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Project Management Orientation

The Change Management Process Illustrated

The following figure shows the process that should be used to manage changes.

Steps in the Change Identification Process

The major steps in the change identification process are:

  1. Identify the change.  The first step in the change management process is identification of a change by someone on the project.  This change must be documented in a change control form and submitted for consideration to either the project manager or the CCB.
  2. Clarify the scope.  The change request is reviewed and, if necessary, discussed with its originator to clarify what is being proposed, and the rationale and scope of the proposal.  A small change might be immediately accepted.  An example of a small change is a proposed change to the name of a future deliverable in the requirements.  However, keep in mind that even small changes require some amount of coordination and communication.
  3. Estimate the complexity and the cost of investigating.  For large changes, a quick assessment of their complexity and an estimate of the cost of investigating is done.
  4. Approval or rejection.  The change request is then reviewed by the CCB and is approved for a full impact assessment, rejected, or deferred.  If the change request is rejected or deferred, it is logged, the reasons for the rejection or deferral are documented, and the change request is filed for possible future reconsideration.  All interested stakeholders are informed of this decision.

Change Investigation  

The following steps are performed when investigating any change:

  1. Identify impacts and evaluate costs and benefits.  If the change request is accepted for investigation, it is turned over to the appropriate project  personnel to do a full impact assessment on baselined requirements, cost, and schedule, plus an evaluation of the benefits.
  2. Select an alternative.  It might be appropriate to develop several alternatives to the change request for consideration by the change control board.
  3. Estimate the cost.  The cost of the change request and its alternative, if any, is then estimated and submitted to the change control board.

The change request is reviewed by the change control board and approved for implementation, rejected, or deferred.

If the change request is rejected or deferred, the result is logged, the reasons for rejection or deferral are documented, and the change request is filed for possible future reconsideration.  All interested stakeholders are informed of this decision. 

  
Change Implementation 

If the change request is accepted for implementation, a change order is generated instructing the appropriate project personnel, including suppliers, to implement the approved change request or its alternative.  In addition, all appropriate baselined documents are updated to reflect the change, including the possible revision of the contract with the sponsor and the supplier.  The result is logged and filed, and all interested stakeholders are informed.

Generally, your approval signature and that of the project sponsor are needed before the change request proceeds to impact assessment.

You must ensure that the impact assessment considers the impact on schedule, costs, resources (hardware and software), personnel (including suppliers), documentation, logistics support, and the contract terms and conditions and performance. 

Communicate the decision for each change request to those who need to know, including the originator of the change request.

A graphic showing a detailed flow chart of the change control process.
1: Getting Started
2: Define the Project Team
3: Team Management
4: Identify and Validate Requirements
5: Create Decomposition Structures
6: Risk Management
7: Project Estimates
8: Project Schedules
9: Change Management
10: Project Control and Execution
Defining the Project
11: Project Management Review
12: Project Closeout
13: Project Management Tool Suite
14: Self-Assessment and Final Exam
Fast Points
Concepts
Seven Keys
Case Study
WWPMM
Mentor
Check Point
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