6 Types of Change Management, Explained

Change initiatives vary in scale, risk, and impact, so applying a one-size-fits-all approach can lead to delays or unexpected failures. Classifying changes provides a framework that matches each change to the right level of planning and oversight.

Organizations commonly recognize six types of Change Management. Each type reflects a different focus and helps teams choose appropriate methods:

1. Strategic Change Management addresses shifts in long-term direction or vision. It guides decisions like entering new markets or redefining business models.
    
2. Structural Change Management alters reporting lines, team configurations, or organizational hierarchies to improve efficiency or support new strategies.
    
3. Technological Change Management focuses on adopting or upgrading systems and tools – everything from migrating to cloud platforms to rolling out new applications.
    
4. People-Centric Change Management emphasizes communication, training, and user adoption when changes affect how individuals work or collaborate.
    
5. Unplanned Change Management deals with ad-hoc or reactive changes, such as incident response or rapid workarounds when unexpected issues arise.
    
6. Remedial Change Management targets corrections after failures or compliance gaps, ensuring lessons learned feed back into processes to prevent recurrence.

How to categorize changes in ITIL?

ITIL categorizes changes based on risk, urgency, and repeatability. Standard changes carry minimal risk and follow a predefined, approved process. 

• Normal changes require formal assessment and authorization because they introduce more risk or complexity. 
• Emergency changes demand rapid action to resolve major incidents or security threats, with approval often granted after implementation.
• Standard changes move quickly through the pipeline since their procedures and impacts are already documented. 

Normal changes pass through a Change Advisory Board or designated authority, where teams evaluate potential effects and schedule work accordingly. Emergency changes bypass some controls to restore service, then undergo a post-implementation review to capture lessons and confirm compliance.

Applying these categories ensures each request receives the right level of scrutiny, approval, and testing before it goes live.

Incremental vs. transformational change

Changes can be classified not only by type but also by scope and impact. Two of the most commonly used categories in this regard are incremental change and transformational change.

Incremental change refers to gradual improvements made to existing processes, tools, or workflows. These changes are often part of ongoing optimization efforts. They do not disrupt the core structure of the organization and usually affect a limited number of users or functions at a time.

Examples include:

• Adjusting a procurement workflow to remove an unnecessary approval step.
• Updating a report template to improve readability.
• Adding automation to reduce repetitive manual input.

These changes typically require minimal approval, involve less risk, and can be implemented through continuous improvement practices such as Lean or Kaizen. They’re easier to reverse, and their results can be evaluated quickly.

Transformational change, in contrast, affects the foundation of how an organization operates. It introduces shifts that alter strategy, core systems, organizational design, or culture. These changes usually span departments and require sustained effort across planning, communication, and execution.

Examples include:

• Migrating all services to a new cloud-based infrastructure.
• Reorganizing departments around product teams instead of functions.
• Adopting a new operating model or business structure.

Transformational change demands executive involvement, a change manager, and often a formal project structure with clear timelines, milestones, and metrics. It also involves greater resistance, since the change tends to affect people’s roles, responsibilities, and ways of working.

Regardless of scale, both types of change present learning opportunities. Incremental changes allow organizations to test, refine, and adapt processes continuously. Larger transformations, while riskier, are also rich in insights – especially when failure is treated as a controlled part of experimentation. 

A strong Change Management approach includes mechanisms for learning from what works and what doesn’t, rather than only trying to prevent every error.

"We need to be learning organizations. We need to craft safe-to-fail [environments] and empower people to take calculated risks. If the goal of Change Management is zero failed changes or zero bad consequences, where's the learning? (...) 

Safe-to-fail is an engineered thing. We engineer environments — the technology, how it's managed, how it's deployed — in such a way that any failure is not going to be catastrophic, it will be controlled and limited, and so our learning will be optimized while the degradation of the business value will be minimized. We can't allow ourselves to be fighting an organization that desperately wants to learn."

Greg Sanker - Director of IT Support at Taylor Morrison
Live Session of Ticket Volume

6 types of Change Management in organizations

1. Strategic Change Management

Strategic change focuses on long-term direction. It shapes the organization's position in the market, redefines its goals, or adjusts the way value is delivered. 

These changes often stem from shifts in external conditions – such as economic forces, competitive pressure, or new customer expectations – or from leadership deciding to reposition the company for future growth. 

Strategic change typically starts at the executive level and affects multiple business units. It involves extensive changes to leadership structures, organizational culture, and employee mindsets to align with a new strategic direction. It also requires coordination, investment, and time.

