Project Change Management

Project change management is also an important, but often overlooked, element of project management. Without it projects are subject to unexpected shifts in schedule, cost, or quality. These are three sides of a triangle representing the three business impacts of a project. A popular saying in project management circles is, “Good, fast, cheap; you can have any two.”

Changes to a project usually come in the form of requests from the client for additional features; in other words, scope creep. Although such requests cannot be stopped or ignored, they must be managed and controlled. Many will be legitimate; others will not.

You must be able to recognize when a change occurs, how it affects the project, and how to accommodate the change. Once you have done this analysis, you will be able to communicate the effects on the project with the client or sponsor. The sponsor will then be able to make an informed decision about whether or not to proceed with the change. The responsibility for the decision is the sponsor’s; the responsibility for identifying impacts is the project manager’s.

Where it begins
It is important to remember that the first steps in change management relate to how well the project is planned. The prime factor in this is a Work Breakdown Structure and the Scope Document. A clear statement of what the project will and will not do, communicated to the project sponsor, will go a long way toward mitigating the effects of change. Once that is done, change management will be easier. You notice I didn’t say that it would be easy; it won’t. But with the basis of a scope document, you will be able to create a change management plan.

The Change Management Plan
The Change Management Plan should include everything necessary to deal with change. This includes documenting the “how” of requesting a change as well as