How do I know if I am a good

Change Agent?
By Melanie Franklin, Director, Agile Change Management Limited
How do I know if I am a good Change Agent?

Contents

Executive Summary 3

Change Agent Skills 4

Motivation 4

Trust 4

Empathy 5

Influence 5

Conclusion 6

About the author 6

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 How do I know if I am a good Change Agent?

Executive Summary
The role of a Change Agent is to help people move from their current ways of working to new
ways of working. Change Agents perform a consultancy role, helping their organisation to
move towards its desired operating model, fix problems and create new opportunities.
Core to the role is a desire to help people cope with the changes. This means seeking
out and building trusted relationships with those impacted by change. You can use this
network to help people share their experiences and support each other. Change Agents help
colleagues find the information that they need about the change, share ideas and examples
about how to make it work and solve problems when the reality of working in the new way
differed from what was expected.
This paper is not for ‘professional’ Change Managers i.e. those of us with responsibility for
leading and managing a specific change initiative. Instead this paper is for those impacted
by change, who have had the change thrust upon them and now need to understand it and
start applying it to their work. These people are ‘local’ Change Agents, local to the change,
making sense of it for themselves and their colleagues and helping their area of the business
to work differently.

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How do I know if I am a good Change Agent?

Change Agent Skills Motivation

Change Agents don't have any hierarchical authority to make Supporting others through change is a big commitment of
people work in new ways. ‘Local’ Change Agents are local to energy, enthusiasm and effort over an extended timeframe. So
the work that is going to change and are just as affected by the there has to be a push, something that triggers willingness to
change as their colleagues. They don’t have the authority to make this effort and sustain it over time.
impose changes or compel their colleagues to change what they
are doing. Instructing people to work differently will not achieve To be an effective Change Agent, you have to be very honest
your objectives because even if colleagues comply with your with yourself and this starts with being clear about your own
demands they will not have bought into the approach and will motivation for wanting the change to happen. You will need
look to return to the old ways of working at the first opportunity. others to trust you if they are to follow your lead in changing how
they work. Trust cannot exist if there is dishonesty. Dishonest
people say one thing but think another. There is no authenticity
to them, they are not believable. So be very clear why you
support the change so that when challenged about why you
Motivation think it is a good idea you can be honest.

One of the common problems in change is that people claim

greater benefits for the change than they believe in. so don’t
trot out ‘corporate speak’ about the strategic importance of the
change for your organisation if that isn’t what motivates you.

Perhaps your motivation is more pragmatic. For example,

Emotional “how we work today is error prone, with lots of time taken up
apologising to customers and fixing things”. Or maybe you
Influence Trust
Resilience cannot see any immediate benefit “I’m happy with how things
are but I know they need to change because how we work
doesn’t fit with a lot of other changes that are being made.”

Trust
Trust has a direct impact on the speed by which change can
take place. If there is trust then the person asked to change will
Empathy
accept what is being requested of them. If they do not have
trust, they are likely to ignore the change for as long as possible.
Whey they do decide to change their reluctance may lead them
to identify, research and assess all of the possible options
Change Agents rely on their ability to positively influence how available to them, which will take time and delay the process
their colleagues feel about the change and use persuasion to of change.
encourage their colleagues to participate in making the change
Bearing this in mind, it is counter-productive to rush into
happen. This influencing can only be effective if it is rooted in
implementing a change without taking the time to create trust
empathy for how others are experiencing the change,
and build productive relationships. Without trust, those you
and empathy relies on understanding of others views and
need to implement the change will stand on the side-lines for
agendas which are shared only when there is sufficient trust
longer, waiting to be convinced about the need for the change,
between people.
the suitability of the changes and the reasons why they are
Being a ‘Local’ Change Agent requires understanding and beneficial. You will have to prove each point that you make about
managing your own emotions and the emotions of colleagues. the change because people will be unwilling to accept what you
This demands the motivation to put the necessary effort in to say without evidence.
this empathetic approach and the emotional resilience to keep
Trust is a complex mix of circumstances and emotions, but there
it going.
are some common factors that help it to develop:

1. Reliability – do what you say you are going to do, when you
said you would do it

2. Clarity – be clear about your values and your positions on

different issues so that others can understand your reactions
to events

3. Openness – be willing to share information and be clear

about where your information comes

4. Consistency – make sure there is consistency between how

you ask others to behave and how you behave yourself

5. Curiosity – show a genuine interest in other people and what

they are thinking and feeling.

