The change manager is one of the most critical roles in business today. Gartner reports that just 39% of employees feel able to respond to the changing needs of their business and the customers it serves. Disruption in the industry requires quick thinking, expertise, and excellent support skills to help team members successfully navigate change. Change managers become indispensable within this environment.
But what does a change manager do? What is change management? And what are the five leadership features of the change manager job role? These questions will be explored in detail, beginning with a definition of a change manager.
What Is A Change Manager?
A change manager is responsible for overseeing any changes in the workplace, and their primary goal is to make changes with as little disruption to company processes as possible. The concept of change management covers a broad range of structural, systemic, and strategic changes within a company that aims to optimize its current operations.
Change management is vital when discussing new or complex topics, such as political or technical challenges, if competitors are arising, or different market competition types. Change managers give guidance on how to handle questions and provide solutions on how to engage in organizational development (OD) strategies. Change managers can act solo, as part of a larger company, or internally.
Change managers are usually senior leaders and can be certified, although change management certification is less crucial than some employers may believe. Experience in change management practices is of higher value to companies.
What Is Change Management?
Change management provides executives with the tools to help employees transition successfully during large-scale changes. Doing so helps ensure that new behaviors become the norm, leading to improved business processes and results following the completion of the change management process.
Businesses need change management in various departments, such as intelligent regeneration, package versioning, state control, library control, configuration management, and turnover management.
Gartner shows that 48% of HR managers place organizational design and change management as their second highest priority. This statistic indicates that every organization requires change management strategies to embed a willingness to change in every business process across the entire workforce.
What Does A Change Manager Do?
The change manager plays a crucial role in change strategy success. This point occurs because change managers are responsible for initiating, documenting, and authorizing change processes. The change manager job description also includes designing organizational development strategies, justifying changes and restructuring, and estimating these changes’ costs, effects, advantages, and risks.
The change manager is responsible for developing a plan to mitigate risks and disruptions when implementing new processes. This plan is taken from situational and conflict analysis that all help to maximize employee adoption of change.
A change manager’s responsibilities typically include documenting, overseeing, and streamlining various processes. This role may involve holding individual or team meetings, handling internal corporate communication, and maintaining a balance of interests between different stakeholders. The change management job description divides into change management skills and traits.
Change Managers Vs. Project Managers
Many people question the role of a change manager when contrasted with a project manager. They appear to be two different roles; however, they can occasionally overlap in day-to-day work life during project management.
Generally, a project manager is responsible for completing tasks connected to finishing a project on time and within budget. Some of these tasks might necessitate changes to pre-existing processes and systems within project management. Often a project manager will oversee these changes, but usually, there is also a change manager who handles this process within the same stages of project management.
Change Manager Skills
Change managers are highly knowledgeable in risk mitigation tactics at the planning stage. Businesses also highly value time management skills capability for change managers as the success of change strategies depends on the completion of KPIs, requiring the ability to implement and measure success metrics. The change manager job description often includes a change management certification as proof of suitability for the role.
Excellent communication skills are needed to approach anticipated resistance in an even-handed, understanding, yet cost-effective manner. But equally significant is the ability to access change readiness scales as part of a change management strategy.
Change Manager Traits
One of the essential traits of a change manager is the ability to maintain strong relationships, which is key to managing anticipated resistance. Every change and organizational change manager must also hold experience with past change initiatives and the accompanying change management practices that lead to success.
An excellent change manager is passionate about understanding and implementing change management methodologies to increase employee adoption. Along with these efforts for employee adoption rates for change, change managers must solve organizational issues using intimate knowledge of the change process within previous change initiatives. And finally, every change manager must use their excellent communication and persuasion skills to support training efforts to implement and maintain change.
Five Leadership Features Of The Change Manager Job Role
Five change management levers or features exist that mark out the most successful change leadership. The first action begins with your values.
- Begin With Your Values
Gandhi’s most famous quote is, “Be the change you want to see.” The crucial point we can take from this is to understand the change. You must enact it yourself. Others will then follow.
To start the process, define your obstacles to success until you’re confident that you have improved yourself. The benefits are as follows:
- As a result of using this method, you will come across as more credible and authentic to those around you, in addition to fulfilling the role of a positive model.
