any Type of Change Methodology

This end-to-end free change management plan template and workflow guide has been developed for you, and provides you with everything you need. It can be used alongside all change methodologies including the Prosci change framework, ADKAR template process, Agile change management software, PMP change management plan model, APMG, CCPM, or any other type of strategic change plan, change certification, or model listed below:

Are you a new, experienced, or tenured change practitioner? Or are you a project or program manager?

Where do you get started with a change management plan template if you’re new to organizational change management (OCM)? And if you’ve been doing OCM for a while, where can you find the best change management process template and best practices to make your work easier, and increase your successes?

Keep on reading for answers to your key questions.

Contact us if you have any questions or feedback about our step-by-step workflow, analytics dashboard, sample data, free change management plan templates, tools, and guides.

Complete Change Management Plan & Workflow Overview

A change management project plan can vary widely according to the project needs and organization requirements. But regardless of the size or scope of a project, it’s important to have an overall change management workflow and OCM plan to guide your activities.

In this guide, you’ll find a comprehensive 5-phase change implementation plan and a change management plan template free to use. You will also find other free change management template tools to help you fulfill your change management responsibilities.

(Get Instant Access to All FREE Change Management Templates!)

Leverage the step-by-step free change management timeline as you work your way through each change phase – it explains the change management deliverables typically required for stage along the change management process.

We’ll even go further and provide a free change management plan example PDF & PPT file that you can print or download, and use as an easy reference to explain your OCM plan to others. (You can find this download later in the article.)

Change Management Defined. What do You Need to Know?

What is change management?

Change management is a set of strategies and procedures used to manage an organizational change and guide people through the necessary transition to achieve the desired result. Where project management is about planning the steps needed to implement a certain project, change management is about enabling the people being impacted by that project.

For example, if you are deploying a new cybersecurity policy, the project team will be focused on the software tools and steps needed to complete the project. A change management plan in project management will be focused on the staff that needs to change the way they do things for that new policy to be adopted successfully.

Any change management plan example that you see will be about helping the people and organizational groups being impacted by the change adapt to the new system or process.

This facilitation will include things like a change management communication plan template, a stakeholder management plan template, a resistance management plan, and more. Once you understand the main definition of change management, a change management template can serve four main purposes:

Give you a change management document that guides you through the process, step by step
Provide a place to input and manage all data related to the change management implementation plan or organisational restructure implementation plan
Guide you in what types of data you need to collect when deploying the change management action plan
Provide helpful analytics on the data entered into an ADKAR change management plan template or another change management template

Whether you have a small change project or a large one, you have a much better chance of success if you’re using a change management plan example PDF, a change management plan PPT, change management plan template Excel, or cloud-based change management software to guide your activities.

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Why Do You Really Need a Plan for Organizational Change?

Without a comprehensive change management plan or change management document template, a change project can easily fail. Driving successful change means having all assets properly allocated, having a change management timeline that makes sense, and knowing all the activities that need to be done, and in which order.

A sample change management plan or organizational change management plan template provides structure to organizational change. That structure includes assessing stakeholders that are being impacted by the change and gauging the organization’s readiness for the change.

A change management strategy template also includes activities that help resolve resistance to change, such as leadership coaching and developing a change champions network. Where do these change management responsibilities come from?

There have been change models and methodologies developed that guide change management best practices. One of the most well-known is the Prosci ADKAR® Model, with the Prosci change management toolkit. Another is the Kotter 8-Step model for change management.

The change management framework template that we are using in this Step-by-Step Change Management Workflow is the OCM Solution Change Management Framework. (We’ll go into this organizational change plan approach in more detail shortly.)

What these change management models and others have in common is that they offer a strategy for guiding people in an organization through change. This includes guidelines, best practices, change management deliverables, tasks, responsibilities, and strategies all designed to achieve successful organizational change.

(Instant Access to All FREE Organizational Change Management Plan Templates & Resources!)

What is a Change Management Plan in Project Management?

It’s not unusual for an organization to be confused between change management and project management. This is because both are interconnected.

What is a change management plan in project management? A change management plan in project planning is the plan developed to support the people side of change. It is the strategic change plan that covers how impacted users will be enabled to adopt the project changes.

