Introduction: why this action matters for adoption
Many projects fail to distinguish between delivering an output and realizing an outcome. A system can go live, a process can be approved, and a policy can be published, while the intended benefits still depend on people doing something differently in daily work. PMI makes this distinction clearly: success is not simply whether the change was launched, but whether there is a change in how business is done and whether intended benefits can be verified. [PMI, 2013] (pmi.org)
This action helps a change manager make the “people-dependent” portion of the project visible. Prosci frames the core question as: what percentage of overall results and outcomes depends on adoption and usage? [Prosci, n.d.] (prosci.com) Answering that question gives sponsors, project leads, adoption leads, and people managers a practical basis for deciding how much change support, governance, reinforcement, and measurement are needed.
What this action is and when to use it
This action is a governance, planning, and operating model design intervention. It creates a documented view of which project objectives depend on people starting, stopping, or changing specific behaviors. It should be used when objectives cannot be achieved by technical delivery alone: for example, when employees must use a new workflow, managers must coach differently, sales teams must enter better data, or leaders must make decisions using new performance information.
Use it during discovery, business case development, change impact assessment, solution design, pilot planning, and before go/no-go decisions. It is especially useful when leaders assume “training and comms” will be enough, when adoption risk is disputed, or when the change team needs evidence to justify resources.
Preparation: inputs, stakeholders, materials, timing, and decisions needed
Start with the project charter, business case, benefits map, objectives, success measures, impacted groups, change impact assessment, and any known resistance or readiness data. Benefits guidance recommends linking drivers, enablers, business change, benefits, and objectives through a benefits map, which is an ideal input for this discussion. [IPA, 2017] (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
Invite the sponsor, project manager, product or process owner, change manager, benefits owner, adoption lead, people managers from impacted areas, and representative employees or change champions. Schedule the session before detailed rollout planning, while scope, adoption measures, and accountabilities can still be influenced.
The key decisions are: which objectives are in scope, how objectives will be weighted, what counts as a material behavior dependency, who owns adoption risks, and how the ratio will affect governance.
Step-by-step facilitation guide
Frame the purpose. Explain that the session is not about blaming employees for risk. It is about identifying where project success depends on real changes in work behavior, so the project can support people properly.
Confirm objectives and benefits. Place each project objective in a simple table. If objectives are not measurable, refine them. Benefits should be measurable and linked to organizational objectives. [IPA, 2017] (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
Identify required behaviors. For each objective, ask: “Who must do what differently, how often, and in what work context?” Make behaviors observable. “Use the new CRM within 24 hours of customer contact” is stronger than “adopt the CRM.”
Score behavior dependency. Use a practical 0–3 scale: 0 = objective is mainly technical or automatic; 1 = minor awareness or compliance; 2 = meaningful workflow, skill, or decision change; 3 = sustained discretionary behavior, judgment, habit, or social norm change. Where helpful, test each behavior using COM-B: do people have the capability, opportunity, and motivation to do it? [Michie et al., 2011] (doi.org)
Calculate the proportion. First calculate the simple ratio: objectives scoring 2 or 3 divided by total objectives. Then calculate a weighted ratio: sum of objective weight multiplied by behavior dependency percentage, divided by total objective weight. Use the weighted number for governance because not all objectives have equal value.
Agree implications. If the weighted proportion is high, require stronger adoption governance: sponsor actions, manager briefings, training, reinforcement, adoption metrics, feedback loops, and benefits tracking. McKinsey’s influence model is a useful check that the plan includes understanding, role modeling, skills, and reinforcing mechanisms. [McKinsey, 2016] (mckinsey.com)
Example: how this could be applied in a real change initiative
A finance transformation has four objectives: reduce month-end close time, improve forecast accuracy, reduce manual journal errors, and retire legacy spreadsheets. The team maps the behaviors needed. Finance analysts must submit reconciliations in the new tool, managers must review dashboards weekly, and business unit leads must challenge forecast assumptions using new data.
Three of the four objectives require sustained behavior change, and the highest-value objective—forecast accuracy—depends heavily on manager and business leader behavior. The simple ratio is 75%, but the weighted ratio is 85%. The sponsor agrees that this is not a “system rollout”; it is a behavior-dependent operating model change. The plan is adjusted to include manager coaching, dashboard routines, adoption reporting, and post-go-live reinforcement.