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Empathy
completion and handover of the work to the person who
requested it. This will give you the first part of the community
affected by change i.e. the suppliers and the customers.
Empathy means recognising and sharing the emotions of
another person. It is different to sympathy which is a feeling of
Now consider all of the people in the middle, all those who
care for the other person but which doesn’t involve sharing their
contribute to getting the work done. These are probably the
perspective. If we are empathetic we use our understanding of
core group that you need to influence because if they don’t
how someone else is feeling to guide our actions.
work differently, the change will not happen.
As a Change Agent, we need to work out how someone else
Next consider if there are others who take decisions about the
is feeling about the change so we can tailor our response. For
work or who set rules for how the work is completed. This
example, if they are fearful of the change, we need to simplify
just widens out the community to those with managerial
it, demystify and make it something that feels achievable. If
responsibility for the work.
someone is angry that how they currently work is now seen as
‘wrong’ we need to reassure them that their work was valued
Now that you know the key players it is time to consider who
before they can become involved in the change.
you can influence. Influence is the ability to have an effect on
the perspective of someone else. This ability is the result of
Consider these perspectives when you are trying to understand
many factors, but these are the most common ones. Evaluate
how others might be feeling about the change:
yourself against these influencing factors:
■ Anger that the new ways of working are reducing that
■ Technical knowledge of the process and systems to be
persons feeling of status or respect in the organisation
changed – do you have influence because you are seen as
■ Anger that the new ways of working are reducing that an expert?
persons feeling of autonomy over how they work
■ Track record – do you have influence because you have
■ Sense of pointlessness because all of the effort that this been involved in this type of change before?
person is putting in to learning new ways of working only
■ Leadership – do you have influence because you are
recently is now wasted and they need to start again
recognised as someone who has led themselves and others
■ Feelings of loss because that person will no longer be through difficult situations before?
working with their current colleagues and people that they
■ Wide-ranging experience of the area of work being changed
know and trust
– do you have influence because you are seen as someone
■ Fear of learning something new, and the possibility of wise and knowledgeable about the relevant business area?
making mistakes or failing in front of others
■ Relationship expert – do you have influence because you are
acknowledged as someone with good relationships with all
Influence those impacted by change?

To be an effective influencer, you need to know who needs to Influencing involves putting across a point of view about the
be influenced, coupled with an accurate assessment of your change that isn’t currently shared with those you are trying to
sphere of influence, and who you are capable of influencing. influence. A really useful piece of advice I was given years ago
about influencing was not to aim too high. Recognise the
To help identify who needs to be influenced, consider the work position of the person you are trying to influence and don’t
that needs to change as being part of an end to end stream of expect them to make too much of a jump forward.
value that runs from the initial request for the work to the

Strongly disagree Disagree Acceptance Support Strongly support

Original position New position

This is the visual I have in mind when I try to influence others, as it means I don’t try to go too far, and push people too much in
the direction I want to go.

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How do I know if I am a good Change Agent?

Conclusion About the author

The role of ‘Local’ Change Agent is a leadership role, and is I have been responsible for the successful delivery of
increasingly part of every role, irrespective of how senior or effective change and for creating environments that support
experienced you are. The future of work belongs to those transformational change for over twenty years. I have an
who can help their organisations develop new products and impressive track record of successful consulting assignments
services, build new customer and supplier relationships and and I am an acknowledged thought leader in Change
find new ways to market themselves. Management.

My advice is that if you have any opportunity to get involved in I am the Co-Chair of the Change Management Institute
a change initiative, grab it with both hands. Leading change in UK and a respected author of text books and articles on
whatever capacity is a core skill and needs lots of practice. You change, project and programme management. I am a talented
will build useful networks of colleagues and stakeholders and communicator with a reputation for delivering complex
develop relevant experience that translates into every aspect of information with humour and passion. I draw on my wealth of
your role. practical experience to illustrate concepts and to engage my
audience in lively debates on advantages and disadvantages of
each approach that I outline.

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