Project Meetings
The Project Status Meeting is at tactical sync between the PMO and the leads of various workstreams to share status updates. These regular standing meetings keep all the leads for each functional area connected.
Attendees:
All project managers
All workstream leads
Meeting Purpose:
To track progress, manage risks, and resolve "cross-stream" issues that affect multiple areas
Timing:
Throughout the project
Change Management Value-Add
Why This Matters for Change Management:
They’re gold mines for early awareness of scope shifts, risks, and timeline changes that could ripple into adoption plans.
These meetings help you spot delays early, allowing you to pivot your communication, training timelines, and adoption plans accordingly.
Questions to Ask Yourself
Expand each section below:
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Are there timeline delays that may impact end users (e.g., the Benefits integration will be late)?
Are there still lots of open decisions that impact end users?
Are there scope changes (e.g., Expenses module is being delayed until phase 2)?
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Are there disagreements between functional teams?
Are office politics at play?
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Are the SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) overwhelmed? Are they feeling pulled in lots of different directions due to competing priorities?
Are you hearing lots of pushback on deadlines and due dates?
Preparing for the Meeting
For each meeting, be prepared to give a status update for the change management workstream.
Audiocast (5:15)
Listen to learn the 4 concrete, “in-the-room” ways a change management consultant can use the Workday Project Status meeting to be genuinely value-add.
Status Update Template (Example)
A PMO-friendly view of people-readiness alongside system progress. It highlights key CM metrics (stakeholder engagement, communications, training, and change impacts), cross-stream dependencies, user sentiment, and upcoming activities with clear asks of workstream leads and sponsors
Key Points
1. Report on people-readiness using change management indicators tied to project milestones
Use the meeting to shift the conversation from just configuration & testing to adoption readiness by bringing a simple, repeatable view of change management status:
Examples of indicators:
Stakeholder alignment: sponsor and key business leads’ engagement (green/yellow/red)
Communications: planned vs. delivered comms, open questions from the field
Training & enablement: design completion %, content development %, SME availability
Change impacts: % of impacts identified / validated with workstreams
Make this highly practical for the PMO and workstream leads. Use language consistent with the PMO (RAID, critical path, dependencies) so change management feels like an integrated workstream, not a side activity.
Always connect change management status to specific upcoming milestones.
Example: “We’re on track for communications, but training design will be at risk if end-to-end testing is extended.”
2. Surface cross-stream change impacts and dependencies the functional leads must help resolve
Bring any prioritized cross-stream dependencies, for example:
Example: “Org design decision on manager hierarchy is still pending; this is blocking: change management security role mapping, reporting design, and our stakeholder impact mapping.”
Ensure cross-stream design decisions are understood, owned, and translated into clear change actions. Use the time to:
Clarify who owns each decision
Agree on by-when dates
Capture them explicitly into the RAID log or action tracker
Pro Tip:
Be the one who connects the dots across workstreams by showing how a design or data decision affects comms, training, change impacts, and end-user experience.
3. Represent the voice of the business and end users in project risk discussions
Most status meetings are heavy on config, testing, and integrations. The change management consultant adds a different lens — what’s happening with real people in the business.
You become the proxy for impacted users in a room otherwise oriented around system build.
Leverage the meeting to bring structured “voice of the field” insight. Then, translate each insight into an actionable ask for the group.
Stakeholder Sentiment
Capacity & Readiness
Resistance & Risks
Examples of change management asks you bring to the table:
The Insight:
“From our last champion huddle, frontline HR is enthusiastic about self-service, but plant supervisors are worried about time entry accountability.”
The Insight:
“The Finance team is entering year-end close; their ability to participate in user readiness reviews and training pilots will be limited for the next 3 weeks.”
The Insight:
“There’s growing concern in Country X around loss of local autonomy due to standardized processes. This is now a change risk, not just a comms issue.”
Recommendation
Adjusting the cutover rehearsal schedule for Finance
Recommendation
Asking Sponsor X to record a targeted message for plant supervisors
Recommendation
And having Payroll co-present the rationale for standardized processes at the next regional town hall
4. Use the meeting to secure decisions and support needed to keep change management off the critical path
Change management often slips because it depends on others’ time and approvals. The status meeting is the best place to escalate and lock in what you need.
By consistently using this forum to unblock change management dependencies, you demonstrate that change management is managed with the same rigor as configuration, testing, and cutover.
Be specific about what you need and the impact to change management:
“We need named SMEs from change management and Payroll to review training storyboards by Friday; without that, we can’t finalize materials for user-readiness review.”
We need agreement from Workstream Leads on the final list of high-impact changes so we can freeze the initial communication plan.“
“We’re waiting on Security to finalize role definitions before we can produce role-based training paths.”
How to make these asks effective:
Tie each ask explicitly to project risk:
“If we don’t get sign-off on the change impact list this week, we’ll be 2 weeks late on manager communications, which pushes training invites and may impact go-live readiness.”
Bring a clear proposal:
“Proposed: 30-minute working session with change management and Payroll leads on Thursday to finalize the top 10 change impacts. Looking for confirmation today.”