Help! I’ve been made a change manager, where do I start…

change management
Written By Jen Frahm

Change Management continues to be a profession that attracts people from many diverse fields for either unintended or deliberate career changes. I am often asked “how do I get into change management” or “where can I learn more”. Clients also ask “how do I know if some-one is a real change manager”.All of these questions are really valid and equally really hard to answer. Change management (thankfully) continues to be a space where diversity is valuable. It doesn’t matter what your background is, you can usually add immediate value if you have the right attitude and personality attributes. This “good thing” about change management is also what makes it so hard for clients to work out who to hire. There is little uniformity in those that present to the decision makers in consulting pitches or interviews. It is additionally complicated when you see project managers positioning as “slashies” or Project – slash – change managers. The client gets excited at the prospect of a “toofer” (two for one). The end result does not usually warrant the initial enthusiasm. And yes, I do believe that CMs can do Project Manager roles, and PMs can do Change Management. Just not both at the same time well.I’ve attempted to answer these kind of questions in blog posts before. Prompted by a valued reader, it occurred to me recently that another way to provide some value to others on the topic is look at it from the lens of:

“if you are being moved into the role not at your discretion, or the opportunity has arisen that you can grab with both hands, what would be the immediate resources to turn to get your head around the discipline?

Professional Associations

The first place to look at would be the professional associations and associated resources. That means the Change Management Institute and The Association of Change Management Professionals.  CMI has some great resources with their maturity model white paper and their articulation of the skills and competences required by change management resources.  The both groups have produced a Body of Knowledge document - between the two of them you would get a good sense of the industry.

 Linkedin Groups

Join a number of linkedin groups and spend some time digesting their discussions. You can start with  CMI, The Change Source, Organisational Change Practitioners, Allegra, Change Management Professionals. There are of course others.

Popular methodologies

The major change frameworks in use in organisations today include: Kotter's 8 Steps, PROSCI, PCI, and Appreciative Inquiry. Some of the books that will help you get up to speed quickly on these are:

Bloggers

I've blogged about them before, but seriously, there are some tremendous  thought leaders that continue to give to the profession - Gail Severini, Daryl Conner, Garrett Gitchell and 16 others that just keep giving.  Book mark them and read up.

Accreditation?

There are also accreditations associated with PROSCI, PCI, and CMI. I remain uncomfortable with the false assurance that they may give an organisation about a person who has one. Accreditations are part of a larger portfolio of value in conjunction with personal attributes, experience, and disciplinary study (either formal or informal). If your company will pay the big dollars for it, then terrific, grab the opportunity.There are of course more – but that’s the breadcrumbs that you need to follow on your own initiative. What I can’t give you: a quick course in change management, or a good online course that I recommend. It is a unicorn. Change management is too important to the overall health of an organisation and its employees to dip into it quickly and be able to position yourself as a useful change manager. You’ve got to put in the effort.PS. If you thought this was useful you may appreciate my change and communication e-books: The Transformation Treasure Trove Series I & II

Jen Frahm
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