How to run a change programme in the studio

Turn an initial concern, ambition or proposal into a clear change conversation.

Use it when: Someone has raised a change but nobody has yet written down what is actually changing, for whom, or why now.

60–90 minutes · Founder, owner, executive sponsor or project leader, with one note-taker.

Create a shared view of current reality, intended future, the change gap, what must be protected and what remains unknown.

Use it when: Different people are describing the same change differently, or the future state is still an adjective rather than a picture.

90 minutes · Sponsor plus four to eight people who see different parts of the system.

See beyond employees and map the full ecosystem of people and groups connected to the organisation and the change.

Use it when: The stakeholder list so far is only internal, or you suspect a group outside the project team will be affected.

60 minutes · Change lead, communications lead, and someone customer-facing.

Judge the likely complexity of the change and the support model it genuinely warrants.

Use it when: Before committing resource, or when the effort being proposed feels out of proportion either way.

30 minutes · Sponsor and programme owner together.

Understand what the change will mean for each priority stakeholder group.

Use it when: Once the ecosystem is mapped and priority groups are agreed.

2–3 hours · Relationship owners for each priority group.

Assess whether the people expected to lead the change are aligned, committed, credible, capable and supported.

Use it when: Before asking the organisation to commit.

90 minutes · Leadership team, self-assessed or facilitated by an IV adviser.

Establish the cultural conditions into which the change will land.

Use it when: Before planning, so the plan reflects real conditions rather than assumed ones.

Two weeks to run · Administered by the change lead; completed by teams.

Turn insight into a practical route from preparation to stabilisation.

Use it when: Once evidence is gathered and the complexity band is agreed.

Half a day · Programme owner, change lead, project manager, communications lead.

Turn stakeholder impact insight into a deliberate engagement plan.

Use it when: After the impact assessment, before communications are drafted.

2 hours · Change lead, communications lead, relationship owners.

Create a credible, consistent, human explanation of the change.

Use it when: Before any broadcast communication goes out.

2 hours · Sponsor, communications lead, one manager, one frontline voice.

Support a clear go, hold, adapt or escalate decision before a major milestone.

Use it when: Two to three weeks before each significant milestone.

90 minutes · Programme board and named accountable decision-maker.

Assess regularly whether the change is landing and where action is needed.

Use it when: Throughout implementation, on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly cycle.

45 minutes per cycle · Delivery team, with input from managers and affected teams.

Test whether the outcomes the change was justified on are actually being delivered, and act where they are not.

Use it when: At each benefit checkpoint after go-live, and before anyone claims the change was a success.

60 minutes · Sponsor, benefit owners and whoever holds the numbers.

Decide honestly whether the change has stabilised, and hand it to the business with named owners and no loose ends.

Use it when: When delivery is winding down and someone is about to say the project is finished.

90 minutes · Delivery lead, receiving team leaders, sponsor.

Continuous, multilingual change sensing: listen, translate, interpret, decide, respond and close the loop.

Use it when: When you need continuous evidence rather than periodic snapshots.

Continuous · Activated and operated with IV.