Seven connected activities to prepare and carry out an HR, digital or organisational change, without first following the workplace method.
This is the Codex's own approach: a practical synthesis with feedback loops. It is not a universally validated sequence, not a mandatory linear route and not a commercial framework. Activities can recur, and Learn runs through all of them.
Standalone change project
For changes without a spatial component. Use the seven activities on this page.
Combined with Workplace
When the workplace changes too. Combine the activities with the Workplace method.
Both routes are valid.
Running example (illustrative, not a real case): an organisation wants leave requests decided faster through a changed HR request process. There is no move or refurbishment.
- 1. Frame
Why change, towards which outcomes, and with how much room to decide?
- What you do
- Describe the reason for change and who raised it
- Agree intended outcomes for work, people and organisation
- Make explicit what is fixed, what is open and who decides
- Who decides
- Sponsor or accountable manager
- Output
- Change mandate
- Evidence needed
- Current performance data and the problem as experienced by those involved
- In the example
- Leave requests take too long. The HR director sets the outcome: a decision within two working days. The approval rules from the collective agreement are fixed; the process itself is open.
- Supporting workshops
- W01 Change mandate and outcomesW02 Stakeholders and participation
- 2. Diagnose
How does the work actually happen, and what stands in the way?
- What you do
- Observe and map the actual work, not only the written procedure
- Identify affected groups, interests and impacts
- Sort barriers into capability, opportunity and motivation
- Who decides
- Change lead, checked with affected groups
- Output
- Substantiated diagnosis
- Evidence needed
- Observations, interviews and process data from more than one group
- In the example
- Managers approve requests in batches once a week, and the system does not show team planning. The delay is a conditions problem, not unwillingness.
- 3. Design
What will people do differently, and what must be in place for that?
- What you do
- Describe future practices per role
- Define the conditions each practice needs
- Write down the assumptions you will test
- Who decides
- Sponsor, after co-design with users
- Output
- Design with testable assumptions
- Evidence needed
- The diagnosis and feedback from people who will do the work
- In the example
- Managers receive a daily notification with team planning visible. Assumption: with planning visible, most requests can be decided within a day.
- 4. Prepare
Are resources, roles and support in place to start?
- What you do
- Arrange system changes, time and budget
- Assign roles for support and questions
- Check readiness: willingness, confidence and actual capacity separately
- Who decides
- Sponsor, with line managers
- Output
- Workable implementation plan
- Evidence needed
- Confirmed resources and a readiness check per group
- In the example
- IT confirms the notification works. Two HR advisers are available for questions in the first month. One department asks to start later because of a peak period.
- 5. Activate
Does the new practice work in real work, with support?
- What you do
- Start with a pilot group
- Offer support close to the work
- Collect experiences and fix friction quickly
- Who decides
- Change lead and pilot managers
- Output
- Experiences and visible use
- Evidence needed
- Use data plus what users report
- In the example
- Two departments start. Managers report the notification arrives during meetings; the timing is moved to early morning.
- 6. Embed
Who keeps this working once the change team steps back?
- What you do
- Build the practice into routines and job descriptions
- Secure ongoing resources
- Hand over to an operational owner
- Who decides
- Operational owner accepts the handover
- Output
- Accepted embedding agreements
- Evidence needed
- A named owner, budget and review moment
- In the example
- The HR operations team lead becomes owner. The two-day target is added to the monthly HR report.
- Supporting workshops
- W08 Team working agreementsW16 Embedding and ownership transfer
- 7. Learn
Does it deliver worthwhile outcomes, and what do we adjust?
- What you do
- Compare outcomes with the intended outcomes
- Look for workload and unintended effects
- Decide to continue, adjust or stop
- Who decides
- Sponsor, informed by owner and users
- Output
- Substantiated decisions to continue, adjust or stop
- Evidence needed
- Outcome data, use data and user experience, read together
- In the example
- After three months most requests are decided within two days, but managers report extra evening work. The notification is adjusted rather than the target being declared met.
The workshops were written for workplace change and have pilot status, not validated. For a change without a spatial component, using them requires adaptation.
Optional: link to the workplace phases
For combined use with Workplace. This mapping is not one-to-one: it shows where an activity mostly sits. The six phases stay unchanged.
| Activity | Mostly in phase |
|---|---|
| Frame | Discover |
| Diagnose | Diagnose |
| Design | Define / Develop |
| Prepare | Develop / Deliver |
| Activate | Deliver |
| Embed | Deliver / Recalibrate |
| Learn | All phases, explicitly Recalibrate |