Who is change agent

Change agents fulfil one of the critical roles in the discipline of organizational change management OCM , which is important to ensure the success of any business change.

Change agents are not directly involved in the IT service management ITSM change management process , as this process focuses on specific changes to systems and services. There are many roles involved in making changes within an organization, a change agent is just one of the required roles.

Here are some contrasts with other key roles in OCM:. Thought leaders portray a vision of what the future could look like, which is also an activity undertaken by change agents.

The principle difference between a thought leader and a change agent, is that a thought leader will inspire others with their ideas but not necessarily follow through with actions to turn the ideas into reality. A change agent also has a role to play in inspiring others, but then will continually influence and persuade others to take the ideas forward. If necessary, they will change their approach, even modifying the idea to overcome resistance and maintain progress towards the transformational goal.

A line manager has direct control over the individuals who work for them. Whilst they have an important role to play in acting as agents to make changes happen, they typically achieve this using command and control approaches such as assigning tasks to their staff and setting targets for achievement.

Change agents typically do not have line management authority over individuals, and use persuasive techniques to influence the required changes in attitudes, behavior, and culture.

These techniques used by change agents are often more successful in transformational changes than the command and control techniques typically used by line management, as they change the hearts and minds of individuals to support the change. The change agents for the transformation will report into the OCM lead. The OCM lead will set the strategy for organizational change management , which the change agents would then follow. A change agent can also be an OCM practitioner, working principally on change agent activities.

Other OCM practitioners may act as supporting agents of change, but their activities are likely to be primarily focused in other areas such as education and stakeholder management. Having an OCM sponsor is key to successful change. This role should be actively involved with the transformation, regularly communicating positive messages about it, gaining feedback, and ensuring understanding.

This is also true of a change agent, and in some ways, an OCM sponsor is also acting as one of the agents of change. Diversified Knowledge Successful leaders avoid getting stuck in the confines of their industry. Accountability and Responsibility People respect courage and accountability. Effective Listening Skills Effective change agents are able to explore perspectives and take them into account when looking for solutions.

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Change Agents help the organization in understanding the requirement and relevance for change and takes all necessary steps required to manage change and also anticipates the problem; that might take place during or after the change is implemented in the organization.