Examples of strategic changes

• Expanding into a new geographic market after a sustained growth phase.
• Transitioning from a product-based to a service-based business model.
• Aligning operations around sustainability goals to meet regulatory and investor expectations.

2. Structural Change Management

Structural change deals with how the organization is arranged. It modifies hierarchies, reporting lines, team configurations, or departmental responsibilities. It may follow strategic decisions or precede them, acting as an enabler of broader transformation. 

These changes are often triggered by mergers, reorganizations, or efforts to eliminate redundancies. Depending on the scope, structural changes can affect job roles, budgets, and internal processes, and often involve close coordination between leadership and HR.

Examples of structural changes

• Merging two departments to reduce operational overlap.
• Switching from a function-based structure to a product-based one.
• Creating a new executive role to oversee a previously decentralized initiative.

3. Technological Change Management

Technology-driven changes involve the introduction, replacement, or major upgrade of systems, platforms, or tools. These shifts are typically initiated to improve performance, support scalability, reduce costs, or meet new demands. 

While the IT department leads the implementation, success depends on cross-functional planning and strong adoption strategies. Because these changes often alter workflows, they require documentation, training, and post-rollout support.

Typical activities for technological Change Management include:

• Process mapping: Documenting current workflows and identifying inefficiencies or areas for improvement.
• Gap analysis: Comparing the current process with the desired future state to understand what needs to change.
• Pilot testing: Running trials of new processes to identify potential issues before full implementation.

Examples of technological changes

• Migrating from an on-premise infrastructure to a cloud-based platform.
• Replacing legacy ERP systems to support multi-location operations.
• Introducing automated workflows in finance to speed up reconciliations.

4. People-Centric Change Management

People-Centric Change Management focuses on the human side of transformation: how people understand, adapt to, and work within a new environment that might result from strategic, structural, or technical changes.

Resistance is common when roles, tools, or expectations shift, so people-centric efforts prioritize communication, engagement, and support. Psychologically, people naturally resist change due to loss aversion and threats to their professional identity. 

Frameworks like Kotter's 8-Step Process or the ADKAR model provide structured approaches to guide individuals through the emotional journey of letting go of old ways and embracing new beginnings.

These initiatives may be embedded in broader projects or run in parallel to manage change risks, often leveraging storytelling, involvement strategies, and informal influencer networks to create psychological safety and social proof that accelerate acceptance.

Examples of people-centric changes

• Launching a company-wide reskilling initiative to support digital adoption.
• Introducing new leadership training to align management styles after a reorganization.
• Changing how performance reviews are conducted, requiring updated coaching and feedback practices.

5. Unplanned Change Management

Unplanned Change Management handles modifications that must be introduced without prior scheduling, typically in response to urgent incidents, disruptions, or external demands. 

These changes are reactive by nature and driven by the need to restore stability, mitigate risk, or comply with time-sensitive obligations. They’re often initiated outside of routine change cycles and may bypass standard planning stages depending on severity.

Since time is a constraint, these changes require real-time coordination across technical teams, service owners, and incident managers. The process starts with a rapid impact assessment – usually led by an incident response or operations team – to determine whether the change can be safely implemented and how quickly. 

Unplanned changes are sometimes categorized under emergency change workflows in ITIL, depending on their urgency and potential risk. However, not all unplanned changes are high-risk. Some involve small, low-impact adjustments that simply can’t wait for the next standard change window. 

Examples of unplanned changes

• Implementing new security protocols after a data breach.
• Reorganizing workloads after the sudden departure of a team lead.
• Adapting supply chain operations in response to border closures or shipping delays.

6. Remedial Change Management

Remedial Change Management targets the resolution of known failures, recurring incidents, control gaps, or technical defects. These changes often originate from post-incident reviews, audit findings, Problem Management activities, or compliance assessments. 

Unlike quick fixes applied under pressure, remedial changes are structured, tracked, and typically follow a formal change process.

What sets remedial change apart is its intent: the goal is not just to restore service, but to address root causes, eliminate long-standing weaknesses, and reduce the likelihood of similar issues resurfacing.

While some remedial changes are tactical, many are part of broader efforts like Problem Management, technical debt reduction, or compliance remediation plans. Their success depends on accurate diagnostics, clear ownership, and the ability to measure whether the problem has truly been resolved.

Examples of remedial changes

• Updating service processes after repeated SLA breaches.
• Revising onboarding procedures after feedback highlights knowledge gaps.
• Adjusting quality control measures in response to a product recall.