Compass Instruments · CHANGE & TRANSFORM
Change Team Plan
Large change is carried by people. This plan names them, states what each is released from in every phase of the rollout, and totals the cost in whole people — before the charter is signed rather than after the schedule slips.
A role with no name is a role nobody is doing. A name with no release is a promise nobody can keep.
The plan is set to a mid-market ERP rollout by default: seven phases from Mobilize to Sustain, each with the change work that dominates it and the gate that closes it. Change the phases' occupants, headcounts and release percentages to your project and the totals move with you.
Released capacity is the honest measure of commitment. Compass converts percentages into whole released people per phase, flags roles released past the point where the day job needs cover, and names the structural risks that reliably cost an ERP a year.
Build the Plan
Instrument · Change Team Plan
Who is on the team, what they are released from, and what it costs per phase
Released capacity is the only honest measure of commitment. A named person at 10% is a hobby; a full-time programme lead with a backfilled day job is a decision. State the release per phase, total it in whole people, and the plan either survives the steering committee or it never should have.
The phases, and the gate that closes each one.
- 01
Mobilize
Weeks 1–6
Charter, sponsor alignment, change readiness, stakeholder map, team named and released in writing.
Gate: Team released, charter signed, readiness baseline taken.
- 02
Design
Weeks 4–18
Future-state process design by end-to-end stream, decisions logged, data ownership assigned, impact assessed.
Gate: Future-state design signed by the process owner who will own it after go-live.
- 03
Configure & test
Weeks 14–34
System configuration against the design, integration and user acceptance testing, data conversion rehearsals.
Gate: Design-conformant configuration and a clean conversion rehearsal.
- 04
Prepare & train
Weeks 28–40
Role-based training, standard work written, super users certified, cutover plan rehearsed, communication to every audience.
Gate: Cutover readiness review passed; super users certified by role.
- 05
Cutover & activate
Weeks 40–44
Cutover execution, at-the-elbow support, hypercare command centre, issue triage against the design.
Gate: Go-live held; transactions flowing; issue rate falling week over week.
- 06
Stabilize
Weeks 44–56
Adoption measurement, barrier removal, retraining where ratings are weak, design corrections through change control.
Gate: Adoption and performance measures at target for one full cycle.
- 07
Sustain
Week 56 onward
Standard work owned in operations, ARC review triggers live, capability transferred, team stood down deliberately.
Gate: Operations holds the standard without the project team.
Role assignments and released capacity, phase by phase.
Enter released capacity as a percentage of the working week. Compass totals it into whole released people per phase — the number the steering committee actually has to approve.
| Role | Assigned | People | Mobilize | Design | Configure & test | Prepare & train | Cutover & activate | Stabilize | Sustain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive sponsorThe business case and the decisions no one else can make. Present at every gate, visible to the whole organization.No one named. | 0.25 ppl | 0.2 ppl | 0.15 ppl | 0.2 ppl | 0.3 ppl | 0.15 ppl | 0.05 ppl | ||
| Steering committeeClears cross-functional barriers, arbitrates scope, and protects the team's released capacity.No one named. | 0.6 ppl | 0.48 ppl | 0.36 ppl | 0.48 ppl | 0.6 ppl | 0.36 ppl | 0.18 ppl | ||
| Programme leadRuns the value stream day to day. Full-time throughout; a part-time programme lead is the most common structural cause of an ERP slipping a year.No one named. Released at 100% with no backfill recorded. | 1 ppl | 1 ppl | 1 ppl | 1 ppl | 1 ppl | 1 ppl | 0.4 ppl | ||
| Change leadOwns readiness, stakeholder engagement, ADKAR® barrier work and the adoption measures across every affected group.No one named. Released at 100% with no backfill recorded. | 0.8 ppl | 1 ppl | 0.8 ppl | 1 ppl | 1 ppl | 0.8 ppl | 0.3 ppl | ||
| Process ownersThe future-state design for order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, plan-to-produce, record-to-report and hire-to-retire — and that design after go-live.No one named. Released at 80% with no backfill recorded. | 1.5 ppl | 4 ppl | 3 ppl | 3 ppl | 4 ppl | 2.5 ppl | 1 ppl | ||
| Solution / IT leadConfiguration conforming to the signed design, integrations, environments and cutover mechanics.No one named. Released at 100% with no backfill recorded. | 0.4 ppl | 0.8 ppl | 1 ppl | 1 ppl | 1 ppl | 0.7 ppl | 0.25 ppl | ||
| Data ownerMaster data standards, cleansing, conversion rehearsals and the data ownership that survives go-live.No one named. Released at 100% with no backfill recorded. | 0.2 ppl | 0.6 ppl | 1 ppl | 0.8 ppl | 0.8 ppl | 0.5 ppl | 0.15 ppl | ||
| Change agent networkRespected practitioners who carry Desire and Reinforcement into their own areas and surface resistance early.No one named. | 1 ppl | 2 ppl | 2 ppl | 4 ppl | 5 ppl | 3 ppl | 1 ppl | ||
| Super usersTrained ahead of the wave; at the elbow during cutover; holders of the new standard work afterwards.No one named. Released at 60% with no backfill recorded. | 0 ppl | 0.75 ppl | 2.25 ppl | 6 ppl | 9 ppl | 4.5 ppl | 1.5 ppl | ||
| Communications & training leadOne message architecture across board, executive, manager, frontline and household audiences; role-based training built from standard work.No one named. Released at 100% with no backfill recorded. | 0.6 ppl | 0.6 ppl | 0.8 ppl | 1 ppl | 0.8 ppl | 0.5 ppl | 0.15 ppl | ||
| Released people, all roles | 6.35 | 11.43 | 12.36 | 18.48 | 23.5 | 14.01 | 4.98 |
The read
10 roles have no one named. A role without a name is a role nobody is doing.
Peak load: 23.5 released people in Cutover & activate (Weeks 40–44).
- 7 roles released past the backfill threshold with no cover recorded: Programme lead, Change lead, Process owners, Solution / IT lead, Data owner, Super users, Communications & training lead.
This is a management instrument, not HR, legal or compensation advice. Record roles, names your organization already holds, and released capacity — never third-party personal data. Entries stay in the browser that created them until you export the plan.
10 roles across 7 phases. ADKAR® is a registered trademark of Prosci, Inc.
Where this leads
The team plan sits between the charter and the readiness work: the charter states the case, this plan resources it, and the readiness and stakeholder instruments tell the team where to aim first.
Not sure where to start?
Three questions, and we point you to the right instrument.
Under a minute. From this page, most leaders begin with The organization.