Work Alignment
Day 1 readiness: what work shifts, stops, continues, or gets a new owner.
Aim
The Work Alignment & Engagement tool helps teams thoughtfully transition work from the current state to the future state by clarifying what work needs to shift, stop, continue, or be newly assigned. This tool ensures the organization is operationally ready for Day 1 and beyond by aligning people, roles and responsibilities to the new structure.
Results
- Clear visibility into which tasks, decisions and responsibilities need to move — and to whom.
- Reduced duplication, dropped work or confusion during transition.
- More confident leaders and teams entering go-live, knowing what is expected.
- Early identification of gaps in ownership, workload or capacity.
Pro Tips
- Start with critical processes or decisions. Focus on high-impact areas first — what work must be clearly owned to avoid disruption?
- Use real work examples. Don't stay abstract; anchor the conversation in actual workflows, reports, decisions or stakeholder relationships.
- Facilitate cross-team discussions. Misalignment often shows up between teams, and jointly working through the tool surfaces hidden dependencies.
- Document assumptions. If ownership isn't fully resolved, capture the interim plan and flag it for follow-up.
- Track decisions and timing. Make the plan actionable by noting when shifts will occur and how transitions will be communicated.
How to use it
There are two tools used to undertake Work Alignment & Engagement: Work Scope and Work Launch.
Work Scope. The Work Scope Planning Tool is about understanding the current state of work activities. It answers: what work is done today, which role does it, and how will it change? Think of it as taking stock of the current work activities affected by the change. For each activity, write down the work activity, the process owner, the key impacts, the priority, the complexity, the current roles performing the work, the status of training materials and job aides, and any interdependencies.
Work Launch. Work through it in three steps. Current State: determine whether the work activity in the Work Scope Planning tool has been eliminated, changed or moved, and where the work is done today. Transition State: write down when the new work should start, stop, change or move, and note the prerequisites for the transition and who will oversee it. Future State: think about which roles will do the work in future, where it will be done, and what training or support might be required.