The Change Management Office (CMO) is now open for business
- Lena Ross
- Jun 29
- 2 min read
A conundrum for some. You have been asked to set up or reinvigorate a fledgling Change Management Office. This could be the opportunity to create a brand, or rebrand it, to ensure it aligns with what is of value to the business.
Framing is important and words carry their own psychological weight as they influence perceptions and to some extent, can manage expectations.
Words and terms can shape workplace culture – for example in one organisation the word ‘bold’ may mean audacious and out of line, while in another business it could be a valued attribute.
For example, in one of my consulting assignments, my activities including running persona creation sessions and user journey mapping workshops. At that point in time, the organisation had not been exposed to these activities and its level of maturity suggested that the names of these workshops would mean very little, if not alienate, the invitees.
To kick off the engagement, it was important to reframe these activities as workshops to ‘getting to know you, our user’. We called the series ‘it’s all about you’. We sourced the information we needed in the form of empathy mapping, personas and journey maps, but avoided the terminology.
Now…if we go back to the change practice, we see the same question popping up about with what we might call the Enterprise Change Management Office. To be fair to the organisations that have never had a central change management practice, the term CMO or ECMO will neither resonate nor convey anything meaningful to the rest of the business.
It’s important to name the function strategically to gain traction. In these environments, terms like ‘Change Management Office’ can feel too abstract or corporate. Instead, go for names that:
Emphasise outcomes, support, or momentum
Avoid jargon
Signal practicality, partnership, or delivery
This is about aligning the language with what is valued in the business.
Look for clues in:
The corporate values
Internal and external communications
Leader’s KPIs and capability frameworks
Tips for choosing the right name:
Test a few options with business leaders and delivery teams - their input can surface preferences and build buy-in
Align with language your organisation already uses, e.g. hub, network, crew
Choose a name that sounds active, collaborative and grounded in delivery, not policy.
You will also uncover clues when you create your business value canvas for the CMO. This is the document you create in consultation with your business sponsor/senior stakeholder to align clarity and direction, mange expectations and gain insights into sponsor support.
If you are heading up a Change Management Office we have created a comprehensive toolkit to save you weeks of work for speed to delivery. You can check out our Change Management Office in a Box here or message me for more information:
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