A change agent can refer to a person or group of people who come up with ideas and/or resources to alter an issue either in organizational systems, community or human capability in order to produce good output.
In a given community, a change agent can be anyone who is capable of identifying an issue that needs to be improved and works towards attaining one goal, which is to improve that thing to the betterment of the community. A community change agent seeks to improve or restructure some issues related to the community service provision.
There are several components that a change agent must consider to successfully initiate community change. First and foremost, the agent must have a creative idea which will make people in that community better (Emmett, 2007).
Others include good communication. Success in change can be directly related to how communication is conducted and how different parties are involved.
Different communities put different values on different indicators, and they have different ways of getting from one point to another. Success will always depend almost entirely on the goals of the change makers.
In a community with a rural setting in a third world country, many people are poor because they lack proper agents to initiate and implement change.
In a community with high degree of poverty, an agent will need to introduce a community foundation which has as its sole objective to raise community capital which in turn will improve their living standards.
This is whereby the agent initiates a program where people put small investments to that foundation either material or in terms of money, and later this investment can be used to benefit the community through starting a stable project which will improve the lives of the members of the community.
This could be through better farming methods to increase farm production, development of infrastructure or creating social amenities like hospitals in order to reduce diseases in the community which, in turn, makes the community healthier and be able to work to improve their economic status.
The following elements of learning must be present in order to initiate change:
- A well-understood vision for change which also includes core values and principles of engagement.
- A plan that will specify the results and the strategies. This will show the expected outcome and the procedures put in place to achieve them.
- Evaluation of the outcomes – this is by analyzing the outcome of the change implemented.
- Knowledge creation – this is through imagining better ways to do things and dispersing the knowledge widely.
- Knowledge-base tools – this is the creation, adoption and adapting knowledge base tools which involve all stakeholders (Bailey, 2006).
After all the above is implemented, the change agent must have a positive thinking in the process of initiating change. Resistance is expected and can be used as a way of passing information. This should not be given time to distract what the change agent wants to achieve (Emmett, 2007).
The change agent must have faith in the community. The community knows what they want but only needs resources to help get those needs (Miller, 2006).
The change agent must also consider the resources available, the right time for implementation, the duration it will take, money input and the right people to involve. Lastly, successful implementation of change is perceived to make the whole process a success.
References
Emmett M. (2007). Interview with Emmett Meredith.
Miller, A. A. (2006). Going Comprehensive: Anatomy of an Initiative that Worked. CCRP in the South Bronx. Web.
Bailey, T. A. (2006). Framework for Learning and Results in Community Change Initiatives. The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Web.