Change
Change readiness survey
Send this after the change is decided in outline and before the rollout plan is locked. Later than that and you are collecting feelings you can't act on.
Opens this survey in Gists as a draft you can edit. Sign in with Slack, Google or your work email. 30 days free. No card needed.
Before the change starts
This isn't a vote. If you really are letting people choose, say so and change the wording.
How much do you know about the upcoming change so far?
1 = nothing, 5 = a lot
How much sense does this change make for the organization?
1 = no sense at all, 5 = complete sense
How much do you expect this change to affect your day-to-day work?
Pick one
- Not at all
- A little
- Quite a bit
- A great deal
- Not sure yet
How committed do leaders seem to making this change work?
1 = not committed, 5 = fully committed
How confident are you that you can do what this change will ask of you?
1 = not confident, 5 = very confident (optional)
Which of the following, if any, would help you prepare?
Pick any, optional
- A clear timeline
- The reasons behind it
- What it means for my role
- Training or practice
- A chance to ask questions
- None of the above
What questions do you have right now?
Written answer, optional
We wrote these questions for this survey and they are not a validated scale. You can edit them once the survey opens in Gists. If you copy them into another tool, check what it records about who answered.
Before you run this
If this change affects jobs or terms of employment, consultation duties may apply in some countries before you ask anyone anything. Take advice on the timing, and don't present a survey as consultation if it isn't.
The decision it helps with
How do you launch this change, and who needs what first?
Running it
After the change is decided in outline and before the rollout plan is locked. This isn't a vote. Ask only if you can still change how it's done.
What the results might look like
These are made-up examples to show the patterns, not real data.
People know little and aren't sure
2.1 on question 1, with many “Not sure yet” answers.
- What it means
- People haven't been told enough to have a view.
- What it doesn't mean
- It doesn't mean they oppose it.
- What to do
- Explain the what and the why before you ask for support.
Low confidence that leaders are committed
2.7 on question 4, with question 2 at 3.8.
- What it means
- People agree with the change and doubt it will be seen through.
- What it doesn't mean
- It doesn't mean leaders aren't committed. It means it hasn't been visible.
- What to do
- Name the sponsor, say what they'll stop doing to make room, and have them say it themselves.
Low confidence about doing it
2.6 on question 5 in the most affected team.
- What it means
- This group doubts it can do what the change requires.
- What it doesn't mean
- It doesn't mean they can't. People may be cautious before trying something.
- What to do
- Give them training and practice before the go-live date.
What to tell people afterwards
Answer the common written questions in public, and tell people what you changed in the plan because of what they said.
What to measure next, and when
Run this again halfway through the rollout if it's a long one, and use the question list to see which belief moved.
Who reads the answers
Results show only when 5 or more people answer. A team below 5 rolls up into the team above it. A group is also held back when comparing it with another group could reveal a small team. HR and named leaders see every team with 5 or more answers. Each manager sees only their own team. Employees see no team scores. Themes only by default. Word-for-word answers are a company setting, off unless turned on, and employees see a notice before they write.
Readiness and resistance
Armenakis and colleagues separated readiness from resistance back in 1993. They describe readiness as people's beliefs, attitudes and intentions about a change (Armenakis et al., 1993). In practice, if “Not sure yet” is high and knowledge (question 1) is low, you are looking at people who haven't been told enough, and persuasion is premature.
Something this version leaves out
A questionnaire developed with more than 900 people suggests readiness rests on four beliefs: that people are capable of the change, that it's right for the organization, that leaders are committed, and that it benefits them (Holt et al., 2007). Three of those are on this form as questions 2, 4 and 5. We left out the fourth, personal benefit, to keep it short, and question 3 only comes close.
Why reactions vary
A review of 79 quantitative studies traced reactions to change back to who the people are, the internal context, how the change is run and whether they expect to gain or lose (Oreg et al., 2011). Most of those are things the project team can influence, which is the case for asking early.
Compared with the return to office survey
That template is written for one common kind of change and works after the fact too. This one is general and belongs before the start.
Related
Sources
- Armenakis, A. A., Harris, S. G., Mossholder, K. W. (1993). Creating Readiness for Organizational Change. Human Relations, 46, 681-703. doi:10.1177/001872679304600601
- Holt, D. T., Armenakis, A. A., Feild, H. S., Harris, S. G. (2007). Readiness for organizational change: The systematic development of a scale. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 43, 232-255. doi:10.1177/0021886306295295
- Oreg, S., Vakola, M., Armenakis, A. (2011). Change Recipients’ Reactions to Organizational Change. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 47, 461-524. doi:10.1177/0021886310396550