Change Management
The purpose of change management is to ensure that the scope of work does not increase without appropriate approval. The change control process should provide a way for the Project Sponsor to approve all modifications to the budget, scope, or schedule of the project.
Change management is an important aspect of project management, as it helps to ensure that changes to the project are properly planned and implemented. Here are some best practices for successful project managers in change management:
- Set clear expectations
- It is important to communicate the reason for the change and how it will impact the project. This should be done promptly to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of the change.
- Involve all stakeholders
- It is important to involve all stakeholders in the change management process, including team members, customers, and other parties who will be affected by the change. This can help to ensure that the change is well-received and that potential issues are identified and addressed.
- Develop a plan
- A change management plan should be developed to outline the steps that will be taken to implement the change and any potential impacts or risks.
- Monitor Progress
- It is important to monitor the progress of the change and make any necessary adjustments to ensure that it is implemented successfully.
- Evaluate the change
- Upon completion of the change, it is important to evaluate its impact and assess whether it has achieved the desired results. This can help to identify any areas for improvement and inform future change management efforts.
- Set A Tolerance level
- Attempting to formally manage small changes can overwhelm the project manager and distract user management. Informal change control can be used when the project budget and schedule are not affected. All changes are documented for reference purposes.
- Manage Expectations and Scope
- Assessing and managing change requires the project manager to be sensitive to the people dimension of the project. Managing the perceptions of team members and the user community is just as important as managing scope.
By following these best practices, project managers can effectively manage changes to the project and ensure that they are implemented smoothly and successfully.
The project management process is creative, and will naturally bring about some change and the need for change management . The project manager's job is to recognize the inherent discovery process in the project and manage the change - not stop it.
The Change Management Process
Change management involves the documentation, tracking systems and approval levels necessary to justify and manage changes to the budget, scope, and schedule for a project. The scope detailed in the project proposal is the baseline against which changes will be controlled. A change control system is put in place to preserve the integrity of the project charter and to allow for the management of change requests.
It is important to note, that the success of change management depends on a detailed project baseline (Statement of Work). There is a natural discovery process in all projects due to factors such as omissions, mistakes, creativity, misunderstandings, and external influences. This discovery process normally creates pressure to modify the project scope, schedule, or budget.
The purpose of the change management process is to constructively manage that pressure. A change to the project scope is acceptable as long as:
- The project sponsors agree that change is justified
- The impact of the change on the project is analyzed and understood
- Resulting change to the project (i.e. cost, timing, quality, and human resources) are approved and properly implemented.
- The project plan is updated and republished.
The change management process provides a means for retaining historical change information that can be used to enhance future project efforts.
Project Change Life Cycle
Initiation of the Change
Anyone within the project organization can request a change by completing a change request.
Impact Assessment of the Change
The project manager will review the change request; the impact of the change will be assessed across all knowledge areas. The project manager will document the impact of the change on the current scope, schedule, and project budget. The completed change document is submitted to the project steering committee that is identified during the project initiation.
Approval of the Change
The appropriate project sponsor will ultimately approve or reject the change request. Upon approval of the request, the client project sponsor, and the project manager will sign the change request form. The project manager will maintain a hard copy of the signed change request.
Rejected Change
The Project Sponsor may close the change request at any point in the process prior to approval. If the change request is rejected, the change request is still maintained. However, the scope, schedule, and budget are not affected.
Implementation of the Change
The project manager will incorporate the change into the overall project scope and republish the project schedule, budget, and scope definition documents as needed.