The Prosci

ADKAR Model

A goal-oriented change management model

to guide individual and organizational change

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Why the ADKAR Model? 3
Contents
Understanding Change at an Individual Level 4

Using the ADKAR Model With Traditional

Change Management Activities 5

The Framework of a Change Initiative 6

The Organizational Dimension of Change 7

The People Dimension of Change 7

How to Use the ADKAR Model 8

The ADKAR Model in a Personal Change 8

The ADKAR Model in an Organization 10

Table of

The Power of the ADKAR Model for Managing Change 13

ADKAR Exercise – Implementing the ADKAR Model 14

ADKAR Assessment 15

Applying the ADKAR Assessment Results 17

Actionable Steps 17

Improve Outcomes From Change 18

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 2

Why the
ADKAR Model?
Change is often a complex and difficult
process. Leading successful change in other
people and across whole organizations
requires new thinking and new tools.
The Prosci ADKAR® Model is a valuable
framework for organizational leaders, change
managers and project managers to effectively
lead a wide variety of changes. The lens of the
ADKAR Model reveals both key concepts that
influence successful change and actionable
insights for implementing these concepts.

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 3

 Understanding Change
at an Individual Level

Having the clearest vision or the most effectively designed solution to a problem will not,
alone, produce successful change. The secret to leading successful change is rooted in
something much simpler: how to facilitate change with one person.

Change happens at the individual level. For a group or organization to change, all the
individuals within that group or organization must change. This means that to effect change
in our organizations, businesses and communities, we must first understand how to effect
change one person at a time. The Prosci ADKAR Model is a framework for understanding
and managing individual change. It provides structure and tangible guidance for leaders who
want to motivate change in others.

ADKAR is an acronym for the five outcomes an individual needs to achieve for a change
to be successful: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement. When applied
to organizational change, this model allows leaders and change management teams to
focus their activities on what will collectively drive individual change and produce
organizational results.

The outcomes or goals defined by the ADKAR Model are sequential and cumulative. They
must be achieved in order. For a change to be implemented and sustained, an individual must
progress through each, starting with Awareness.

Prosci founder Jeff Hyatt originally conceived the ADKAR Model through his early research
to align traditional change management activities with project goals and results. The ADKAR
Model was first used to determine the effectiveness of change management activities like
communication and training in achieving desired organizational change results.

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 4

Using the ADKAR Model With Traditional Change
Management Activities
The ADKAR Model outlines an individual’s successful journey through change. Each step of the
model naturally aligns to typical activities associated with change management and articulates
clear goals for these activities.

For example:
1. Awareness of the business reasons for change. Awareness is a goal or outcome of early
communications related to an organizational change.
2. Desire to engage and participate in the change. Desire is a goal or outcome of sponsorship
and resistance management.
3. Knowledge about how to change. Knowledge is a goal or outcome of training and coaching.
4. Ability to realize or implement the change at the required performance level. Ability is a goal
or outcome of additional coaching, practice and time.
5. Reinforcement to ensure that change sticks. Reinforcement is a goal or outcome of adoption
measurement, corrective actions, and recognition of successful change.

In identifying the outcomes of change management activities, the ADKAR Model provides
a useful framework for change management teams in both the planning and the execution
of their work.

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 5

The Framework of a Change Initiative
Use the ADKAR Model to identify gaps within your change management process. By breaking
down a change into the parts of the ADKAR Model, you will be able to see where and why
a change is not working well. With this understanding, you can address the barriers that hold
people back, provide effective coaching for your employees, and take the necessary steps to
improve change success.

The ADKAR Model is useful in:

• Diagnosing employee resistance to change
• Helping employees transition through the change process
• Creating a successful action plan for personal and professional advancement
during a change initiative
• Developing a change management plan for your employees

Changes come to life on two dimensions: the organizational or project side of change and the
people side of change. Successful change is a result of both dimensions of change maturing
simultaneously (see below). Project management and change management are complementary
disciplines with a common purpose of producing results and outcomes.