Most projects being implemented will impact employees, and managers, and sometimes external audiences. It may not be a large impact, but any impact requires a change management project plan template. Using such a template helps to ensure that those being impacted are properly guided through the change.

The change management strategy document and change management timeline will become an important supporting part of the entire project as a whole.

Any change management plan template Excel, PPT, or cloud software that you find (ADKAR change management plan template, PMP change template, OCM Solution change management templates, and others) will include a project planning element. Just like the project has deliverables and tasks, the change management project plan example also has its own set of tasks and deliverables.

How an organizational change management plan example PDF or Excel may differ from a general project plan, is that change management plan PPT, PDF, or Excel is focused on transitioning people through a change, rather than just on the mechanics of the change.

Popular Article: Implementing Change Management in the Workplace

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What are the Real Ingredients of Good Change Management Planning & Execution

Change management is about putting a framework in place for any type of organizational change to happen successfully. And, a top change management plan offers a strategic roadmap for all aspects of your change management responsibilities, including conducting change impact assessments to identify what’s changing and training users on new processes.

Some business changes are slow, planned, and incremental, while others are more abrupt and unexpected. Without the ability to change and adapt, a company, project, or program can quickly falter.

You need to ensure that your change management template Excel sheet, ADKAR change management plan template, or online change management software give you the flexibility you need to adapt them to any type of change program.

The right change management plan template -Excel, Cloud, or PDF – lays out all the information you need to manage a change project and is an important ingredient in your organizational change plan.

Key Ingredients in a Change Implementation Plan:

Change Management Approach: This can be an ADKAR template, Prosci change management toolkit, or the OCM Solution change management model.
Change Management Software’s/Tools: Whether you use a free change management template, paid cloud application, or an Excel change management template, you need to have some type of tool to manage your data and tasks, and provide analytics reporting.
Strategic Playbook: This is an important asset that acts as your change management strategy document. It explains exactly what you are planning to do.
Change Management Roadmap: Your roadmap helps you provide a quick overview and sample change management plan, including your project timeline.
Change Management Workflow with Deliverables & Tasks: The change management workflow is built from the strategic playbook and change management roadmap. It’s the change management process template that details all tasks needed to accomplish the deliverables for the project.
Structured Change Management Plan: Your change management plan PPT, cloud, or Excel will include all the steps your team will take in each area of change management. It will incorporate the change management communication plan template, stakeholder management plan template, training plan, resistance management plan, and more.

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Don’t miss. See Also: Best Impact Analysis Templates, Tools, and Step-by-Step Process

What Are the Main Change Management Deliverables for Change Practitioners?

A change management deliverable refers to a tangible or intangible good or service that is required to be delivered as part of the change management implementation plan or organisational restructure implementation plan. This could be something like a stakeholder assessment, a readiness status report, or the change management communication plan template.

Change management deliverables will vary according to the project. For example, some projects may not require a resistance management plan that includes coaching, while other projects may have this requirement.

Categorizing your business change deliverables by the Change Management Phase helps you keep an orderly process to your change management activities and keeps deliverables from accidentally “falling between the cracks.”

For each organizational change management deliverable, there will be certain tasks that need to be done to complete that deliverable. For example, when delivering a training program, you might need to do these tasks:

Train users/target audiences
Track training scores & metrics
Survey users on training effectiveness

OCM Solution’ free Change Management Workflow Template includes links to guides and tools to learn more about each workflow phase, deliverable, and the connected tasks.

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Do you have any questions or feedback about this change implementation plan guide? Please contact us and let us know.

What is the OCM Solution Change Management Framework About?

The OCM Solution Change Management Framework is a 5-phase change model that uses a “manage by deliverables” approach. Each of the five phases categorizes the project actions (deliverables) that need to happen to conduct a successful change project from start to finish. These five phases are Assess, Develop, Deploy, Normalize, and Exit.

Each phase includes people-focused deliverables which require a set of tasks to achieve. Our change approach allows the freedom to accomplish those deliverables in the way the change team feels is most optimized. It’s also easily scalable to any size or scope of project and can be used with both Agile and Waterfall approaches.

In general, any type of change management methodology should be considered the “science” of change management. It is the same concept involved with getting an education or getting trained on something. You learn the science (method) of that topic.

Over time, you will need to build the “art” of change management, which involves developing proficiency. With years of experience, which includes seeing what works and what doesn’t work, you can build upon any change methodology, and perfect your art of change management implementation.

