What does a Change Manager do?

Often I get a wide-eye stare when I tell people I’m a Change Manager. Some people think I work in IT, write a bit of communication and organize some training then job done. Others think I swan around having coffee with senior managers and know a lot more than I really do. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Here are some things I’ve done this week as a full-time change manager which many people probably don’t know the job involves:

1. Develop a stakeholder engagement strategy to get clear on all the project stakeholders. This involves analysing who is influential, on our side, impacted and then assigned a relationship manager. It’s a lot harder than it sounds. Until I’ve spent at least three months in an organisation I’m very dependent on others’ inside organisational knowledge which can be biased.
2. Identify the stakeholders we have to consult, inform etc.
3. Identified the many dependencies that impact on the sequence of our change management tasks.
4. Summarised ‘Why is the change needed?’ and ‘What is the problem we’re trying to solve?’ in one paragraph for the project mission statement.
5. Developed a communication matrix listing key messages for each project phase.
6. Developed a library of key messages and themes for communications being sent organisation-wide to build awareness – it will be easier once we’ve worked it out!
7. Wrote the first draft Fact Sheet for review (I agonized over the wording of the introductory paragraph).
8. Attended a weekly team coffee catch-up on each person’s achievements and challenges and brainstormed solutions if required. To be honest more time is spent chatting about our lives and being generally social – team building!
9. Attend a Program Leadership Meeting to discuss the next project phase and how to prepare for it.
10. Read a paper on the latest research into change and neuroplasticity and how the hormones involved – dopamine, adrenaline and cortisol – are influenced by the level of challenge and what people tell themselves. This is the fun stuff! I’m currently feeling high levels of cortisol – the stress hormone!

It’s a fun challenging job being a Change Manager but anyone who tells you it’s easy is pulling your leg!