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Model 06 of 74 · Leadership & People

Change Management Maturity Assessment

Assess how well your organisation plans, communicates, and embeds organisational change.

Pillars & areas

Plan

Define the approach

  1. 01Change Strategy & Planning
  2. 02Leadership & Sponsorship

Engage

Bring people along

  1. 03Stakeholder Engagement
  2. 04Communication
  3. 05Training & Capability Building

Sustain

Make it stick

  1. 06Resistance & Adoption
  2. 07Measurement & Sustainment

Levels

  1. 1Ad-hocUnplanned & reactive
  2. 2StructuredPlanned & repeatable
  3. 3EmbeddedWoven into culture

01 Change Strategy & Planning

Does the organisation take a structured, intentional approach to planning change?

0/4 answered

CSP-1How does your organisation decide when a structured change approach is needed?

Think about whether there are clear rules for when a change needs formal planning versus when it can just happen informally.

CSP-2How are change initiatives planned?

Consider whether there is a documented plan that covers the people side of change, not just the technical delivery.

CSP-3How does your organisation assess the impact of a change before it begins?

Consider whether you formally document who and what will be affected, and how severely, before the change starts.

CSP-4How well does your organisation coordinate when multiple changes happen at once?

Think about whether anyone has visibility of all the changes happening across the organisation at any given time.

02 Leadership & Sponsorship

Are leaders actively and visibly championing change, not just approving it?

0/4 answered

LS-1How involved are senior leaders in change initiatives?

Think about whether leaders are visibly present during the change, or whether they sign off and disappear.

LS-2How well do leaders articulate why a change is happening?

Consider whether staff at all levels could explain the reason for the change in their own words.

LS-3How do middle managers support change?

Middle managers are often the most critical link — they translate strategy into action for their teams.

LS-4How does leadership respond when a change hits problems?

Think about the last time a change didn't go to plan — did leaders blame, go silent, or adapt?

03 Stakeholder Engagement

Are the right people identified, consulted, and involved at the right time?

0/4 answered

SE-1How does your organisation identify who is affected by a change?

Think about whether there is a documented list of affected groups, or whether some people get surprised.

SE-2How early are affected people involved in shaping the change?

Consider whether people are consulted before decisions are finalised, or only told after.

SE-3How does your organisation engage people who openly oppose the change?

Think about whether critics are shut down, tolerated, or actively engaged.

SE-4How well does your organisation engage frontline staff during change?

Frontline staff are the people who actually do the work that's changing day-to-day.

04 Communication

Is change communicated clearly, honestly, and in a way people can act on?

0/4 answered

CM-1How is change communicated to the organisation?

Think about the channels used, the frequency, and whether communication flows one way or two ways.

CM-2How transparent is your organisation about what is known and what is still uncertain?

Consider whether leaders share what they don't know yet, or only communicate when everything is finalised.

CM-3How well does communication explain what the change means for each person?

The question is whether people finish reading the communication knowing exactly what changes for them personally.

CM-4How does your organisation proactively address concerns and misinformation?

Think about whether people have a trusted place to check facts, or whether rumours go unchallenged.

05 Training & Capability Building

Are people given the skills, tools, and support to succeed in the new way of working?

0/4 answered

TC-1How does your organisation prepare people for new ways of working?

Think about what happens between 'the change is announced' and 'the change goes live' — are people actually equipped?

TC-2How long does support last after a change goes live?

Consider whether support disappears after the first week, or whether it continues until people are truly confident.

TC-3Does your organisation use a network of change advocates within teams?

These are trusted people within affected teams who help their peers navigate the change — sometimes called champions, ambassadors, or super-users.

TC-4Does your organisation invest in building general change skills across the workforce?

This is about whether people are taught how to navigate change itself, not just trained on specific changes.

06 Resistance & Adoption

How does the organisation recognise, understand, and address resistance?

0/4 answered

RA-1How does your organisation view resistance to change?

Think about whether resistance is treated as a people problem or as useful information about the change itself.

RA-2How does your organisation measure whether people are actually adopting the change?

Consider whether you have data showing people are working in the new way, or whether you just assume it because the project is 'done'.

RA-3How does your organisation manage change fatigue?

Change fatigue happens when people face too many changes at once — they disengage, resist, or burn out.

RA-4How quickly does your organisation detect and act when a change is failing?

Think about whether there are early warning signs that are monitored, or whether problems are only noticed after serious damage.

07 Measurement & Sustainment

Is change adoption tracked, and are changes embedded so they stick?

0/4 answered

MS-1How does your organisation define and measure change success?