Awareness Desire Knowledge Ability Reinforcement

Successful Change
Business Concept & Post-
Implementation
Need Design Implementation

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 6

 The Organizational Dimension
of Change
Whether through formal project management
or informal approaches, organizational changes
progress through typical stages:
• Identify a organizational need or opportunity
• Define the project (scope and objectives)
• Design the solution (new processes, systems
and organizational structure)
• Develop the new processes and systems
• Implement the solution within the organization

The People Dimension of Change

Projects commonly fail when there are problems
with the people side of change. This is true even with
a well-designed project plan.

The five outcomes organizations must achieve for

success with the people side of change also comprise
the elements of the Prosci ADKAR Model:
• Awareness of the need for change
• Desire to participate and support the change
• Knowledge on how to change
• Ability to implement desired skills and behaviors
• Reinforcement to sustain the change

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 7

 How to Use the
ADKAR Model

Let’s look at two examples of the ADKAR Model in application, the first in a personal change
scenario and the second in a professional change scenario. Try the ADKAR activity that follows
to enhance your understanding of the model and its application.

The ADKAR Model in a Personal Change

Adding a regular physical exercise regimen is a personal change many people attempt but
struggle to sustain over time. Consider each ADKAR element.
• Awareness: Are you aware of the need to exercise? Why should you start an exercise
regimen? To build awareness, you might read articles or watch news reports that describe
the health benefits of regular exercise, such as disease prevention, weight control and
reduced stress.
• Desire: Do you have the personal motivation to start exercising? Many people are aware of
the need to exercise but may not have found the personal desire to start. Desire is a very
individual concept. Your motivation may be that you want to lose weight to better keep up
with your kids, or need more physical strength at work. Or maybe you’re looking for a way to
reduce anxiety. Regardless of what your motivation is, you must make a personal decision to
change based on your own unique motivations.
• Knowledge: Do you know how to effectively and safely exercise? This is where you need to
gain some knowledge. Perhaps you hire a personal trainer to teach you the basics, attend an
exercise class with an instructor, or order a workout video or book. To effectively change,
you need to know how.

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 8

• Ability: Can you put your knowledge into practice? Just knowing how to do something doesn’t
mean you can actually do it. We often need coaching when implementing new behaviors.
You may need additional practice time with a personal trainer to build up to doing exercises
effectively or with proper form. Or perhaps conflicting time commitments are preventing you
from being able to exercise, and you need to rearrange other priorities to make the time.
• Reinforcement: Do you have reinforcements in place to prevent you from reverting to your
old habits? In this example, you may have a reward system for yourself when you hit certain
exercise milestones. Or you might have a workout buddy who holds you accountable for
showing up to the gym.

Note that each of the five elements of the ADKAR Model represents a particular result that
you are trying to achieve. Also note that all elements are cumulative and must be performed
in order. If, for example, we skip past the desire to start exercising, all attempts to learn how
to exercise (to build knowledge and develop ability) will be less effective, if not futile.

Using exercise as our example, it is easy to trace how change occurs on a personal level
through the ADKAR Model. Now, let’s consider how this framework applies to employees
experiencing change in a professional environment and how you can influence their progress
toward the desired outcomes.

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 9

The ADKAR Model in
an Organization
Just as with a personal change, the ADKAR Model
helps us understand an individual’s needs during
a change at work and indicates the type of support
needed to enable a successful change. The change
we will look at is the implementation of a new
software tool.

Awareness
If the organization implements the new software, and employees are not aware that any
changes are needed, their reaction might be:

“This is a waste “It was working “They never tell us

of time.” just fine before.” what’s going on!”

A natural human reaction to change, even in the best circumstances, is to resist. Awareness of
the business or organizational need to change is a critical component to overcoming resistance.

