Project Toolkitby Maxime Lab
Stakeholders and Change · tool 8 of 8

Stakeholders and Change · tool 8 of 8

Kotter’s Eight Steps

Kotter’s Eight Steps: guides change across a whole organization.

Best for: Large-scale change · Time: Reference
Domain: Stakeholders · Focus area: Executing

How it works

John Kotter’s model runs from building urgency and a guiding coalition, through vision and communication, to removing barriers, quick wins and anchoring the change in culture.

  • Skipping urgency is the classic mistake.
  • Quick wins buy patience.
  • Declaring victory early undoes the work.

How to apply it

  1. Establish why now.
  2. Gather a credible group.
  3. Share a simple vision again and again.
  4. Remove barriers, show wins, embed.
In practice

A merger team shows a real customer-loss number, then a 90-day win in one region before rolling out.

Pro tip

Use ADKAR for people and Kotter for the organization. They work together.

Quick check

What does Kotter’s model start with?

Sources

  • J. Kotter, Leading Change (1996)

Last reviewed 2026-11-02 against the PMBOK® Guide, 8th edition · Practitioner review pending · How this guide is made