Think about whether 'success' means the project was delivered on time, or whether it means people are actually working differently and outcomes have improved.

MS-2How does your organisation prevent people from reverting to old ways of working?

Consider what happens 3-6 months after a change — do people still follow the new process, or has it quietly drifted back?

MS-3How well does your organisation learn from past changes?

Think about whether the same mistakes (poor communication, inadequate training, wrong timing) keep happening across different changes.

MS-4How does your organisation recognise and reinforce successful change adoption?

Consider whether people who embrace and drive change are visibly valued, or whether their effort goes unnoticed.

Self-assessment report

Change Management

Answer the questions above and your report builds here: an overall score, a score and target for each area, and the three changes that matter most.

About this model

About the Change Management maturity model

Change is inevitable — but how organisations handle it determines whether change drives growth or causes chaos. This model assesses how well your organisation plans, communicates, and embeds change, whether that's a restructure, new technology rollout, process overhaul, or cultural shift.

This is about organisational change management (how people experience and adopt change), not IT change control (ticketing and release management). The best organisations don't just survive change — they build a muscle for it.

28 questions across 7 key areas, assessing your organisation's ability to plan, lead, communicate, and sustain change. Takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.

Scoring is based on 3 maturity levels per question. Your overall score reflects the average maturity across all areas, giving you a clear picture of where your change capability is strong and where it needs attention.

Who this assessment is for

  • Senior leaders and executives responsible for transformation
  • Change managers and programme managers
  • HR and people leaders
  • Department heads managing team-level change
  • Anyone leading or experiencing organisational change

The three maturity levels

  • Level 1 — Ad-hoc: Change happens to the organisation. It's unplanned, poorly communicated, and driven by crisis or mandate. People are surprised, confused, and resistant. There's no consistent approach — each change is handled differently, and lessons are rarely captured. Success depends on individual heroics, not organisational capability.
  • Level 2 — Structured: Change is planned and managed with intent. There's a recognised approach — stakeholders are identified, communication plans exist, and training is provided. Leadership is visibly involved. Not every change goes smoothly, but there's a process to follow and people know what to expect. The organisation learns from major changes, even if inconsistently.
  • Level 3 — Embedded: Change capability is woven into the culture. The organisation expects, embraces, and continuously improves how it manages change. Employees at all levels are equipped to navigate change. Adoption is measured, feedback loops are active, and the approach is refined based on data. Change is seen as a core competency, not a disruption.

The 7 areas assessed

  1. Change Strategy & Planning — Does the organisation take a structured, intentional approach to planning change?
  2. Leadership & Sponsorship — Are leaders actively and visibly championing change, not just approving it?
  3. Stakeholder Engagement — Are the right people identified, consulted, and involved at the right time?
  4. Communication — Is change communicated clearly, honestly, and in a way people can act on?
  5. Training & Capability Building — Are people given the skills, tools, and support to succeed in the new way of working?
  6. Resistance & Adoption — How does the organisation recognise, understand, and address resistance?
  7. Measurement & Sustainment — Is change adoption tracked, and are changes embedded so they stick?

How this model relates to other frameworks

  • Prosci ADKAR Model (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement)
  • Kotter's 8-Step Change Model
  • Lewin's Change Management Model (Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze)
  • McKinsey 7-S Framework
  • ITIL Change Enablement (for IT-specific change)

Frequently asked questions

What is the Change Management maturity model?

Assess how well your organisation plans, communicates, and embeds organisational change. It is an original, simplified model with three maturity levels (Ad-hoc, Structured and Embedded), assessed through 28 questions across 7 areas: Change Strategy & Planning, Leadership & Sponsorship, Stakeholder Engagement, Communication, Training & Capability Building, Resistance & Adoption and Measurement & Sustainment.

How long does the Change Management assessment take?

Most people finish in 11–17 minutes. Each of the 28 questions has three concrete answer options. Your progress is saved in the page URL, so you can bookmark it and come back later.

How is the score calculated?

Each answer scores 1 (Ad-hoc), 2 (Structured) or 3 (Embedded). An area's score is the average of its answered questions, and the overall score is the average of the area scores, so every area counts equally. Scores run from 1.0 to 3.0.

Is my data stored or shared?

No. Your answers are never sent to a server. They are stored only in the page URL, which you control. Copy the link to share results with colleagues, or export a PDF or CSV report.

How should I use the results?

Start with "Where to focus" in your report. It lists the questions with the biggest gap to the target you set for each area, and shows what the next level looks like in practice. For a fuller picture, ask several people from different teams to complete the assessment and compare their links. Differences in perception are often as revealing as the scores themselves.