I was reminded of this when I read a recent article by my colleague, Prosci's chief innovation officer Tim Creasey, on this topic. It is reinforced by the different approaches to change management I have seen in a number of organisations.

Change happens in organisations, such as implementing a software system. But it is not automatically change management. In a number of organisations I have seen leaders mistakenly think they are implementing change management by simply introducing technology or decreeing policies and guidelines. These leaders are disengaged from their role in change management or see change management as the responsibility of the change management team, who are to blame if a changed system doesn't go to plan. In those organisations, I hear comments such as "can't we just create some documents or send an email and be done with it?"

I contrast this with several regional NSW councils with whom I am working. I have been greeted by leaders who openly acknowledge that their organisation has been guilty, at times, of the attitude I described above. They are showing leadership to openly back a new strategy. These leaders understand they need to build change capability, not just make changes, for their organisation to be sustainable. They say that if the change doesn't work it is their fault as leaders. It's not the fault of the change management team. Impressive, but also effective.

They know they need to upskill their people and they understand that to give people knowledge is but one step. Building their people's new abilities or skills takes time. These executives have asked the crucial question: while we build experience, how do we support people?

External change management capability can be useful here. An advisor can walk along-side executives, change management teams and other staff to check in with them on key issues, offer advice or solutions, and then review those when they meet again. Change management coaching is another useful tool.

Councils don't often have the resources that many other organisations have to invest in change management. This is proof that they can see the benefit of investing both time and money.

To return to my colleague's article, change management is about getting clarity on what is needed to move a change initiative forward. Tim rightly says the better organisations can separately define and address change and change management, the better position organisations will be in with a clearer scope and shared sense of direction and purpose.

While change is about moving to a future state, change management is about supporting individual employees impacted by the change during their transition. Every organisational change ultimately has individual impacts. People have to do their jobs differently when they adopt the solution. This is the role of change management.

Lenore Miller is a Hunter-based change management practitioner and an employee engagement and capability expert. lenoremiller.com