Finding A Great Change Manager

What should you look for in a potential Change Management resource for a project?

Demand for Change Management expertise is increasing, and evaluating candidates’ change expertise can be tough. What should you look for?

Many job postings prefer expertise in:

• Communication strategy and management

• Instructional design, development and delivery

• Process management

• Project management

• Organization design and development

• Written and Verbal Communication Skills

• Software skills such as PowerPoint, Visio, Word, Excel, etc.

But what makes GREAT Change Manager? Skills and attributes that differentiate a GREAT from a Good change leader include:

Future Success Focused – Change Managers look at how a task, job, process, system is facilitated in the current world and can anticipate what is needed for the same pieces to fall into place in the new world. This ability to look at today and “play it forward” enables a strong Change Manager to understand the impact of change and see what is needed to get to the desired future state. A Change Manager who maintains a vision for implementation success is able to proactively identify risks and develop mitigation strategies to prevent risks from becoming issues for the project.

Curious and Detail-oriented – It can be tempting to dismiss current operational functions as being archaic, overcomplicated, or unnecessary, but there is usually a very good reason for how things currently exist. Understanding current functions in an organization is foundational to knowing how change will affect an organization. A curious Change Manager will dig deeper to understand the current state operations and learn reasons for current state functions, which can uncover additional risks to the project’s success. As project decisions are made for the future, attention to the details enables connecting dots gathered along the way to better propose solutions and explain what functions will start, stop, continue and why.

Flexible, Comfortable, and Executive Communication Skills – Operating within a project team, across departments, and with various levels of managers and leaders and different types of people requires communication flexibility. Preparing key messages often requires interaction with senior leadership for alignment with strategic objectives and the corporate culture and communicating in a voice that represents other people. Great Change Managers communicate comfortably with all levels of the organization and can adjust communication styles and messages for various audience groups. These savvy communicators generate greater confidence in the project team and the overall success of the project.

Strategic Planning & Alignment – Typically, the Change Leader is responsible for developing the organizational readiness plan. Components of a readiness plan include conducting a stakeholder analysis, learning population analysis, training curriculum, logistics and delivery approach, budget, communication plan and more. A high-value Change Manager can synthesize all of the component pieces of the readiness plan and develop a timeline and roadmap for the project team. Socializing the roadmap drives alignment in expectations and scheduling, and increases project confidence.

Lessons Learned – How do you know when you’ve found a GREAT Change Manager? Ask for stories. Highly experienced Change leaders have an abundance of stories that have shaped their point of view, practices, and lessons learned. Change management is not for the faint of heart, and most expert Change practitioners have organizational battle scars.

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Looking to get your organization ready for an upcoming change? Contact us here or by email at laura@fearlesschange.org.