If, on the other hand, employees clearly understand that the old software version will no longer
be supported by the vendor, or that new software will help them meet customer needs more
effectively, the reaction (based on increased awareness) could look very different:

“How soon will “How will this “Will I receive

this happen?” impact me?” new training?”

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 10

Desire
Armed with awareness that a change is required, an employee still may have low desire to log in
and use the new software:

“I’m not interested “I doubt they are really

“What’s in it for me?” serious about this.”
in changing.”

The employee’s personal motivators or barriers contribute to their level of desire to use
the new software. Each person could have their own unique reasons for engaging or
resisting—sometimes reasons that are not even related to the change.

If an employee has no desire to change, they may be labeled as difficult, inflexible, pessimistic
or unsupportive. The best person to help a resistant employee is their direct manager or
supervisor, who is usually closest to the employee and able to translate the change into
the employee’s personal context. People managers need to engage in coaching conversations to
help connect the change to personal motivators and to identify how barriers can be removed
or minimized.

Knowledge
Only after building awareness and desire should we begin
providing detailed knowledge of how to use the new
software. Unfortunately, organizations commonly see
a change coming and the first step they take is to send
employees to training. The result of this approach is
that the training is not highly effective. Employees
are not engaged in the detailed functionality of the
software because they are not prepared to learn. They
may not even know why they are there in the first
place. To make the most of a training investment, it
must come after initial awareness and desire building.

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 11

Ability
After helping employees gain intellectual
understanding of how to navigate in the software
interface, there may still be a gap between
knowledge and ability. Knowledge is knowing what
to do. Ability is being able to put that knowledge
into practice. Demonstrated ability to work with
the software in a live, real-world situation is where
the change actually takes place. If an employee has
knowledge but not ability, you might hear:

“I eventually get “I understand the

“I’m not getting these
there but it takes me manual, but when I
new steps right.”
twice as long.” have to do it, I freeze.”

To bridge the “knowledge-to-ability gap,” employees will benefit from hands-on coaching and
practice using the software before go-live. This practice could take place in a formal training
setting or by working through a simulated live environment. What matters is that the employees
using the software have the opportunity to try it out, make mistakes, and ask questions in a
safe environment. Often, employees simply need time to adopt the changes. The best thing we
can do is give them time to practice.

Reinforcement
The final element of the ADKAR Model is reinforcement. The human brain is wired for habit.
We are physiologically programmed to revert to our old habits. When reinforcement is not in
place, we see employees using workarounds or relying on their old spreadsheets instead of
the new software. You may hear things like:

“The new way just takes “I keep forgetting

too long. I’m going to to include the
keep doing it my way.” new department.”

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 12

To reinforce change, we need to monitor whether the change is being sustained or not. Who is
logging in, following workflows, and using the new software successfully? Where are individuals
recognizing new efficiencies in their work? With this information, the first step is to celebrate
and recognize where the change has taken hold. Positive recognition is a great way to reward
employees for working hard to make changes and demonstrate to the organization that
participating in the change is important. If some employees are reverting to workarounds or
old processes, followup is needed to understand their barriers to changing. Do they need more
training or coaching? Are they missing any of the ADKAR elements? Reinforcement confirms that
they are expected to continue working in the new way.

The Power of the ADKAR Model for Managing Change

Using the ADKAR Model will help you plan effectively for a new change. If a current change is
failing, the model enables you to immediately diagnose where the process has broken down,
so you can take the appropriate corrective actions. This results-oriented approach also helps
you focus energy on the areas that produce the highest probability for success while providing
structure and direction. And the ADKAR Model helps you identify any elements that have been
overlooked along the way.

Working our Adoption and Change

Management program through
the ADKAR Model gave us a higher
degree of engagement… We were
treating people differently.

– Jean-Claude Monney, Microsoft

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 13

 ADKAR Exercise –
Implementing the
ADKAR Model

Now that you understand the Prosci ADKAR Model, let’s put it into action. This exercise will
clarify the key elements and help you start applying the model yourself.

