A change impact is when an initiative results in a change in how people understand and perform their work. This will subsequently result in time required to digest the change and work in a different way. For example, with a new system being introduced, the change impacts could be 1) subject matter experts involvement in ensuring the system is designed to the business needs, 2) information session for users on why the new system and what to expect 3) a series of team-specific briefing sessions 4) training superusers, 5) training sessions for users 6) users embedding the usage of the new system.
For initiatives with minimal impact, employees attending a few meetings and reading a few emails may suffice. However, for larger initiatives with greater impact, workshops, training and a series of meetings may be required.
Change also impacts customers. If there is a change in how the customer understands or interacts with the organization or its products or services, then the initiative has a change impact.