# Change Agents

## Overview

The person who starts the change in the workplace is known as the change agent. They sometimes take responsibility for taking the change further, but not always.

Let's look more closely at the characteristics of change agents.

### Internal change agents

Clearly, managers are increasingly expected to contribute as change agents in their organisations. Indeed, many people feel that one of the distinguishing characteristics of successful managers is their ability and desire to facilitate organisational change.

Managers are internal change agents. One advantage of internal change agents is that they are likely to have a good knowledge of organisational difficulties, the people, and the culture.

On the other hand, they may bring their own baggage to a change programme. Managers may have vested interests or a strong preference for a particular course of action. They may also have dysfunctional relationships with some colleagues.

### External change agents

External change agents are people from outside the organisation, such as consultants, who are contracted to facilitate change. They may be more objective. They may be able to offer combinations of skill and experience that are not available internally. However, they usually require time to develop working relationships and to gather and process information.

Organisations may have unrealistic expectations of external change agents. Typically, consultants do not have any executive authority. They are advisors. They cannot 'make things happen' without the commitment and active support of the chief executive and senior managers. If this is lacking, consultants can quickly become ineffective.

It doesn't matter whether change agents are internal or external, certain conditions are essential for success.

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