Do you posses the skills necessary to become a successful change agent? The definition of change is when something old stops (the current state) and something new starts (the future state). The passage between these two states is the Transition. The length of time an organization spends in the disruptive transition stage is directly linked to the effectiveness of their change agents. Successful change agents Plan, Communicate, Adapt, and Involve their team members:
— Plan the Change:
What gets planned not only gets done, but also gets done correctly! Your change plan should include when and how you will make the change announcement, training that will be required, a timeline for implementation and strategies to minimize the impact to productivity during transition.
— Communicate the Change:
In absence of continuous communication, rumors have a chance to spread. Communication must be ongoing and two way with a focus on listening skills. The change agent must communicate a clear vision of the future state by describing the what, why, when and how of the change.
— Adapting to the Needs of Team Members:
Everyone reacts differently to change and an effective change agent is able to adapt to each of their team members. During change, some of your team members may want time for reflection and analysis and others will want to verbalize their thoughts and ideas immediately. This is the time for flexibility in your approach by understanding every team member’s preferred interaction style.
— Involvement:
Since “Change imposed is change opposed” team members should be involved in change implementation to create commitment and ownership. Ideas for involvement include encouraging action planning by team members and brainstorming ideas to remove barriers to change implementation.
The pace of change in organizations is not likely to slow. It’s the Change Agents that can make a significant difference through their leadership skills and knowledge of the change process.