The OCM Solution Change Management Framework comes from that ideal combination of the Science and the Art of change management.

We’ll start with a high-level overview of what goes into a change management plan or change management process template using the OCM Solution Change Framework.

The goal of your change management plan is to incorporate the activities needed to move through these 5 key phases:

Assess
Develop
Deploy
Normalize
Exit

How do those give change stages translate to your organizational change management plan template Excel, PPT, or cloud-based? See the section below.

The Five Phases of Change Management – Workflow Overview

Here is an example of how you can use the five stages of change management to instruct your change management activities and when writing your change management action plan.

OCMS Change Management Workflow Phases

Phase 1 (Assess Phase): You’ll do several different assessments to get an understanding of the project and how it impacts the organization so you can create a change management strategy document.
Phase 2 (Develop Phase): In this phase, you’ll review your assessments and develop your change management project examples, including your change management roadmap, timeline, deliverables, and detailed tasks.
Phase 3 (Deploy Phase): This is the action phase when you’ll be actively engaging with stakeholders, leadership, and target audiences as you deploy your various plans developed for your change management process workflow.
Phase 4 (Normalize Phase): This is the post-go-live phase when you’ll be actively supporting individuals and groups to ensure they adapt to the change successfully.
Phase 5 (Exit Phase): This phase includes a hand-off of the changed process/system responsibilities and delivery of a change management document that looks at lessons learned, achievements, room for improvement, etc.

Our free downloadable Change Management Project Plan Template uses this OCM Solution Change Framework approach to help guide change management activities and tasks. When looking for a change management plan example PDF or other tools, look for something like this that is flexible to fit any size or scope change management plan.

Step-by-Step Change Management Plan & Workflow

In the sections below, this comprehensive step-by-step change implementation plan will take you through each step of a change management project.

You can follow the following change management plan example sequence when completing your deliverables and tasks. HOWEVER, some things can be done in parallel or will need to be done in parallel. You and your project will determine which tasks to complete first and when.

Do you have to complete EACH of the change management deliverables listed below?

No, you don’t. Not every business change will require you to perform all the organizational change management deliverables outlined below in this change management strategy template. Projects that impact a larger group of end-users or projects that are large in scope are often the ones that need most or all of the deliverables outlined below.

While, this organizational change management plan template provides you with a holistic end-to-end view of change management deliverables, the exact items you will need to complete will be based on the scope, scale, and severity of the change you are supporting.

(Instant Access to ALL free OCMS change management templates!)

Next, we’ll detail the step-by-step change management project plan template. Later in the article, you’ll also find several free downloads and tools you can use. These include:

Free change management document template that includes phases, deliverables, and sample tasks
Free change management plan PPT & PDF, “OCMS Change Management Framework”
Free change management roadmap
Free strategy document for a sample change management plan
Other organizational change management plan example toolkits to use

As mentioned above, this guide’s sample change management plan is based upon the OCM Solution Change Management Framework, however, it is flexible to be used with any other model or approach you may be using, such as a change management plan PMP approach or an ADKAR change management plan template.

Change Process Phase 1 (Assess Phase)

This phase involves understanding the change project and doing initial assessments in several areas that will help you formulate your change management plans, priorities, and activities.

You’ll be gathering the necessary details on which groups are being impacted by the change, the severity of the impacts, how leaders and critical stakeholders are feeling about the change, and other important details that lay the groundwork for your change management plan development in Phase 2.

You can think of Phase 1 (Assess Phase) as the phase in your change management process template where you are learning and understanding.

This phase can include the following change management deliverables:

Project Assessment
Change Impact Assessment
Target Audience Assessment
Stakeholder Assessment
Organizational Readiness Assessment
Change Risk Assessment
Change Resistance Assessment
Culture Assessment (if culture change is involved)
Finalizing change assessments

Change assessments are a vital first step in any change management plan template. The analysis you do during the assessments informs all the activities in your change management process workflow. For example, using a change impact assessment template Excel or cloud to see how users are being impacted, helps you identify where to direct training and resistance mitigation resources.

In What Order Should I Do My Change Assessments?

The exact assessment deliverables and order you perform them in will depend upon your project scope and requirements. However, understanding how one assessment connects to another can help arrange the order of these change management project examples assessments.

