Change rarely moves through an organisation chart alone. It also moves through the everyday relationships people rely on for advice, information and reassurance.
When organisations introduce a new system, structure, process or way of working, employees do not form their views from formal communication alone. They talk to colleagues, watch how respected peers respond and seek advice from people they trust.
That makes social influence an important – and often overlooked – part of change implementation.
Formal authority is only part of the influence network
Leaders and managers clearly matter during change. They set direction, allocate resources, make decisions and explain what needs to happen.
But influence is not limited to formal authority. Organisational-network research shows that trusted peers, recognised experts and people who connect different groups can also shape how others interpret and respond to change.
Different people influence in different ways
There is rarely one universal “influencer”. Influence depends on the audience, the issue and the type of change.
Two roles are especially useful to recognise:
- Trusted experts – people whose technical or professional credibility gives others confidence in how they interpret the change.
- Connectors – people who bridge teams, disciplines or organisational boundaries and can help information, concerns and support move between groups.
A technically complex change may rely on respected experts, while change across teams or functions may depend more on people who can connect those groups.
The task is to understand who has credibility with the people whose behaviour needs to change – and why.
Why trusted relationships matter during change
Change creates uncertainty. People want to know what it means for them, whether it will work and whether leaders understand the practical consequences.
Formal communication can provide information, but trusted relationships help people interpret it. A credible colleague can answer questions, challenge misinformation, surface concerns and give others confidence to try a new way of working.
This is especially important when change affects established roles, professional practices or the way teams work together.
Influence is not the same as persuasion
Do not turn respected employees into communication channels or ask them to “sell” a decision they do not believe in. That can quickly undermine the trust that makes them influential.
Instead, involve influential people early enough to challenge assumptions, identify implementation barriers and help shape how the change is introduced.
Influence is context-specific. Someone trusted by one group may have little influence with another. Effective change therefore depends on understanding the relationships around the change, rather than relying on a few nominated champions.
Practical ways to work with social influence
A Network Centric approach can help leaders:
- identify who colleagues genuinely turn to for advice, expertise and reassurance;
- identify who connects teams, disciplines or organisational boundaries;
- match credible influencers to the groups and issues where they can make a difference;
- involve trusted people early enough to test and improve implementation;
- give them clear information and space to raise concerns and challenge assumptions.
The aim is not to bypass formal leadership. It is to recognise that successful change depends on formal authority and trusted informal influence working together.
What this means for leaders
If a change strategy focuses only on senior sponsors, managers and communication channels, it may miss the people employees actually listen to.
Ask who colleagues trust, who they seek advice from and who can connect the groups that need to move together.
Involve those people as genuine participants, not simply as messengers. Change is more likely to take hold when forsmal leadership and trusted informal influence reinforce one another.
