In Part 3 of this book, we’ve talked a lot about developing the visitor experience. An unavoidable part of this development is organisational change, and taking your visitor offer or your visitor-facing teams from where they are now to where you want them to be. Change management is a huge topic, and one that many books have focused on in detail. But as change is such a crucial part of making visitor experiences better, I think it's important to talk about it here. In this chapter, you won't find an in-depth discussion of change management or an exhaustive list of change models. You will find, however, an overview of what change management is, and an exploration of how some of the most popular models and techniques can be utilised when managing change around the visitor experience.

What is change management?

‘Change’ in the Visitor Experience setting can mean many things, including:

• • opening a new exhibition or experience

• • closing a space temporarily or permanently

• • internal team restructures

• • changes in working conditions, such as hours, uniform or benefits

• • stopping a programme, such as tours, or starting a new one.

However, it can also include any type of change; big or small. The Association for Project Management (APM) defines change management as ‘a structured approach to moving an organisation from the current state to the desired future state’ (APM, 2017, 5). The reason the APM advocates a ‘structured approach’ to the bit in between the current state and the desired future state is that it's by far the most complex part. If you lead a Visitor Experience team, you might think that you should be able to drive change just by articulating it. Unfortunately, most of us know that is almost never the case. Or, you might think that your background of operating in the ever-changing, unpredictable world of Visitor Experience gives you all the skills you need to manage change without the help of a formal model.