Defining Your Objectives for Change Management

We are living in a world where tools are available at our fingertips. AI, in particular, means less doing and more thinking.

As we use more AI tools to create content to scope, plan and explain the changes we plan to make, there is a shift in our responsibilities.

The proportion of our time spent “doing” – generating agendas, preparing presentation materials and creating meeting notes – is decreasing.

We should embrace this and give ourselves more time to define our objectives for change management. It’s important that the outcomes and achievements realise benefits.

As leaders, we need to spend more time focused on defining the objectives for change management and less time on the specific work needed to achieve the change.

Leaders Define the Objectives and the Destination, Not the Journey

Defining the objectives of your change management and the end goal that we are leading people towards is a difficult task.

We are asking our brains to step into an imaginary future, look around and then describe what it sees. This is hard because our brains are very good at focusing on what needs to be done today, but the further into the future we look, the less “real” things appear. As they are less “real”, they feel less urgent and less important, and we struggle to define them in as much detail.

Here is a simple example: if I ask you how you are going to spend your summer holiday this year, which is probably a couple of months away, you will have ideas of where to go, when, how you will get there and who you are going with. If I ask you to describe how you are going to spend Christmas, you will find it hard to plan because it is so far away, and it is hard to picture the when, who, where, and how of the situation.

What Questions Can You Ask When Defining Your Objectives for Change Management

To help us think this far into the future and when we are defining our objectives for change management, we can ask ourselves some questions to prompt the thought process.

1. Better Version / Transformation – Scale of Change

• What will be better after this change is complete?
• Are we making small improvements or a major transformation?
• What are we moving away from—and what are we moving toward?
• How will success be clearly visible or measurable?

2. How Does This Position Us? – Market & Competitive Context

• How does this change help us stay competitive or ahead of others?
• What does this change signal to our partners, clients, or competitors?
• Does this align with trends in our market or industry?
• How will this change improve our reputation or brand?

3. What We Do – Products & Services

• Will this change affect what products or services we offer?
• Are we improving existing offerings or creating something new?
• Does it help us deliver more value to customers?

4. How We Do It – Processes & Innovation

• What processes will change—manual or automated?
• Are we replacing outdated systems or introducing innovation?
• Is this an efficiency play, a quality improvement, or both?

5. How We Use Humans to Do This – Human vs Machine

• What tasks will continue to be done by people, and why?
• What tasks will be automated or assisted by technology?
• How will this affect team roles, skills, or workloads?

6. Who We Do It With – Internal & External Collaboration

• Will we rely more on internal teams or external partners?
• Does this change involve bringing in new suppliers or tech vendors?
• Are we reducing, consolidating, or expanding relationships?

7. Where We Do It – Geography & Location

• Will this change affect where work is done—onshore or offshore?
• Are certain teams or locations more affected than others?
• Are there legal, cultural, or operational considerations in different regions?

8. When We Do It – Time, Frequency, Regularity

• Is this a one-time change or something that will happen regularly?
• Will it change our daily, weekly, or monthly routines?
• How long will it take to fully implement?
• Are there business cycles or timing considerations to account for?

Defining Your Objectives for Change Management: You don’t have to have all the answers.

An end goal for your change gives you the bigger picture of what needs to be achieved, but it is a flexible destination, as your ideas will be affected by many factors before you get to the end of your change.

Achieving your end goal one outcome at a time ensures you stay flexible and open to new ideas. As you achieve each outcome, you can feed in what you learnt and new ideas into your end goal, which will further define your objectives for change management. Everything you learn maintains its value and relevance even as circumstances change.

Defining Your Objectives for Change with Agile Change Management

If you want more guidance on defining your objectives for change management and how to create an end goal for your change, join me on my next Agile Change Agent course (or take the online self-paced course if you cannot make the dates work for your schedule).

During this course, we will be discussing how to break down your goals into a series of outcomes and how to align this to an iterative, incremental plan.

My Agile Change Management course provides you with a step-by-step approach for identifying your end goal, rules to break it into smaller, more specific outcomes, and techniques to help you prioritise the order of these outcomes. These practical activities combine to create your flexible, agile Change Plan.

Act now – defining your objectives for change and what you need to achieve is a core leadership skill. These techniques will enable you to confidently take the lead in discussions, brainstorming sessions and meetings.

Members of ChangeabilityPro can access the technique “Defining your change”. If you are not a member, book a demonstration and a career discussion with me here.