The Change Manager accompanies, monitors, and oversees organizational change processes and technological innovation within a company. His goal is to ensure that change is adopted efficiently and smoothly by everyone in the organization.

New products development, process improvements, and new customer service models are strategies aimed at increasing market share and competitive advantage. At the same time, however, they require a strong capacity for adaptation and a positive approach to change.
It is within this context that the role of the Change Manager becomes crucial.

Who is the Change Manager?

The Change Manager’s activities within a change management project are for people, with the goal of making individuals aware of the ongoing change and ready to embrace it. It is precisely this focus on people that makes Human Resources the most suitable area for the Change Manager.

In Italy, this role is still not very widespread. According to data from the Assochange Observatory (2019), of which Atlantic is a member, only 20% of responding companies have a dedicated professional, and in only 2 out of 3 cases does this role report directly to the Board.
In our country, therefore, the Change Manager is still often an external professional, a Temporary Manager.

To respond to the growing demand for consultancy from companies facing innovation challenges, Atlantic has developed the CSJ (Customer Success Journey) methodology. Designed both for ongoing innovation projects and for the adoption of already implemented systems, this model stems from more than twenty years of experience in Project and Change Management. Its main strength lies in its practicality and adaptability to different organizational contexts. Our “People First” strategy breaks down cultural and behavioral resistance within companies and places strong emphasis on empowering the most enthusiastic employees, the Champions, while also managing those more resistant to change, the Antagonists.

Let’s go back to the Change Manager and explore what they actually do and what skills they need.

What does a Change Manager do?

The Change Manager’s activities are focussed on:

1. Identifying the reasons driving the company to change and assessing its ability to change.
The Change Manager must study the company from within, understand its strengths and weaknesses, and analyze the performance of both managers and employees. Only through this initial approach can every process become more efficient and productive.

2. Choosing the most suitable strategies and tools to implement change.
At this stage, it is important to consider the skills available within the company, the technologies in use, and market trends.

3. Planning the various steps of the change process and people involvement.
Focusing on employees’ perspectives is key to minimizing negative impacts and maximizing the benefits of innovation. To achieve this, it is necessary to identify the impact of change on employees, communicate and prepare them effectively, and manage inevitable resistance.

It is clear that the Change Manager role is highly versatile, combining communication, mediation, and strategic skills.

What skills and knowledge should a Change Manager have?

Based on the Assochange Observatory study (2019), the skills and competencies most valued by companies are:

• Effective communication
• Listening skills
• Change management methodologies
• Influencing skills
• Innovation mindset
• Team working

These expectations are very realistic—Italian companies are quite clear about what they need.

Let’s look at some of these skills in more detail.

Communication in Change Management

Communication is not only language, but also context. This is the Change Manager’s secret weapon. Understanding the communication situation and using it effectively allows them to perform their role at their best. In this way, they can:

• Provide relevant information in the right way and at the right time. Employees will have all the tools they need to understand that change is positive and approach it proactively.
• Identify and mitigate inevitable resistance.
• Improve collaboration and engagement at all levels.
• Obtain clear and precise feedback from stakeholders.

Effective listening

Listening is one of the core skills of communication. It is impossible to communicate effectively without active listening.

“Most people don’t listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”– Stephen Covey

As Covey highlights, most people think they are listening, but in reality, they are just waiting for their turn to speak and preparing their response. Active listening requires setting aside distractions and focusing on all levels of communication: content, context (e.g., gestures, tone, mood, etc.), and emotional cues.

Being able to listen is essential to gaining full trust from others, their willingness to collaborate, and high-quality feedback. Every Change Manager must be a master of listening.

Change Management methodologies

There are several Change Management methodologies. Atlantic Technologies’ CSJ model aims to build a strong foundation within companies for the success of ongoing digital transformation initiatives and future ones. We believe that change management, traditionally seen as related to a single project, is now outdated. Instead of Change Management, we prefer to speak about enabling “Continuous Change”.

Regardless of industry or company size, change is inevitable, and organizations must be “trained” to make the most of it. It is time for companies to develop a true Culture of Change.

Is influencing a superpower?

People who can influence the behavior of others are rare. In most cases, influence is based on authority, and the difference is clear. While in the first case actions and behaviors become voluntary, in the second they result only in obedience.

In Change Management, obedience does not work - in fact, it is counterproductive.

Effective influencers possess several skills: sensory and emotional intelligence, communication and negotiation abilities, contextual and cultural awareness. Although it may seem like a superpower, influencing can be learned, trained, and developed.

With the Change Manager, change becomes positive

The role best positioned to extract maximum value from change within an organization is the Change Manager.

Would you like to discover how we can bring value to your company?