Before you can even begin to assess stakeholders and user resistance, you typically need to understand the project – thus the Project Assessment is a great place to start in Phase 1.

The change impact assessment will tell you what organizational groups are being impacted and the severity of the impact, so doing this next will help you identify the target audiences and stakeholders you need to include in your other assessments, as well as the training plan, coaching plan, stakeholder management plan template, change management communication plan, etc.

These are just a few examples of how it can benefit your team to do certain change management assessments ahead of others. We include suggested change management project examples with order flow for Phase 1 in our free downloadable, “OCMS Change Management Framework” PPT and PDF.

What Are Some Common Change Management Plan Deliverable Tasks in Phase 1 (Assess Phase)?

Tasks are needed to complete each deliverable that’s required for your change management project plan template phases.

These will be specific to your project needs, however, here are a few examples of tasks for some Phase 1 change management deliverables:

Deliverable: Target Audience Assessment
- Task: Request a list of employees from HR, IT, or Operations.
- Task: Create or obtain a target audience assessment template.
- Task: Validate your target audience data with key project team members to ensure it is complete.
Deliverable: Org. Readiness Assessment
- Task: Create or obtain an organizational readiness survey.
- Task: Input survey results into your Org. Assessment Template.
- Task: Schedule subsequent readiness assessment surveys during Phase 3 to gauge progress towards go-live readiness.

Would you like a full list of deliverables and sample tasks for a complete change management template Excel or cloud tool? Sign up for a free account with OCM Solution (no credit card needed) and start using our free sample change management plan today!

Questions or feedback about this strategic change plan? Contact us and let us know.

Change Process Phase 2 (Develop Phase)

The second phase of the change process involves developing the change management strategy template (aka strategic playbook) that will be used to implement your change management deliverables. This phase also involves developing all your change management plans so you’ll have your tasks and work organized when it comes time to deploy these plans in Phase 3.

In this second phase of your change management implementation plan, you’ll be analyzing all the data that you collected in Phase 1 (Assess Phase) and putting it into an actionable change management plan and roadmap for your project.

You’ll be allocating resources, deciding on a timeline and budget, and creating milestones to help chart progress along the way. Being able to celebrate incremental milestone wins is an important way to keep the momentum going for a change project, which is why they should be included in your change management plan timeline.

You can think of Phase 2 (Develop Phase) as the phase in your change management template where you are strategizing and planning.

This phase can include the following change management plan deliverables:

Do I Need to Do My Change Plans in Any Particular Order?

When you begin Phase 2 (Develop Phase), you’ll want to start by defining things like the change management approach being deployed, the tools and change management software your team will use, and team roles and responsibilities. Before you dive into your various change management plan templates, you’ll need to create your Change Management Strategic Playbook.

The strategic playbook lays out the things that you plan to do for your change management of the project, the timeline, the approach being used, etc. You need to have this in place BEFORE you create your organizational change management plan because the change plan details how you will complete the items laid out in the strategic playbook.

The change management roadmap is typically created around the same time as the strategic playbook. When you begin putting together your stakeholder management plan template, change management communication plan examples, training plan, and other change plans, you can generally do them in the order that makes sense for your project.

You may even have members of your change project team working on different change management plans simultaneously.

What Are Some Common Change Management Plan Deliverable Tasks in Phase 2 (Develop Phase)?

The tasks you assign to accomplish your deliverables will be specific to your project needs, however, here are a few examples of tasks for Phase 2 change management deliverables:

Deliverable: Change Management Plan
- Task: Create a WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) document.
- Task: Estimate your resource needs and budgeting.
- Task: Create a Business Readiness Checklist.
Deliverable: Training Plan
- Task: Determine and document your training objectives and training program.
- Task: Compile your list of trainees.
- Task: Enter trainees into your cloud or Excel change management template for training tracking and management.

Phase 2 of your change management plan template lays the groundwork for a successful deployment of your tasks and activities in all subsequent phases.

Questions or feedback about this change management process workflow? Contact OCMS Team and let us know.

Change Process Phase 3 (Deploy Phase)

The third phase in the change management process is the deployment phase when all your assessing and planning will be implemented. You will be executing your overall change management plan as well as each individual change plan for communications, coaching, training, a change champions/agents network, and more.

