Course: How to Measure Change Management Success

# Measuring Change That Matters , A Practical Course Outline for Leaders, HR and Change Practitioners

## Audience and Level

**Who is my target audience:** Developing leaders, middle managers in HR or change roles in mid to large Australian organisations (particularly strong teams in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane).

**Expected level of prior experience or knowledge:** Some exposure to project delivery OR HR programmes, comfortable with basic data concepts, comfortable engaging stakeholders. Not for absolute beginners, but this is not advanced stats either.

**Class size:** 12 to 20 per cohort (in person); up to 30 (virtual).

## Format, Duration and Randomisation

**Format:** 3 × 2 hour live virtual workshops + one half day, face to face consolidation workshop (hybrid delivery).

**Pre work:** 45 minutes of e learning and a diagnostic baseline; Post work: four weeks micro coaching lessons through the app and opening templates.

**Why it makes sense:** Short, sharp virtual sessions keep momentum , half day face to face locks in working practice with role play, stakeholder panels and live data clinics.

## Price and Practical Limitations (Commercial Sample)

**Approximate fee:** $495 including GST per person for blended programme delivered to groups of 12 to 20 in Sydney or Melbourne. Travel, venue and printed workbooks extra for other cities like Perth or Canberra.

**Platform:** Learners require access to both Zoom/MS Teams and a basic survey platform (e.g., SurveyMonkey or Qualtrics). Initiatives typically provide their own internal dashboards; we will contextualise these where appropriate.

**Time constraints:** Reflective of operational priorities , the programme is inclusive as long as leaders can spare people for 6 hours over three weeks in addition to short coaching check ins.

## Rationale for the Course and High Level Learning Outcomes

**Purpose:** To upskill leaders and HR professionals with right frameworks, tools and human centred measurement approach to prove, guide and sustain Organisation change.

**On completion of the programme students will be able to:**
1. Establish success for a change programme that supports strategy, with measurable baselines and contributable KPIs
2. Integrate quantitative and qualitative measures (hard metrics + human signals) into a single measurement plan
3. Design, instrument and deploy adoption, usage and sentiment metrics that surface blockers early
4. Leverage stakeholder segmentation and feedback loops to guard against measurement bias and resistance
5. Develop a 6 month measurement roadmap and governance pack for senior leaders
6. Host a data clinic: question rudimentary dashboards, explain variance and advise on course correction

**Two expert opinions upfront:**
- **Opinion A:** Culture can indeed be measured with rigour if you stitch together well defined sentiment metrics and behavioural proxies , do not just treat culture as "soft"
- **Opinion B:** A short blended programme is better than a single long workshop at embedding measurement capability. Stretch, but it works

## Module Structure and Detailed Session Outline

### Pre work (45 minutes)

**Quick baseline survey:** organisational readiness, current metrics, an example change initiative (participants upload one).

**Short video (15 mins):** Why measurement matters , real stories from Australian firms + a brief intro to attribution basics.

**Preparation task:** bring a real change you are leading now or soon with 1 metric currently in use at least.

### Workshop 1 (2 hours , Virtual): Framing Success and Choosing the Right Measures

**Learning goals:**
- Translate strategic intent into measurable outcomes
- Difference between outputs, outcomes and impact

**Contents & activities:**
- Opening 10': quick round , everyone states what success means for their change
- Mini lecture: the outcome hierarchy , outputs, outcomes, impact , and why baselines matter
- Interactive exercise: map your change to 3 to 5 success statements + propose 6 KPI candidates (quant + qual)
- Guided work: build yourself a one pager measurement canvas (template available) that plots stakeholders on goals > baseline > KPI > data source

**Outputs:** Measurement canvas for each change, when ready.

### Workshop 2 (2 hours , Virtual): Quantitative Measures and Data Integrity

**Learning objectives:**
- Design KPI types & creation of measurement window
- Understand data quality, sampling, controls and fundamental attribution strategies

**Contents and activities:**
- Short case study: what a technology rollout looks like, flash adoption metrics over 90 days
- Hands on: definition lab , operationalise the high level KPIs (e.g., adoption rate, transaction volume, time to complete, cost per transaction). Precise definitions & numerator/denominator logic
- Data integrity checklist: systems, owners, refresh cadence and validation routines
- Quick primer on attribution: baselines / control groups / longitudinal tracking

