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Kotter's 8-Step Change Plan
Make the case for why now, choose a guiding coalition people trust, and write one action, owner and time for each of Kotter's eight steps.
This tool also runs as a stage in a playbook, which takes you through several tools in order:
- Manage organizational change Stage 2 of 5: what is the plan for the whole organization? Start at stage 1
Not following the playbook?
The case for why now
Kotter's first step carries the most weight. If the leaders can't explain, with evidence, why this has to happen now, nobody else will believe it either.
When will it be announced?
Your notes never leave your browser
The case, the actions and every name stay on your computer and in your progress file. To write the diagnosis, only counts and yes/no checks are sent to our server. How it works
Write the eight steps
One concrete action for each step, who owns it, and when it happens. Steps 1 to 3 come before the announcement.
Before the announcement: groups against the change, with the power to block it
The guiding coalition (step 2)
Choose for credibility, not just rank. Include people the most affected groups already trust, even if they are junior.
The eight steps
The case for why now
The eight steps over time
The guiding coalition
Save your progress
Download your progress file to continue from this point any time, on any computer: choose it under "Coming back?" at the start of the tool. Each new file includes everything so far, including the earlier stages when they are connected, so keep the latest one. Your work stays in this browser only until you close it.
Not saved yet.
Take your results with you
A PDF of the case for why now, the eight steps over time, the coalition, and the diagnosis.
About the tool
Why it exists
A plan that starts with why
Kotter's model sets out eight steps, in order, from making the case for change to making it part of how the organization works. Most failed changes skip the first step and go straight to announcing a vision; this tool won't let the plan go on without a case.
This tool works on its own, and as stage 2 of our playbook for managing organizational change, where it picks up the groups and opponents from the stakeholder map in stage 1. For the method, see our guide to Kotter's 8-step model.
The method
How the tool works
The case for why now. It counts as made when it says what happens if nothing changes, gives the evidence with at least one figure, and the leaders agree on it. Without that, the decision point is to stop.
The coalition. Each member is marked as a senior leader, as trusted by the people most affected, or both. In the playbook, the tool checks that each group that has to change has someone it trusts in the coalition.
The eight steps. One action, an owner (one person or role who answers for it) and a time for each. "Suggest for the empty fields" names the change's leader, the first senior leader in the coalition, as owner where that is usual. The tool warns when steps 1 to 3 come after the announcement, when step 5 is only training (the obstacle is usually a rule, a target or a reward), and when there is no early win or nothing anchors the change.
Before the announcement. In the playbook, the powerful groups against the change from stage 1 are listed here, to mark as met or planned before anything is announced.
What leaves your computer. The case, the actions and all names stay in your browser and your progress file. To write the diagnosis, the page sends our server only counts and yes/no checks, and the server keeps nothing.