business readiness planning checklist
TRANSCRIPT
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Business Readiness Planning ChecklistBusiness Readiness Planning Checklist
QuestionsQuestions AnswerAnswerChange Strategy (insert name of point person)1
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7 How will you gather feedback and measure adoption of the change?
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9 How will you manage resistance to the change?Communications (insert name of point person)1
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Do a hygiene check! Do you have adequate sponsorship? Are roles and decision makers clearly defined?
Complete a thorough stakeholder analysis. What is the role of each stakeholder group in the change? From which stakeholder groups do you need to get buy-in and at what stage?
Does the change compete or conflict with other changes or work priorities?
How does your program support foundation-wide priorities and/or the scorecard? Is there an opportunity for leveraging the relationship of this initiative to other work in your change strategy?
What is your plan for leading people through the change curve? Think through exactly what will change and what's the distance from the current state to the desired? Then consider what is each group's "stake" in the change? And how do you get their support?
How will you evaluate whether the stakeholder groups are on board with the change?
What role does the business or end user have in defining the solution and assessing the impact of the change?
What key messages need to be communicated? Should not total more than 5-7. Is it a new program or business process, or change(s) to a current program?
What are the key components of the program or change? Should include a discussion about timing as well.
Who is your primary audience for this communication: employees, managers, assistants, etc.? Are there other audiences that need to be aware of this communication? When thinking about your audiences, be sure to think about it from their perspective and answer the questions: What’s in it for them? Why should they care? How does it affect them?
What are you trying to accomplish as a result of communicating? What action is being asked of your audience(s)? Change in behavior? Process? No action, just FYI?
What other activities, programs, or functions might be impacted by this initiative/communication? Is there an opportunity to leverage other communication activities? Might your communications conflict with the timing of other communications?
What vehicles are most appropriate for your communication: email, The Commons, info sessions, Town Square dialogue, conference calls, team/intranet sites, staff meetings, or a combination of these? Consider the need for ongoing communication.
If you need a specific stakeholder group to communicate information about the change to their teams, then you must be prescriptive about what you are asking them to do. You will also need to provide specific communication materials and distribution dates to them.
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Business Readiness Planning ChecklistBusiness Readiness Planning Checklist
QuestionsQuestions AnswerAnswer8
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Training (insert name of point person)1 Who is your primary audience for training? 2
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6 What are your perceived training constraints?7
8 Who will develop and deliver the training? Support (insert name of point person)1
2 What is your plan to train the support team on the change?3 How long with the support team be in place?4
5
Documentation (insert name of point person)1
2 What types of job aids will users need? 3
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6 How will you distribute documents? Where will they be hosted online?
What potential obstacles need to be overcome to ensure the success of your communication?
How will you know that your communication is successful? What metrics will you use (survey(s), focus groups, etc.)?
How many people will be need to be trained? If there is role specific training be clear about the different levels of training.
Will training be required or optional? What logistical considerations will be needed to support this decision?
What specific training needs have you identified (objectives for training)?
What is your project timeline? When will training be required of specific groups.
What specific training strategies would you like to see implemented (elearning, instructor-led, job aids, etc.)?
Who will support the change upon launch? What is the resource plan for providing this support?
How will you evaluate whether the support team is needed for longer than initially planned?
What is your back-up plan if support is needed for longer than initially planned?
What types of documents and support materials will be needed and by whom? What will admins and support desk staff need?
Will users need detailed reference materials, such as a user guide? Will they need supplementary materials, such as quick-reference guides, getting started guides, FAQs, etc.?
If out-of-the-box content is available, will you use it as-is, or leverage the content in some other form?
Who will create the documentation? Have you built editing and review time into your schedule? Who will update and sustain the documentation?