Decision tree for choosing a 100% Change role vs a 50/50 dual role

Change Management is a growing profession worldwide, and interestingly it’s highly-paid and female-dominated (how many professions can you say that about?!). While most of my roles have been pure Change roles, there’s an increasing trend towards “slashie” roles - a term I coined in 2021 to describe roles that have more than one focus or expertise. I made up this term because since COVID and remote working, I could no longer call these roles “hybrid” and I remembered that hilarious scene from the cult classic film Zoolander where Fabio is accepting the Slashie Award and tells the audience he’s proud to be recognised as an “actor-slash-model, and not the other way around.”

Globally, there are a lot more hybrid or combined Project and Change roles which blend multiple skill sets. Such as:

• Project & Change
• Change Engagement
• Change and Comms
• Change and Transformation
• Change Coach
• Process and Change

I myself have been in a Change Engagement Lead role before. 

So how do you know if you should go for a 100% Change role or a 50/50 dual (or slashie) role?

This decision tree can help.

Question 1: Do you like variety?

If you’re like me and somebody who likes variety, slashie roles are a great way to dabble in more skill sets and responsibilities. But slashie roles aren’t the only way to get variety in your Change work:

• Pick up a special initiative - if you’re in a 100% Change role or a BAU leadership role, you can scratch that variety itch by picking up a special initiative, discretionary work or volunteering. For example, I once co-designed and led my Change Team Offsite, using different skills and creativity than I’d normally use on a project.
• Work on multi-stage/phase projects - sometimes you'll get variety in a project because the project has multiple paths, deliverables, or releases (sometimes known as MVPs). 
• Work on multiple projects - sometimes you'll get variety from working on multiple projects at a time, such as being a Change Manager assigned 25% to one project, 25% to another, 50% to another. 
• Find it in your personal life - you can obviously also get variety in your personal life and I always encourage my LSC students to think about their career, leadership and life holistically (work doesn’t have to tick every box, the rest of your life can play a part, too).

If you answered “Yes” to Question 1 - move to the next question.

If you answered “No” to Question 1 - perhaps consider a pure Change role.

Question 2: Do you want more skills to add to your CV?

Slashie roles are a great way to get some extra things on your CV and build up that background of skills, especially because the additional skill set is formalised in the title. What skills would you love to learn or use to round out your professional brand?

If you answered “Yes” to Question 2 - move to the next question.

If you answered “No” to Question 2 - perhaps consider a pure Change role.

Question 3: Are you sure you won’t just be doing two full-time roles for the price of one?

Something to watch out for with slashie roles is that instead of doing a 50/50 dual role, you might get stuck doing two full-time roles and be spread super thin. If an organisation can get away with paying one person to do the work of two people, they will. You've got to treat yourself like a business in your career. Be really mindful about workload and capacity and go in with eyes wide open if this is a true 50/50 role or a 100/100 role that will burn you out!

If you answered “Yes” to Question 3 - move to the next question.

If you answered “No” to Question 3 - perhaps consider a pure Change role.

Question 4: Are you certain it won’t water down the value of Change Management?

Sometimes, creating these types of slashie roles can have a negative impact on Change Management. It can water down the perceived value of Change, can impact success as each function can be huge (i.e. Project Management and Change Management are both massive roles in themselves), and leave you delivering mediocre quality instead of the high-value results you know are needed. It can set unrealistic expectations for future Change talent who may not have those slashie skill sets, Change may not be holistically managed end-to-end (Exhibit A: often Project Managers finish shortly after go live but Change needs to be embedded in the business beyond launch). Sometimes - you may need to make a decision for the greater good of the future of Change Management, not just for your own career. 

If you answered “Yes” to Question 4 - a slashie role might be for you!

If you answered “No” to Question 4 - perhaps consider a pure Change role.

There’s no right or wrong when it comes to choosing a pure Change role vs a slashie role and the above decision tree is really just a guide for everything to consider before you accept a dual role. 

Lata xx

P.S. These types of questions and personalised career guidance are exactly what we cover in my Leading Successful Change monthly coaching calls. My LSC program is now open again for new registrations and our next coaching call is on Wednesday 1 May. So if you’d like my help starting or stepping up in your Change Management career, come join my flagship program:

CLICK HERE to join Leading Successful Change in time for our next monthly Coaching Call