In this phase of your change management process template, you will be engaging and interacting with the project’s target audiences, stakeholders, managers, leaders, and sponsors to guide the organization successfully through the change.

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Using an organizational change management plan template Excel or cloud change management tool can be a great help here. This type of resource will put all the planning documentation at your fingertips, including insightful analytics, so you can easily update and report on activities while in the midst of your change implementation.

You can think of Phase 3 (Deploy Phase) as the phase in your change management framework template where you are engaging and executing.

This phase can include the following deliverables:

Is There Any Chronological Order to the Deliverables in Phase 3?

In the deployment phase, the deliverables in your organizational change management plan example will overlap. There is not really a specific chronological order in which they are accomplished.

An exception would be your training pilot to test the training program naturally coming before the overall training plan implementation. Additionally, your coaching of managers to guide them in their change management responsibilities will usually be one of the earlier deliverables you want to accomplish.

Things like your change management communication plan examples and messages will be distributed throughout the rest of the change project. Most of your deliverables in this phase will be ongoing and done simultaneously, such as your stakeholder engagement, target audience engagement, resistance management, and others.

What Are Some Common Change Management Plan Deliverable Tasks in Phase 3 (Deploy Phase)?

The tasks you assign to accomplish your deliverables will be specific to your project needs, however, here are a few examples of tasks for Phase 3 deliverables:

Deliverable: Deploy Communications Plan
- Task: Send training and logistics communications to impacted groups.
- Task: Send progress update communications to keep stakeholders informed.
- Task: Send a “Get Ready” communication two weeks before Go-Live.
Deliverable: Training Plan
- Task: Determine and document your training objectives and training program.
- Task: Compile your list of trainees.
- Task: Enter trainees into your cloud or Excel change management template for training tracking and management.

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Change Process Phase 4 (Normalize Phase)

This phase comes immediately after the project goes live and target audiences begin using the new tools, process, culture, and/or system. It is at this stage when issues and resistance are likely to crop up because users are working with the new process in their daily workflow and will likely have questions and need support. Without proper support, resistance can crop up and take hold.

During the normalize phase, you want to provide plenty of user support in the form of a help desk, FAQs, follow-up calls, additional training, etc. to cement the new change so it is sustained and becomes the “new normal” for users in the organization.

Tracking metrics is another important part of Phase 4. Throughout your execution of the change management strategy, you will need to track and monitor a variety of metrics (user adoption, training success, resistance mitigation, communication effectiveness, etc.). These KPIs will help you gauge how well the change management is going and provide insights on any adjustments you need to make to ensure sustained success.

For example, if you’re finding that users are taking longer to become proficient in the new processes than you planned, then you may want to update your change management plan template to provide an additional training session.

You can think of Phase 4 (Normalize Phase) as the phase in your change management plan template where you are supporting and monitoring.

This phase can include the following deliverables:

Is There Any Chronological Order to the Deliverables in Phase 4?

Similar to Phase 3, the deliverables in your organizational change management plan example for this phase will generally overlap each other. Your tracking of adoption success, especially, will continue throughout the normalization process as this guides your other activities, such as how much additional training or coaching might be needed.

How Long Is the Normalize Phase?

A good rule of thumb is to have your normalization activities and dedicated post-go-live user support for 30-60 days, depending upon your project needs.

In most cases, you would want to dedicate no less than 30 days for this phase in your OCM Solution change management template Excel or cloud app, your ADKAR template, or the change management plan PMP template. This ensures the change is normalized throughout the impacted groups and users are comfortably adapted to the new changed process.

The goal is that the changed process or system now becomes normalized as part of the corporate culture and standard processes.

What Are Some Common Change Management Plan Deliverable Tasks in Phase 4 (Normalize Phase)?

The tasks you assign to accomplish your deliverables will be specific to your project needs, however, here are a few examples of tasks to add to your change management plan template, free or paid, for Phase 4 deliverables:

Deliverable: Track & Measure Adoption Success
- Task: Send out surveys to measure the effectiveness and success of change management.
- Task: Meet with managers and change champions for their input on how their teams are adapting to the change.
- Task: Track the number of questions, concerns, and feedback coming in after Go-Live.
Deliverable: Post-Go-Live Reinforcement
- Task: Set up a help desk, office hours, FAQs, and other support resources.
- Task: Send reminders about where people can get support and find educational resources.
- Task: Follow up with managers to identify and resolve post-deployment issues.

