Becoming a Change Agent & Being a Change Manager: What does it mean?

What is Change Management?

To start, we first need to define what change management is, which, as its name suggests, is a structured strategic management approach that aims to ensure that changes are implemented efficiently. According to Wikipedia, Change Management is an area of study that focuses on the need for constant adaptation of contemporary organizations. The intensity and volatility of internal and external pressures impose challenges on companies, fostering the real need for change and thus the breaking of paradigms. 

What does a Change Manager do?

A change manager is a professional who has experience and knowledge in organizational change processes that help a company or group, reach new market levels, positioning and working methods.

It is very common for this professional to have strong skills in negotiation, management, empathy, emotional intelligence, in addition to mastering the respective market techniques in which the company proposes to change.

Can the Project Manager be the Change Manager?

A project manager, in his most traditional function, is focused on achieving the success of a project looking at its scope, time and costs, presenting reports to stakeholders, controlling the process phase by phase and designing value deliveries.

The number one skill a Change Manager needs to have is…

I learned that one of the first skills a Change Manager needs to have is the awareness that a Change Manager is like someone who comes into our homes and changes all the furniture. The difference is that the furniture will spend much of the time in the middle of the room and it may be that someone hurts his or her toe, meaning there’s a good chance they won’t like you for a while, until the proposal is well understood. Therefore, the best you can do in the beginning is to listen to people, understand their behaviors, longings, fears, joys and sorrows before defining how the format of work.