The Role and Challenges of Change Agents in Change Management

This essay provides an overview of change agents within the change management process. It defines change management and the role of a change agent, highlighting their key characteristics such as building trust, leading by example, asking tough questions, and maintaining patience and vision. The essay details the various roles a change agent plays, including announcing the need for change, diagnosing situations, facilitating smooth transitions, and formulating strategies. It also addresses how change agents assess the change process and the challenges they face, such as lack of clear definition, prioritization problems, insufficient leadership, resistance to change, and poor communication, offering solutions to these challenges. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of change agents in ensuring successful organizational change by implementing effective strategies and sharing benefits across the organization.

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Change Agents in the Change Management Process
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1CHANGE AGENTS IN THE CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Change management process...........................................................................................................2
Change agent...............................................................................................................................2
Characteristics and traits of a change agent.................................................................................2
Role of change agent in the change management process...........................................................3
Assessment of a change process by a change agent....................................................................4
Challenges faced by the change agent.........................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Reference.........................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Change management process can be defined as the series of activities and steps that a
leader of change management had to follow in order to apply the process of change management.
The change management is done to ensure that the project meets the target and drive the
individual transition. While it is important to note that change management is often mixed
interchangeably called as organizational management system (Cameron & Green, 2015). This
study will deal with the concept of the change agent and the various characteristics and traits that
a change agent possess. The role played by the change agent and how a change agent assesses
the change process. Finally, it will assess the challenges that are being faced by the change agent
in addressing the change process.
Change management process
Change agent
Change agent can be defined as a person who is either from outside or inside of an
organization and that assists an organization to focus on matters like the organizational
development, improvement, effectiveness. A change agent usually focusses on the efforts of
changing the task related to the group and interpersonal relationships within an organization and
changing strictures and technologies. The major focus of the change agent is on the organization
and their interactions (Hayes, 2018).
Characteristics and traits of a change agent
The major characteristics of the change management of are as follows:

3CHANGE AGENTS IN THE CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS
 Building trust and strong relationships- change agents help in building a strong
relationship between the leader associated with the change process and helps
building trust between the same.
 Leads by example and is a knowledgeable person- change management process is
complex and it includes a leader who will streamline the entire process. Thus, a
change agent leads by example so that the process becomes easy for others to
understand (Arensberg, 2017).
 Asks and queries tough question- A change agent focusses on asking questions
that focus on highlighting the main issue. Asking question also help in
understanding the responsibilities of the people associated with the change
process.
 Persistent and patient- changes in an organization do not occur overnight and it
requires s sustainable process that will emphasize on the seeing the important
things related to the change process. People in an organization becomes frustrated
when they do not see the desired changes within the stipulated time. Thus, it is
important to have patience and persistence (Fullan, 2012).
 Has a clear vision- it is important to note that a change agent need not to be a
person from the organization itself. Whereas it is vital that the change agents have
a clearer vison and they convey the same to the people that are experiencing the
change (Kumar, Kumar, Deshmukh & Adhish, 2015).
Role of change agent in the change management process
The role of a change agent depends on the type of organization, the type of problem,
management process. Thus the roles played by the change agent are as follows:

4CHANGE AGENTS IN THE CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS
 A change agent first of all announces the need for the change in an organization.
Members are often seen to be resistant to changes and wants to maintain a status
quo. Here, change agent plays a formal role in overcoming the resistance
(Cummings & Worley, 2014).
 A change agent diagnoses the present situation prevailing in an organization and
at the same time foresees the changes in an environment. Thus, helping the
company to adapt to the change process.
 A change agent helps in the conduct of the change process smoothly. People are
not forced to accept it because they accept the change process naturally (Hayes,
2018).
 Change agent formulates the vital strategies that are required for the change
process. These strategies are known as the organizational development
interventions or the change interventions.
 In the informal role, a change agent trains the internal change agents so that the
process of change management is implemented further into the organization. This
renders the change an on-going process.
 Another informal role of a change agent is that he uses his behavioural skills in
order to deal with the social problems and the emotional problems of the
employees so that the employees can accept and implement the change (Cameron
& Green, 2015).
Assessment of a change process by a change agent
A change agent plays a pivotal role in bringing practical changes to an organization. It is
important to note that generation of a change initiative depends partly on the organization which

5CHANGE AGENTS IN THE CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS
is willing to bring the changes. Thus, the reason for the change are already sorted by the senior
management team. A change agent provides the guidance in the smooth functioning of the
organization undergoing change. A change agent provides helpful directions to the people in an
organization so that that the change process is streamlined. Change agent conveys the vital
information like why the change is undertaken to the employees so that the status quo is
withdrawn. Also, when the change process experiences failures, the change agent brings forth
newer strategies that can make the change process a success story. However, if a change process
is a success, then the benefits are shared among the people in an organization (Gerwing, 2016).
Challenges faced by the change agent
The challenges faced by the change agent and the way they are addressed are as follows:
 Lack of the clear definition and scope of change-making the objectives of change
clear and concise so that the same is conveyed to each and every employee.
 Problems related to prioritization- Having an implementation plan that will
prioritize all the task can reduce majority of the issues (Kotter, 2012).
 Insufficient active change of leadership- the executive leaders must go through
the middle layers for effective leadership.
 Resistance towards the change- feedback from the project can be gathered and it
effective implementation solves the major issues.
 Poor communication- a communication plan is developed that will cater to the
needs of the change management. This will communicate the right message to the
right people (Battilana & Casciaro, 2012).

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Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that change management is a series of
activities and steps that a leader of change management had to follow in order to apply the
process of change management. A change agent has the characteristics like the Building trust and
strong relationships; Leads by example and is a knowledgeable person; Asks and queries tough
question; Persistent and patient; Has a clear vision. Thus, when a project gets failed, the change
agent brings forth newer strategies that can make the change process a success story. However, if
a change process is a success, then the benefits are shared among the people in an organization.

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Reference
Arensberg, C. M. (2017). Introducing social change: A manual for community development.
Routledge.
Battilana, J., & Casciaro, T. (2012). Change agents, networks, and institutions: A contingency
theory of organizational change. Academy of Management Journal, 55(2), 381-398.
Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2015). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to
the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.
Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2015). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to
the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.
Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2014). Organization development and change. Cengage
learning.
Fullan, M. (2012). Change forces: Probing the depths of educational reform. Routledge.
Gerwing, C. (2016). Meaning of change agents within organizational change. Journal of Applied
Leadership and Management, 4, 21-40.
Hayes, J. (2018). The theory and practice of change management.
Kotter, J. (2012). How the most innovative companies capitalize on today's rapid-fire strategic
challenges-and still make their numbers. Harvard business review, 90(11), 43-58.
Kumar, S., Kumar, N., Deshmukh, V., & Adhish, V. S. (2015). Change management skills.
Indian journal of community medicine: official publication of Indian Association of
Preventive & Social Medicine, 40(2), 85.

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