Create strategies for effective OCM planning success

Why Mural for organizational change management (OCM) planning

Change can be hard, but planning for it doesn’t have to be. Whether rolling out new tech, restructuring teams, or shifting company culture, success depends on getting everyone aligned early during the change management planning process — and staying that way. That’s where Mural comes in.

Mural gives transformation leaders a shared space to plan, visualize, and communicate change strategies at every stage of the journey. With a shared visual workspace, it’s easy to map out your change strategy, bring in the right voices, and ensure nothing gets lost in translation. Instead of chasing updates or battling confusion, you’ll keep everyone focused, informed, and ready to move forward together.

The benefits of using Mural for OCM planning

OCM planning enables teams to align quickly, adapt seamlessly, and stay connected throughout change. Mural brings structure to change with a visual, collaborative workspace that keeps everyone focused, informed, and moving in the same direction. With Mural, you can:

• Align stakeholders faster: Change stalls when feedback is slow or decisions happen in silos. Mural brings cross-functional teams together in a shared workspace to co-create plans, surface concerns, and agree on the next steps in real time. No more chasing approvals or backtracking on decisions — just faster alignment and smoother execution.
• Visualize your entire change plan: Details can easily slip through the cracks when plans are buried in static decks or scattered docs. Use Mural to turn complex strategies into simple, shareable visuals. With timelines, impact maps, and workflows all in one place, everyone gets the full picture without the guesswork.
• Improve engagement across hybrid teams: Developing change management roadmaps isn't a solo effort. Whether you’re in the same room or scattered across time zones, Mural helps distributed teams stay connected. Collaborate live or async, leave feedback, and track changes together so everyone feels involved, even from afar.
• Start quickly with ready-made templates: No need to build your OCM strategy from scratch. From change impact assessments to stakeholder mapping, Mural offers plug-and-play templates designed to help you move quickly. Hit the ground running with structure from the start and the ability to stay flexible as things evolve. 
• Minimize confusion and resistance: When people can understand the plan and how they fit into it, they’re more willing to participate. Mural makes change feel collaborative and transparent, helping you spot risks early, build trust, and keep the momentum going. That means fewer surprises, less resistance, and a smoother rollout.

Related: What visual collaboration is & how to get started

Common challenges with OCM planning and how to overcome them with Mural

Managing organizational change is never as easy as you’d like it to be. Plans evolve, people get overwhelmed, and communication breaks down. The good news? Mural helps you cut through the noise and stay focused on what matters — no matter how complex the change is.

• Disconnected communication across teams: Ever feel like your OCM strategy is trapped in a maze of emails, meetings, and Slack threads? When teams work in silos, it’s hard to keep everyone aligned, especially across departments. Mural brings all your thinking into one shared space, so feedback, ideas, and decisions don’t get lost along the way.
• Unclear ownership and responsibilities: Who’s doing what, by when, and why? If your team doesn’t know, progress stalls. Mural helps you map out roles, visualize dependencies, and assign ownership right on the canvas. Use color coding, connectors, and shapes to show relationships between tasks and keep things moving smoothly.
• Difficulty adapting plans as priorities shift: When priorities shift mid-project, you need a workspace that bends without breaking. With Mural’s infinitely resizable canvas, you can update workflows, regroup as a team, and move forward without starting over or wondering if you're working off the wrong version. Everyone sees the latest thinking in real-time, all in one place.
• Resistance to change: People don’t resist change just to be difficult — they resist what feels sudden, confusing, or top-down. Mural helps make change feel more collaborative and transparent. When people can see the plan, shape it, and understand their role in it, they’re far more likely to get on board.

Best practices for OCM planning using Mural

Change doesn’t happen just because you have a plan. It happens because people are aligned, involved, and able to adapt as things evolve. Here’s how to get the most out of Mural during your OCM planning process:

Map stakeholders and tailor communication early

Don’t wait until rollout to consider communication or buy-in. Start by mapping out who’s affected by the change, who needs to be informed, and who should be involved in planning. Mural’s stakeholder mapping templates let you quickly visualize influence and involvement so nothing gets overlooked.

Use color-coded tags, icons, and swimlanes to organize stakeholders by function, priority, or communication cadence. That way, you’re not just planning what needs to happen — you’re planning how to bring everyone with you.

Create a timeline of key milestones

Abstract plans are hard to follow. A clear, visual roadmap keeps everyone grounded. Use Mural to lay out your change journey, from early discovery to rollout and post-launch support.

Drag-and-drop elements let you adjust milestones as timelines shift. Drop in notes, links, or visuals to clarify key phases and highlight dependencies. Build a roadmap that evolves with your project, instead of a static document that gets forgotten after the first alignment meeting.

Keep your plans adaptable and transparent

No matter how well-planned your change initiatives are, those plans are likely to, well, change. But that doesn’t mean teams should be left guessing. Mural gives you a dynamic, living workspace where changes are visible, documented, and easily understood.

Use version history to show how your plan has evolved, tags to flag decisions or updates, and reactions to get quick feedback. When everyone has access to the latest thinking, they stay informed and on board.

Run regular retrospectives to improve your process

What worked? What didn’t? Use Mural’s retrospective templates like “start, stop, continue” or “sailboat retrospective” to create space for your team to reflect after each major phase.

Capture lessons learned, surface unspoken friction points, and build a stronger foundation for future initiatives. Bonus tip: run retros asynchronously in Private Mode to gather more honest, thoughtful input from every voice on your team.

For more tips on how to create an effective OCM plan in Mural, check out these expert insights from Jeff Gothelf.