Designing a visual grammar to enable more effective stakeholder participation in scoping organizational change: a physics of notations approach

Successful organization change depends on effectively engaging impacted stakeholders early in the change process so that change leaders and stakeholders have a common understanding of the scope, benefits, and risks of the change. However, communicating a succinct and holistic view of the change and gaining shared understanding on what needs to change can be challenging. The use of sequential written communication and ad hoc graphics imposes a high cognitive load on stakeholders. This results in reluctance or inability for stakeholders to engage when their availability and mental resources are constrained due to operational demands. This research explores the design of a conceptual modeling grammar that generates single page, intuitive diagrams to reduce the cognitive load for stakeholders in understanding and defining the scope of organizational change. We first developed a domain ontology and a grammar based on theory. We then used the action design research approach to test and refine the grammar through three interventions in service delivery change in healthcare organizations. In each intervention we were able to overcome existing stakeholder engagement challenges and enhance stakeholder understanding of the scope of change being undertaken