Change Process Phase 5 (Exit Phase)

In this fifth phase of the organizational change process, the change management plan is being closed out and the ongoing responsibilities for the changed process or system are being handed over to the departments or teams that will take permanent ownership.

Any temporary change tools or assets needed only for the change management process, but not beyond, are dismantled or disengaged. Knowledge and assets are handed off to the permanent team(s) and the change management function for this project is formally closed out.

You’ll be archiving all the documents and assets you produced while implementing your change management project plan template. This may include the change management project plan, change management template Excel or export from an OCM Solution Change Management Toolkit, sample change management plan roadmap, stakeholder management plan template, and other assets.

In this phase, you confirm that the change is sustained, transitioning the processes to “business as usual” (BAU). This may include a transition of help desk support from a change team to a company’s IT department, for example.

You can think of Phase 5 (Exit Phase) as the phase in your change management plan template where you are handing off and closing out.

This phase can include the following deliverables:

Is There Any Chronological Order to the Change Management Plan Deliverables in Phase 5?

The order in which you decide to complete the deliverables in your change management template for the exit phase is entirely up to you. The key is to successfully hand off ownership of all ongoing activities to sustain the change as well as all documentation to the appropriate departments or teams.

You also want to ensure that you include a final report and post-mortem, which incorporates lessons learned, things that could be done better, achievements that you want to repeat, etc. This type of change management document is very helpful when it’s time to plan future projects and create another change management plan template.

Who Do You Typically Hand Off Responsibilities To?

Part of the Exit phase of your change management plan template needs to involve a transfer of responsibilities from the change management team to a designated group that will be determined by the program leads. A designated group might be a group within HR, Program Management Office, Center of Excellence Group, or some other group.

For small projects, such a transition will be minor. For large projects, the steering committee might need to be involved as such a transition will require careful planning and management.

What Are Some Common Change Management Plan Template Deliverable Tasks in Phase 5 (Exit Phase)?

The tasks you assign to accomplish your deliverables will be specific to your project needs, however, here are a few examples of tasks to add to your change management template for Phase 5 deliverables:

Deliverable: Execute Transfer/Exit Plan (Hand Off)
- Task: Dismantle tools no longer needed and close out temporary consulting agreements.
- Task: Transfer knowledge, documents, online tools access, etc.
- Task: Provide contact details to the designated group for follow-up questions.
Deliverable: Project Post-Mortem (Lessons Learned)
- Task: Meet with the change team to review lessons learned.
- Task: Draft post-mortem report and recommendations for future change management project plan examples.
- Task: Socialize draft with change team, sponsors, and key stakeholders.

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Based on multiple requests we have received from change managers and project leads; we have put together several free and paid change management plan templates.

These include a sample change management template with deliverables and tasks for change management activities, a free change management roadmap, change impact assessment template Excel and cloud app, toolkits for each main task in a change project, and more.

We’ll begin with our change management plan template free tools and then provide a brief overview of our paid cloud and Excel change management template toolkits for all phases and areas of change management.

Free Change Management Plan Phases & Deliverables PPT & PDF

Would you like an easy-to-understand PowerPoint or PDF that explains the deliverables in each phase and what they’re for? Then download our free change management plan PPT titled, “OCMS Change Management Framework.”

This change management workbook uses simple terms to explain the steps that a change manager takes and the deliverables that match each one. For example: “We need to convey our change management overview & timeline comprehensively.” = Change Management Roadmap deliverable.

Download FREE Change Management Plan PDF & PTT

(Get Instant Access to Change Management Plan & Other FREE Change Management Template Resources)

Free OCM Solution Change Management Workflow

As pioneers of best change management practices and methodologies, we believe in supporting the change management community where possible, including developing and offering free templates like the one below.

This free change management workflow includes a step-by-step list of tasks for conducting change management assessments (impact assessments, stakeholder analysis, organizational readiness assessment, program assessment, etc.) and planning activities for communication, training, stakeholder engagement, change reinforcement, and many more.

Click below to sign up for a free OCM Solution account and get instant access to this Change Workflow and all our other free toolkits and templates for change management and project management. (No credit card required!)