- After employing this strategy, you will better understand your employees’ responses to change and know how to react supportively.
- Gaining an admiration for change transformation is key to understanding the process to adequately and responsibly lead change.
- Before going company-wide with any processes or measures, ensure managers are on board with change and its potential benefits for progress.
- Inspire A Creatively-Driven Shared Vision
The success of any company depends on the senior management’s ability to communicate a vivid and inspiring vision to their employees. Some great leaders are born with this trait, while others have learned it through different methods like coaching sessions. If you want to be an effective change leader, here is what you need to do:
- Inspire your employees and infect them with excitement.
- Develop a clear vision that staff can easily understand and get behind.
- Help them identify with the company by communicating the goals consistently and continuously. This vision then unifies them under a common goal.
- Join Employees On Their Transformation Journey
A change leader represents many symbols within a workplace: an intelligent strategist, a steadfast leader, and a coach who is always aware of what’s happening. This job description might sound impossible, but if you keep the following points in mind, change managers can fulfill all these roles. They do this by joining employees on their journey of change:
- Always be present and available to your employees daily, not just during monthly progress meetings.
- An open-door policy is inexpensive and easy to maintain, so express interest in your team’s success and watch them flourish together.
- You can develop a trusting, open communication culture by setting an example and being proactive.
- Reach out to your employees and be clear about the company’s objectives during the change process so they know where you stand.
- Try to avoid failure but also be honest about any mistakes.
- Working alongside your employees in their day-to-day lives provides additional benefits: Always keep up-to-date and aware of changes in the atmosphere and culture. Additionally, you can experience and counter stagnation or unhelpful behavior patterns as they occur.
- Encourage Others To Embody Change
Influential change leaders focus on creating an embodiment of change instead of compulsory enthusiasm. This method is more efficient than false motivation. People who embody a philosophy at their core do not need constant encouragement, which is why termination or bonuses are less effective.
- It’s common to feel fearful and hesitant when change occurs. Give your employees some time to process the transition internally. Be available to answer questions they may have
- Encourage employees to take the initiative and be responsible for their own decisions. This action will help them feel confident in dealing with new challenges and committed to the company.
- Facilitate networking and interaction between employees so they can get to know each other better.
- Identify key stakeholders and address their needs to address difficulties early. In short, involve them in the decision-making process from the very beginning.
- Persist and Be Determined To Make Positive Change
Change managers must constantly move forward and never give up, as they are the driving force of a change project. As a change manager, it may feel like you are taking three steps back for every two steps forward, but it is crucial that you don’t get discouraged, as change is complex and takes time to achieve.
There are several points to consider to help you persist with change and inspire team members to remain determined to make positive change:
- Setbacks are inevitable when aiming for change. What counts is not giving up.
- Persist with your vision while simultaneously being open to changes to the initial plan. Change is a journey as well as a destination.
- Short-term successes, repeated over time, will lift everyone’s spirits and keep them going in the long term.
- Resist any temptation to declare victory too soon; ensure this change becomes part of your company culture before celebrating.
When you understand the five leadership qualities of a change manager, it is helpful to integrate the four Cs of a first-class change manager. Bearing these four Cs in mind during change manager practice can help remind you of what is essential for success.
The 4 C’s of A First Class Change Manager
Change managers can ensure they embody the four Cs of success to inspire their employees to an effective transformation strategy. The first of these Cs is commitment.
1. Commitment
A top-tier change manager is dedicated to the significance of their role in projects and change programs, always considering those whom the changes will impact. This commitment manifests through a willingness to continuously develop their skills and competencies, constantly learning and growing within their roles with no finish line for development.
A successful change manager shows commitment to those going through change by empathizing with how difficult it can be and ensuring they support staff throughout the process. This approach builds trust and creates a plan for each person to successfully transform their practice, achieving project goals while positively impacting the organization’s culture.
2. Connections
To operate at their full potential, a change manager must understand the relationship between people, projects, processes, and outcomes.
- People connections allow them to wield influence throughout an organization, from upper management to entry-level employees.
- Project connections encompass understanding how each project impacts the organization and multiple projects’ combined and overarching effects.
- Process connections help to improve both business processes and solution delivery. They do this by integrating process activities and change capabilities within the organization and their common objectives.
- Outcome connect