In our fast-paced business landscape, organisations are constantly navigating change —through adopting new tools or increasing automation, transforming and “slimming” processes, or overhauling their operations to maximise profit margins.
What sometimes isn’t obvious from the beginning is that successful transformation depends on more than just a well-drafted strategy. It hinges on the people who drive the Change – among those are the Change Manager and the Change Agent. Drawing from case studies across diverse sectors, this article explores these pivotal roles and their impact on organisational success.
What is a Change Agent?
A Change Agent is the catalyst within an organisation — the individual or group inspiring and driving Change from within. They often translate the motivations between leadership and employees, and high-level objectives into actionable plans. Most commonly, Change Agents act with intent but without formal authority – relying on influence, relationships, and credibility to drive progress.
What is a Change Manager?
In contrast, the Change Manager oversees the structured process of managing change. They ensure that strategies are executed effectively, risks are mitigated, and employees are supported throughout the journey. Both roles are crucial, but their focus differs: the Change Agent motivates, while the Change Manager orchestrates.
The Role of Change Managers and Change Agents
The collaboration between Change Agents and Change Managers is key to successful transformation. Change Agents should be empowered as internal champions, equipped with proven tools to help inspire their peers and teams to accelerate and sustain change.
At organisations large enough and with significant Change Management required, whole Change Agent Networks come into play, although the scale varies dependant on the type of change. For example, a simple CRM upgrade within a single department might only require a handful of local champions to support adoption, but introducing a new CRM system across multiple agencies or frontline services could demand a coordinated network of Change Agents embedded throughout the organisation to manage the complexity and scale.
Change Agent networks connect leadership and employees, acting as a distributed channel for communication. These networks enable Change Managers to disseminate tailored information effectively to large groups of people, ensuring messages strike a chord with different teams and across various layers of the organisation.
By leveraging the deep understanding of their own team dynamics, Change Agents can ensure that key updates, training, and guidance are delivered in a way that encourages engagement and reduces pushback.
Additionally, Change Managers should take a hands-on approach, embedding robust change networks that address the specific needs and challenges of business transformation. By aligning efforts across teams and leveraging these networks, you can ensure seamless communication, mitigate risks, and keep the change process firmly on track.
How to Approach Change Management
Every transformation journey is unique. The best approach combines technical expertise with a deep understanding of human behaviour, ensuring that the tools, processes, and people are all aligned for success.
Consider the 8E Model
Build Change Foundation
- Engage change leadership to identify and define a clear case for change,
- Exciting the wider change team to build commitment and engagement around an
- Envisioned future state, preparing the organization for change.
Manage The Change
- Enable incremental change by removing barriers and inefficient ways of working,
- Establishing aligned structures, performance and behaviors to successfully
- Execute, responding and adapting as appropriate to deliver early and often wins.
Sustain The Change
- Evaluate the effectiveness of change tactics, making adjustments to evolve stakeholder learning to reinforce and
- Embed desired behaviors, ensuring ongoing independent delivery, which balances structured processes with our signature empathy and adaptability.
At MIGSO-PCUBED (MP), here is how we approach change management using the 8E Model:
- We adapt our strategies to our client’s specific context with tailored frameworks, creating bespoke change management plans that address their organisational culture, objectives, and challenges.
- By cultivating a robust network of Change Agents within our client teams, we empower Change Agents to ensure grassroots ownership and momentum for change.
- To build Change Management and delivery integrated into our client’s environment, our consultants bridge the gap between strategy and execution, gently embedding themselves within teams to manage both technical and behavioural aspects of change.
- And lastly, we focus on honest communication and feedback through clear messaging, active listening, and iterative improvements, to build trust and foster buy-in at every organisational level.
In our experience, the synergy between Change Managers and Change Agents is the key to successful transformation:
It’s important that Change Managers take a hands-on approach, aligning efforts across teams, mitigating risks, and ensuring that the change process stays on track. Similarly, Change Agents must be empowered as internal champions, equipping them with proven tools and knowledge to inspire their teams and sustain long-term change.
Outcomes of an Effective Change Management Approach
Across any industry and region, organisations can achieve measurable success by leveraging the 8E Model:
- Seamless adoption of new tools and processes, reducing disruption to daily operations.
- Improved employee engagement and morale through inclusive, transparent change efforts.
- Enhanced organisational resilience, ensuring readiness for future challenges.
- A foundation for sustained growth, with empowered teams driving continuous improvement.
Conclusion
Change is inevitable, but its success is not. By combining the inspirational energy of Change Agents with the structured oversight of Change Managers, at MIGSO-PCUBED we ensure that every transformation is both impactful and sustainable. Whether your organisation is undergoing a cultural shift, a technical rollout, or a structural realignment, we’re here to guide you every step of the way.
Want to learn how MIGSO-PCUBED can support your next transformation? Contact us today to explore bespoke change management solutions tailored to your needs.
Thank you to the MIGSO-PCUBED Change Management Community of Practice for contributing to this article.