Free OCM Solution Change Management Roadmap

During Phase 2 (Develop Phase), one of the important deliverables you’ll be creating is a change management roadmap. This provides a comprehensive way to communicate your change project timeline, key milestones, deliverables, and other activities.

Choose from a diverse array of complimentary Excel and PowerPoint templates for change management roadmaps, all of which can be easily exported for offline use.

Excel Options:

Basic Change Implementation Roadmap (12-16 Weeks Overview)
Basic Change Implementation Roadmap (12-16 Weeks Overview with Daily Details)
Comprehensive End-to-End Change Roadmap

PowerPoint Options:

Basic Change Management Roadmap (Communication, Engagement, Training)
Detailed Change Management Roadmap (Communication, Engagement, Training)
Post M&A Integration Roadmap (Day 1-30)
User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Implementation Roadmap

Get Your Free Change Roadmap Templates Now

Sign up for a free account to get instant access to change roadmap template resources.

Free OCM Solution Change Management Strategic Playbook

Another important deliverable when putting together your change management plan is the change strategy document (The “Strategic Playbook”).

A change management playbook outlines the strategies that will be used to deliver change management during the deployment phase, including how you plan to deliver your communication campaigns, how you plan to engage stakeholders and end-users, how you plan to get impacted users and groups ready for the change, how you will manage resistance, and more.

The strategic playbook for your change management plan example is often used to familiarize key stakeholders and program leads on the change management framework being leveraged for the program, as well as providing an overview (a read-out) of the results of your change impact assessment template Excel or cloud, stakeholder analysis, organizational readiness assessment, and other assessments.

Our change management strategic playbook provides an overview of the various strategies that will be used for your change management activities.

Get Your Free Change Management Strategic Playbook Template Now

Sign up for a free account to get instant access to this change strategic playbook and all our other free toolkits, templates, and guides.

More Change Management Template Examples

If you’re looking for a change management plan template that is more robust and will include multiple tools that can facilitate all your change management activities, then you may be interested in our paid OCMS Portal Software.

Our cloud-based change management solution covers multiple assessment and management needs for a change project, including:

Target Audience Assessment
Project Assessment (Project Essentials)
Stakeholder Assessment & Management
Readiness Assessment
Communications Planning
Coaching Planning
Training Tracking & Management
Resistance Management
Change Champion/Agent Network Management
Surveys
OCM Plan
Reporting
And more!

Manage as many projects as you like at a time. You can also add users, such as members and guest users, and add-ons like branding, which allows you to upload your logo.

OCM Solution gives you everything you need for a successful change project all in one place.

“With this All-in-One Change Tool, our goal is to place a globally consistent set of tools at the hands of change managers and project leads across every organization to empower them to effectively drive change”

You can learn more about the OCMS Portal Software here.

Let us know if you have any questions about our free or paid online change and project management software.

OCM Solution Free Change Management Software FAQs

What is Change Management? Definition

Change management is a set of strategies and procedures used to manage an organizational change and guide people through the necessary transition to achieve the desired result.

How Do You Write a Change Management Plan?

Writing a change management plan begins with understanding the basics of change management. Without knowing about important change management activities like resistance management and leadership coaching, you could end up with a “half-baked” sample change management plan as your draft.

What Goes into a Change Management Plan?

The goal of your change management plan is to incorporate the activities needed to get people through a business transition successfully. This includes training, resistance management, continuous communication, and other activities.

What Should a Change Management Plan Include?

Let’s go a bit deeper now into the types of tasks and activities that a change management template Excel or PDF document should include. We are going to use the five phases of the OCM Solution Change Model as a framework, which are: Assess, Develop, Deploy, Normalize, and Exit.

What is a change management plan in project planning?

A change management plan in project planning is the plan developed to support the people side of change. It is the plan that covers how impacted users will be enabled to adopt the project changes. Most projects being implemented will impact employees. It may not be a large impact, but any impact requires a change management project plan template. Using such a template helps to ensure that those being impacted are properly guided through the change.

Note: Content on OCM Solution's ocmsolution.com website is protected by copyright. Should you have any questions or comments regarding this OCM Solution page, please reach out to Ogbe Airiodion (Change Management Lead) or the OCM Solution Team today. OCM Solution was previously known as Airiodion Global Services (AGS).

Images: https://stock.adobe.com

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