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LSPT Consulting · Worksheet

Before You Announce

A worksheet to help leadership teams prepare for an announcement. Review the decision, employee impacts and the support managers will need.

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10-page PDF · Read all prompts below

How to use it

Complete Parts 1 to 7 with the leaders responsible for the decision. Use the readiness check in Part 8 to identify questions that need further attention.

Read the prompts here and record your answers in your own notes. This page does not collect or save answers. The PDF has fields you can fill in or print.

Worksheet sections
  1. Define the decision
  2. One explanation
  3. Map what changes
  4. Who is affected, and who tells them
  5. Owners and the first 30 days
  6. Manager preparation
  7. After the announcement
  8. Readiness check
  9. A question for discussion

Start with

  • The decision being announced
  • Decision owner
  • Prepared by
  • Planned announcement date

Part 1Define the decision

Agree on exactly what is being decided before anyone explains it to others.

  • In one sentence, what are we deciding?
  • What business problem does it address?
  • What will success look like in 90 days?
  • What has not been decided yet? List anything still open so no one presents it as settled.

Part 2One explanation

Every leader should explain the decision the same way.

  • The explanation every leader will use
  • Why now?

Questions we expect

For each entry, record:

  • Question
  • Our answer

Part 3Map what changes

Be specific about what changes and what stays the same.

  • Possible unintended effects on other teams

Areas to review

Review each area: Work; Roles and responsibilities; Reporting lines; Decision rights; Processes and tools; Teams or locations.

For each area, record:

  • Does it change?
  • What changes
  • What stays the same

Part 4Who is affected, and who tells them

Plan who hears the decision, from whom and in what order.

Communication plan

For each entry, record:

  • Group
  • How it affects them
  • Who tells them
  • When
  • How

Part 5Owners and the first 30 days

Identify the implementation lead, required resources and first actions.

  • Accountable for implementation
  • Authority or resources owners still need

First actions

For each entry, record:

  • Action
  • Owner
  • Due
  • Depends on

Part 6Manager preparation

Plan how managers will be briefed and supported before they explain the change to their teams.

  • Manager briefing date
  • Briefed by
  • Where managers take questions they cannot answer
  • What managers are responsible for after the announcement

Questions employees will ask managers

For each entry, record:

  • Question
  • What managers should say

Part 7After the announcement

Decide how you will keep the change moving and how you will know if it is working.

  • First follow-up date
  • Leadership review date
  • Where questions and recurring concerns are tracked
  • Tools, process changes or training that must be ready
  • Early signs implementation is going off course
  • How progress will be communicated

Part 8Readiness check

Review each item and note what still needs attention before the announcement.

The decision

  • Is the decision actually final?
  • Can leadership explain why it is being made?
  • Can we describe the business problem it addresses?
  • Are leaders using the same explanation?
  • Is anything still open for discussion?
  • Are we being honest about what has not been decided yet?

What changes

  • Have we defined what will change?
  • Have we defined what will stay the same?
  • Do we know which teams, roles or locations are affected?
  • Have reporting lines, responsibilities or decision rights changed?
  • Have we identified work that will begin, stop or move?
  • Have we considered unintended effects on other teams?

Ownership and timing

  • Is there one person accountable for implementation?
  • Are the first actions assigned to named owners?
  • Is the sequence clear?
  • Are important dependencies understood?
  • Do owners have the authority and resources required?
  • Is there a realistic timeline?

Manager preparation

  • Have managers been briefed before the wider announcement?
  • Have they had time to ask questions?
  • Do they understand what the decision means for their teams?
  • Do they know which questions they can answer?
  • Do they know where to take questions they cannot answer?
  • Have their own responsibilities been made clear?

Employee experience

  • Does the announcement explain why the decision matters?
  • Does it tell people what happens next?
  • Does it avoid promising details leadership has not settled?
  • Is there a way for employees to ask questions?
  • Are affected people hearing the decision from the appropriate person?
  • Have we considered the timing and order in which different groups will hear it?

After the announcement

  • Is the first follow-up already scheduled?
  • Are tools, process changes or training ready?
  • Is there a place to track questions and recurring concerns?
  • Have we identified early signs that implementation is going off course?
  • Is there a review date for leadership?
  • Do we know how progress will be communicated?

A question for discussion

If we announce this tomorrow, what will managers be expected to do the following morning?

If the answer is unclear, identify the preparation or decisions managers still need.

  • Our answer
  • Ready to announce? Yes / Not yet
  • Signed off by
  • Date
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