Roles and responsibilities
Role | Responsibility |
Sponsor | Owns the adoption risk, approves the behavior-dependency threshold, and reinforces required behaviors. |
Change manager | Designs and facilitates the assessment, documents the ratio, and converts findings into the change plan. |
Project manager | Integrates adoption actions, owners, and milestones into the project plan. |
Benefits owner | Confirms which behaviors are necessary to realize benefits and owns benefit measurement. |
People managers | Validate whether behaviors are realistic and reinforce them in team routines. |
Impacted employees | Test whether the stated behaviors are clear, feasible, and supported by the work environment. |
Gallup emphasizes that managers play a critical role in change because they answer questions, handle emotions and cynicism, and create feedback loops. [Gallup, 2020] (gallup.com)
Common mistakes to avoid
Do not count a communication as behavior change. A message may create awareness, but it does not prove ability, usage, or sustained adoption.
Do not average away critical risk. A project may have only one highly behavior-dependent objective, but if that objective carries most of the value, the adoption risk is high.
Do not treat “users” as one group. Different teams may need different behaviors, support, and reinforcement.
Do not label every concern as resistance. Some concerns reveal missing capability, poor opportunity, unclear incentives, or flawed process design.
Do not wait until go-live. Baseline data, monitoring requirements, and evaluation plans should be designed early, ideally before implementation. [Magenta Book, 2026] (gov.uk)
Measures of success or adoption indicators
The action is working when every major objective has a documented behavior dependency score, named impacted groups, required behaviors, owner, baseline, target, and adoption measure. It is also working when governance decisions change because of the assessment—for example, more manager enablement, revised rollout sequencing, additional reinforcement, or changes to solution design.
Leading indicators include manager readiness, completion of role-based practice, observed use in pilots, reduction in workarounds, and employee feedback on barriers. Lagging indicators include benefit realization, sustained usage, quality of process execution, and achievement of business outcomes after stabilization.
Checklist for the change manager
Confirm project objectives and success measures.
Map each objective to required behaviors by impacted group.
Score each objective’s behavior dependency.
Calculate both simple and weighted proportions.
Validate scores with managers and representative employees.
Agree adoption implications with sponsor and project lead.
Add behavior-dependent objectives to governance, risk, benefits, and measurement routines.
Reassess at design, pilot, rollout, and sustainment gates.
Optional reusable worksheet
Objective | Weight | Impacted group | Required behavior | Dependency score 0–3 | COM-B barrier | Adoption measure | Owner |
Capability / Opportunity / Motivation |
Simple proportion: number of objectives scoring 2 or 3 ÷ total objectives.
Weighted proportion: sum of objective weight × behavior dependency percentage ÷ total objective weight.
Use this statement to close the session: “Based on today’s assessment, approximately __% of our project value depends on people changing how they work. Therefore, we will treat adoption as a governed delivery risk, not a communications activity.”
References
Prosci. “Change Management | What is Change Management.” No date shown. https://www.prosci.com/change-management
Prosci. “The Prosci ADKAR® Model.” No date shown. https://www.prosci.com/methodology/adkar
Infrastructure and Projects Authority / Cabinet Office. “Guide for Effective Benefits Management in Major Projects.” 20 October 2017. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a8210e1e5274a2e87dc0f71/Guide_for_Effective_Benefits_Management_in_Major_Projects.pdf
Project Management Institute. “Managing Change in Organizations.” 29 October 2013. https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/managing-change-organizations-5872
Michie, S., van Stralen, M. M., and West, R. “The Behavior Change Wheel: A new method for characterising and designing behavior change interventions.” Implementation Science, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-6-42
McKinsey & Company. “The four building blocks of change.” 11 April 2016. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-four-building-blocks--of-change
Gallup. “Proven Change Management Principles: How to Effectively Initiate It.” 15 July 2020. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/315602/proven-change-management-principles-effectively-initiate.aspx
HM Treasury / UK Government. “Magenta Book: Central Government guidance on evaluation.” 2026 page version. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-magenta-book/magenta-book-central-government-guidance-on-evaluation-html