**Outputs:** Finalised written KPI definitions and brief data integrity action plan.

### Workshop 3 (2 hours , Virtual): The Human Side , Qualitative Measures, Surveys and Narrative

**Learning Objectives:**
- Develop employee and stakeholder feedback loops that provide real feedback
- Use interviews, focus groups and sentiment analytics to explain the numbers

**Content and activities:**
- Quick tutorial: what works, what does not , asking questions effectively
- Building survey questions that actually get answered and provide insight
- Interview techniques for understanding the "why" behind the data
- Sentiment analysis basics and practical application
- Role play: conducting stakeholder interviews to validate hypotheses

**Deliverables:** Blueprint of questions for the survey, outline for interviews and three sample hypotheses that team will validate.

### Consolidation Face to Face Workshop (4 hours , In person)

**A half day workshop agenda:**
- Pulling it all together: governance, reporting cadence and programme reporting to the Exec
- Practising the presentation of results and making a request for decision

**Contents and activities:**
- Data clinic: live review by participants of their own (mock or real) dashboards, facilitated by trainer
- Executive simulation: present the results to a mock Exec panel; practise making recommendations, asking for resources
- Governance sprint: draft a short Terms of Reference for a Change Measurement Board , roles, meeting cadence, escalation rules
- Peer coaching: small groups polish the six month measurement roadmap

**Outputs:** One pager executive summary, measurement roadmap and governance TOR.

## Follow up and Reinforcement (4 weeks)

- Weekly 30 minute group coaching clinics (virtual) , troubleshooting participant rollouts
- Toolkits: dashboards, survey instruments, interview scripts, ROI calculators
- Final deliverable due: a 10 minute video or slide pack presenting the measurements and proposed course corrections with artefacts attached

## Assessment and Measurement of Learning

- **Formative:** submission of the measurement canvas following Workshop 1; peer review at Workshop 3
- **Summative:** final presentation (video/slide pack) assessed against a rubric: strategic alignment, KPI clarity, attribution approach, data integrity plan, stakeholder engagement plan and practical next steps
- **Manager observation:** optional manager sign off on adoption plan and a short 360° checklist at week 8
- **Measurement of programme effectiveness:** pre/post confidence survey; net promoter question as well as a short Business impact survey at three months

## Core Modules and Learning Resources

1. **Defining Success** , strategy alignment, baselines and outcomes
- Tools: one page measurement canvas, strategy to metric mapping tool

2. **KPIs and Metrics** , standard KPI library for change (adoption, efficiency, cost, NPS, error rates)
- Tools: KPI definition templates, sample calculations

3. **Data Quality and Attribution** , making data trustworthy and defensible
- Tools: simple data integrity checklist, control group templates & timeline federated trackers

4. **Adoption and Usage** , behavioural measurement & digital analytics
- Tools: adoption funnel templates, usage cohort analysis sheet

5. **Human Centred Measurement** , surveys, interviews, focus groups and sentiment analysis
- Tools: survey bank, interview scripts, focus group plan

6. **Governance, Reporting & Storytelling** , dashboards, executive packs, escalation
- Tools: Executive one pager template, Dashboard wireframe and governance TOR

7. **Sustaining Change** , making measurement part of business as usual
- Tools: 6 month roadmap, handover checklist capability uplift plan

## Workshop Activities, Case Work and Roleplays

- **Live data clinic** with real organisational extracts (participants are invited to bring their own whenever possible)
- **Armed response roleplay** for practising critical conversations that protect or increase measurement efforts
- **Resistance mapping and stakeholder influence roleplays** , targeted at the person who refuses to play ball on metrics
- **The metric trainspotter's survival game:** given rubbish data, fix this number just enough so you are not playing pointless games of showing improvement; share your learning

## Assessment Criteria

- **Strategic Alignment (20%):** Are the KPIs strategically aligned to outcomes?
- **Rigour of Measurement (20%):** Are definitions precise, baselines solid and data sources sound?
- **Attribution & Analysis (20%):** Is there a plausible strategy for how these outcomes can be attributed to the change?
- **People Insight (20%):** Do the qualitative methods help to discuss the numbers and deliver actionable components?
- **Implementability (20%):** Is there a viable roadmap, governance and resource plan?

