What Is A Change Agent? (With Examples)

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Change is scary, whether it’s happening in a business or your personal life. Because of this, businesses need individuals called change agents to act as catalysts for change, both initiating it and carrying the process through.

In this article, you’ll learn what change agent is and what they do. You’ll also learn what characteristics good change agents should have.

Key Takeaways:

• A change agent is someone who promotes and enables a change to occur in a group or organization.

• An organization can have one or more change agents handling everything from the technical aspects of making the change to helping employees feel comfortable with the transition.

• Internal change agents already work at the company and can use their inside knowledge to make the transition process smooth, while external change agents bring a valuable outside perspective.

What Is a Change Agent?

A change agent – also called a change advocate – is an individual who promotes and enables the process of change within a group or organization. In other words, they encourage people to make or embrace a change and guide them through how to do it.

Sometimes change agents are the first ones to see a need for change, but other times they’re asked to help lead an organization through a change that its leaders want to make. As a result, their list of responsibilities can include the following:

• Advocating for the change by explaining the benefits of it.

• Explaining what’s going to change to everyone who will be affected.

• Looking for potential problems with implementing the change.

• Coming up with solutions for problems or disputes about the change.

• Creating and managing the steps required to implement the change.

• Listening to and answering employee questions or concerns during the transition.

• Communicating employee questions, concerns, and ideas to leaders as needed.

• Advising individuals on how to best respond to the change.

• Assisting individuals and teams with adapting to the change.

• Mediating conflicts about the change process.

Types of Change Agents

Since change agents can have such a wide variety of roles, some experts have identified subcategories of change agents. Change agents can fit into several of these categories at once, or they can just focus on one and let other change agents take the other areas – it just depends on what the company needs and wants.

• Researcher or innovator. A researcher or innovator is someone who looks for areas where a company needs to change. They may be asked to do this by the company, or they may do this of their own accord by identifying a problem they encounter regularly and finding a solution for it that they then present to their leaders.

• Consultant. A change agent performing in a consulting role is acting as a kind of project manager. They make sure that all of the steps needed to implement the change have been identified and are being followed. They also may collect and disseminate useful data as needed.

  Consultants can come from outside an organization, but internal change agents can easily fill this role as well.

• Advocate. Change is scary, and most people are naturally averse to it. Because of this, change agents often need to take on the role of advocator and promote the benefits of the change to everyone involved.

  This role also requires ensuring that the change process is being thoroughly communicated to the employees it affects and communicating employee feedback to the leaders implementing the change.

• Trainer. A major process change or the implementation of a new tool usually requires employees to learn new skills. Training team members in those skills is one way that change agents make the transition as smooth as possible.

• Counselor. Change in a business usually brings a lot of fear and frustration, as employees will likely start wondering about job security, changes to their workload, and new leadership.

  Even a relatively simple change, like implementing a new IT system can create a lot of frustration as workers have to figure out new passwords, adjust their workflows, and make sure they can find their files.

  Because of this, change agents often serve as counselors to employees being affected by a change, listening to and addressing their concerns, answering their questions, and checking in on them as the change progresses.

Examples of Change Agents

Here are some examples of change agents at work:

1. An IT professional implementing a new company-wide cybersecurity system.

2. An executive restructuring their team.

3. A director implementing a new project management software for their team.

4. A counselor or HR representative tasked with supporting team members during a merger.

5. A professional development trainer instructing employees on how to use a new process.

6. A consultant hired to look for problems with a company’s recruitment strategy and create solutions for them.

7. A consultant who was asked to revamp a company’s marketing strategy and a marketing director making sure their team implements it.

Internal vs. External Change Agents

Change agents can come from inside or outside an organization, and both have their strengths and weaknesses.

1. Internal Change Agents

   Often managers and executives serve as change agents for their organizations, but lower-level employees who have the skills and expertise required to spearhead a change can also fill this role.

   No matter what job title they have, internal change agents like these bring valuable background knowledge about the organization’s culture and people, allowing them to see potential problem areas more quickly and communicate with their team members more effectively.

