Governments, international organisations, and institutional actors are increasingly called upon to manage economic transitions - green, digital, and geopolitical - that are rapid, intersecting, and driven by both policy choices and market dynamics. A key challenge is to ensure that these transitions are just – embedding decent work, labour rights, livelihoods and inclusive development within industrial change. This guide responds to that challenge by offering a practical diagnostic framework to help policy makers and stakeholders identify governance gaps, anticipate labour risks, and strengthen the institutional capacities needed for just transitions. Just transitions are often framed in terms of what workers and vulnerable communities receive after transformation: compensation, reskilling, regional support. This guide argues that justice cannot be secured through compensation alone. It depends on whether the institutions governing transitions have the capacity to anticipate disruption, coordinate across domains, adapt to changing realities and enforce protections under conditions of fast-moving change.