## Tools, Technology and Templates Provided

- Measurement Canvas, KPI Dictionary, Survey Templates, Interview Guides
- Dashboard wireframes for Power BI / Tableau / Excel
- Adoption funnel templates and cohort analysis workbook
- Change Measurement Board TOR and meeting pack

## Risk and Mitigation Typicals for the Course

- **Resistance to measurement:** if you are responsible, co design measures with your stakeholders! Explain the why and preserve anonymity where it matters
- **Data being more fragmented than usual:** nominate data owners & build a "data integrity playbook" (which will be 5 docs/paragraphs)
- **Attribution proving tough:** is overall demand up? Can we establish good baselines with control cohorts or staggered rollouts? Keep lightweight source of truth change logs visible somewhere
- **Survey fatigue in terms of engagement:** are we asking fewer, better questions? Are folks spread across question rotation panels over time? Are "pulse" surveys used intentionally to assess multiple things more frequently?

## Governance, Reporting Cadence and Executive Engagement

- **Suggested cadences:** weekly on operational metrics; monthly steering report; quarterly executive pack with strategic narrative and investment asks
- **Packaging advice:** execs want three things , clarity, risk and decisions. Single page format, 3 supporting visuals
- **Escalation triggers:** adoption below X% at 30 days, Customer NPS drop > Y points, cost variance > 10% , triggers that require immediate review

## Measurement Maturity Pathway (6 month roadmap example)

**Month 0 to 1:** Baselines, KPI definitions, initial surveys and quick wins agreed

**Month 2 to 3:** Dashboard construction, first cohort analysis, interviewing the outliers to explain the variance

**Month 4 to 6:** Governance in business as usual, tuned KPIs, 2nd wave adoption, ROI predictions and handover

## Two Pragmatic Templates for Immediate Use

- **Measurement Canvas:** one pager to capture objective, stakeholders, KPIs, baselines and measures as well as information on data owners and cadence
- **Executive One Pager:** three boxes , The Result; Why it matters (what this result is linked to strategically); What we need next (decisions asked)

## Evaluation & Long term Impact Metrics

What to measure after 6 to 12 months:
- **Adoption sustainability:** continued active users vs initial cohort
- **Process efficiency:** cycle time reductions, error rates
- **People metrics:** engagement, retention in impacted teams
- **Value realisation:** cost savings, revenue upside , measured cautiously and with attribution logic

## Practical Tips and Cultural Considerations for Australia

- Localise stakeholder language , calling something a 'pilot' not a 'trial', can make decision making smoother on conservative boards
- Use mobile optimised short, sharp surveys, Australian workplaces are time poor
- Foreword data collection with plain language in relation to purpose and privacy; Australians respond better when they know why
- Do not overpromise. Be realistic about what the metrics will and will not display

## Trainer Skills and Delivery Notes

- Practical experience managing change as well as gaining insight into executive "room tone" reading
- Ability to turn numbers into story and have the tough conversations on trading one thing off for another
- Ideally Australian trainers will have run at least two large scale changes in this region. Finance, Retail, Utilities or Government companies would be advantageous

## Two Contrarian Recommendations

- Be wary of over measurement. Measuring less, but things that tie to decisions. Dashboards are great , until they are not
- Do not wait for perfect data. Operate on imperfect data; course correct. When in doubt , iterate

## Materials to Leave Behind

Fully editable templates, a brief reading list and one page checklist for the first 90 days post launch.

## Duration and Delivery Options (Different Audiences)

- **Short version (90 min micro session):** Measurement 101 for exec sponsors , focused on KPIs / governance
- **Long version (full day):** Deep dive with practical dashboard building and cohort analysis for data teams
- **In house bespoke:** 2 × 3 hour sessions to frontline in your own style + custom KPI bank

## Final Note

This framework establishes a pragmatic, people centric process for measuring change , it gives equal footing to numbers and narratives. It is not a theory dump. It is meant for leaders who want proofs, not promises. You will leave with a plan that you really can use next week.

## Sources & Notes

- Prosci (2018). Michaels Corporate Services Australia and New Zealand "Best Practices in Change Management" , Prosci studies show that organisations who use 'change management methodologies' can be as much as 6 times more likely to achieve their projects objectives"
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022). Business Use of Information Technology , Information about the application of technology by Australian businesses