   However, there is such a thing as being too close to a project, and internal change agents may be blind to problem areas that have just become the norm over the years.

   Internal change agents may also not have the technical skills or leadership experience required to lead the company through a major transition if they’ve never done that before.

2. External Change Agents

   Some companies will hire external consultants to serve as change agents. This can be beneficial when the change involves technology or processes that are outside the company’s or leaders’ wheelhouses.

   It can also be helpful for companies that know something needs to change but aren’t sure what or how: Getting an outside perspective can be the key to seeing blind spots and finding a solution.

What Makes a Good Change Agent

As with any type of leader, change agents come in all shapes and sizes. But there are a few key qualifications that change agents need to have in order to be effective.

• Respected by the individuals going through the change. It’s tough, to say the least, to get people to follow you through a complicated transition if they don’t respect you. So, if you find yourself acting as a change agent, do what you can to win your followers’ respect.

  If you’re in the process of choosing a change agent, make sure you pick someone that your team will be eager to follow.

• Well-versed in the technical knowledge making the change requires. For example, if your company is implementing a new project management system, you’re going to need a change agent who knows the system inside and out.

  Similarly, if you’re restructuring a department, you’ll want a change agent who’s handled complex situations like this before.

• Strong communication skills. The majority of a change agent’s job is to communicate, so they need to be good at it. This doesn’t just mean being good with words – it means knowing the best methods and timing for communicating information as well.

• Excellent interpersonal skills. To be effective, change agents need to have good relationships with virtually everyone on the team – leaders and employees alike. As a result, the best change agents are empathetic and have excellent interpersonal skills.

• Knowledge of the organization. Whether you have an internal or external change agent, they need to know at least the basics of how your organization operates. Otherwise, they run the risk of making innocent but damaging mistakes that ostracize employees or create more problems than necessary.

  If you’re hiring an outside change agent, consider assigning someone who knows the organization inside and out to help them implement the change as seamlessly as possible.

• Enthusiastic. People don’t want to follow a leader who isn’t excited about where they’re going. While change agents shouldn’t be overly optimistic, they should be able to easily articulate the benefits of the change and get people excited about it.

• Organized. Change agents have to manage a lot of moving parts, so they must have strong organizational and time management skills.

• Good negotiation skills. Ushering an organization through a change will usually result in a lot of disagreements, so change agents need to know how to handle that. All parties will have to make compromises somewhere along the way, and change agents are usually the ones facilitating them.

Change Agent FAQ

1. What are the characteristics of a change agent?

   The characteristics of a change agent are:

   • Easy to respect

   • Well-versed in the technical knowledge that the change requires

   • Strong communication skills

   • Excellent interpersonal skills

   • Knowledgeable about the organization

   • Enthusiastic

   • Organized

   • Good negotiation skills

2. What is the main role of a change agent?

   The main role of a change agent is advocating for and helping implement a change. Change agents are the people who get everyone on board with making a change and help make it a reality. Sometimes this takes a team of change agents, while at other times, one person can handle it.

3. Is a change agent a leader?

   Yes, a change agent is a leader. Whether they technically work in a leadership role or not, change agents guide organizations and teams through transitions. This makes them leaders, even if it’s only temporary.

Final Thoughts

Change agents are vital to helping an organization successfully navigate a transition, no matter how small or large. Your organization may have one change agent or several working together, and you may ask someone internally to do it or hire an external consultant.

Whatever the situation, a good change agent uses their expertise, communication skills, and passion for helping make the changes as painless as possible.

References

1. University of Minnesota Libraries – Developing Change Agents: The Key Capacities Needed to Develop Change Agents

2. Walden University – How Social Change Agents Influence Others

Author

Caitlin Mazur

Caitlin Mazur is a freelance writer at Zippia where she has written 140+ articles that have reached over 1 mil viewers as of June 2023. Caitlin is passionate about helping Zippia’s readers land the jobs of their dreams by offering content that discusses job-seeking advice based on experience and extensive research.