Instructions:
1. Identify a friend, family member, work associate or employee whom you would like
to see adopt a particular change. Choose an individual who is not having success, despite
your best efforts to support them through the change.
2. Answer the questions in the table below with this person in mind. Use the table for your
answers, notes and scores.
3. Once you have completed the table, take a moment to review the scores. Highlight all
areas that scored a 3 or lower.

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 14

ADKAR Assessment

Briefly describe a personal change in behavior you are trying to influence a friend, family member,
neighbor or work associate to make:

For each element, rank

List the reasons you believe this change is necessary: on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1
being the lowest.

AWARENESS RANK

A
Review the reasons for
change and ask yourself
the degree to which
the person is aware of
these reasons.

DESIRE RANK

D
List the factors or consequences (good and bad) for this person that
create a desire to change:

Consider these motivating

factors, including the
person’s conviction in
these areas. Assess the
desire to change.

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 15

 KNOWLEDGE RANK

K
List the skills and knowledge needed for the change, both during and
after the transition:

Rate this person’s

knowledge or training
in these areas.

ABILITY RANK

A
Considering the skills and knowledge from above, evaluate the
person’s ability to perform or act in the new way. Are there any
barriers inhibiting their ability?

To what extent does the

person have the ability to
implement the new skills,
knowledge and behaviors?

REINFORCEMENT RANK
List the reinforcements that will help to sustain the change. Are

R
incentives in place to help this person make the change stick? Are there
incentives not to change?

To what degree is the person

receiving reinforcement
to support and maintain
the change?

Once you have completed the table, take a moment to review the scores.
Highlight all areas that scored a 3 or lower. Start with your first highlighted area.

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 16

Applying the ADKAR Assessment Results
As mentioned, the outcomes of the individual change process need to be realized sequentially.
When influencing change in someone else, address the elements of the ADKAR Model in order.
You should address the first element with a score of 3 or lower first.

If you identified awareness as the first low-scoring area, this is where you should begin.
If awareness is not firmly in place, working on desire, knowledge or ability will not make
the change happen.

Actionable Steps
If awareness is needed: Discuss and explore the reasons and benefits for this change, both on
the organizational level and on the individual level.

If more desire is needed: To move this person forward, address their inherent desire to
change (which may stem from negative or positive consequences). The motivating factors must
be great enough to overcome the individual’s personal threshold to resisting the change.

If more knowledge is needed: Avoid dwelling on reasons for change and motivating factors.
The this could be discouraging to somebody already at this phase. Instead, offer education and
training for the skills and behaviors necessary to move forward.

If more ability is needed: At least two steps are required. First, time is needed to develop
new abilities and behaviors. Second, ongoing coaching and support is required. A one-time
training event or an educational program may not be adequate. Consider outside intervention,
continued support and mentoring.

If more reinforcement is needed: Investigate whether the necessary elements are in place to
keep the person from reverting to old behaviors. Address the incentives or consequences for
avoiding the new behaviors.

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 17

 Improve Outcomes
From Change

The Prosci ADKAR Model is based on the understanding that organizational change happens
one person at a time. It is effective, easy to grasp, and applicable to virtually any organizational
setting. And if a change is failing, you can use the ADKAR Model to diagnose problems and gaps,
identify corrective actions, and improve the success of your change projects and initiatives.

The ADKAR Model provides the structure and direction you need to plan effectively for change.
From digital transformations and new operating processes to organizational restructuring
and culture changes, The ADKAR Model aligns your project changes with the people side of
change—which results in more successful outcomes.

Prosci and ADKAR are trademarks of Prosci, Inc.,

registered in the U.S. and other countries.

© Prosci, Inc. All rights reserved. | 18

Change Management Certification Program

CERTIFIED

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Practitioner

Gain the knowledge, skills and tools to drive successful change initiatives.

This three-day experiential learning program teaches you to

apply a holistic change management methodology and toolset,

including the Prosci ADKAR Model, to a real project.

Contact Prosci to learn more.

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