Change Management
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said it best when he said, “Nothing endures but change.” What he said in the 1st Century BC still holds true in the world today. As a matter of fact, the change that we see today can be more rampant and can impact more people in a quicker timeframe, thanks to today's technology and communication.
It seems that the only constant is change; and, for any given project, change is not a matter of “if”, but “when”. The project manager and the project team, working on any project needs to be able to recognize change and deal with it as part of the project. This includes being able to identify needed changes and risks as early as possible and developing plans to lessen the problems that changes can have on the project.
Below is a change management process that should be followed when implementing change in a project.
Click Here for a copy of a change management form. The instructions below will identify the procedures for change management at Georgia State University.
| The Change Management Process | Criteria for Change |
| Change Procedure | Change Request |
| Change Acceptance |
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This change process is to be used when there is any deviation from the approved Scope Planning document(s), High-level Requirements, Detail Requirements or when a modification is requested to a deliverable that has been scheduled in the project plan. Changes can be initiated by any department following this change process. The Project Leadership Team has the authority for authorizing changes. • The Project Manager will be the point of contact for every change. • The changes will be agreed to by the Project Leadership Team (defined in the Scope Planning document.) Disagreements that cannot be resolved will be forwarded to the Project Sponsors for resolution. Allow 5 days. |
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The Project Leadership Team recognizes that changes are a normal part of the project life cycle. Therefore, managing change is critical to this project's ultimate success. There are two basic types of changes. The first type is a design/definition change, which can be viewed as an opportunity to improve the system or approach. Criteria for this type of change typically involve a procedure for defining the opportunity and a mechanism the client can use to procure the change, taking into account the timing of its effort and its impact on the current project scope, schedule and cost. The second type of change is non-compliance (lost time) change. Lost time can have a disastrous effect on project costs and deadlines because it is impossible to forecast and requires constant control and analysis. Criteria for this type of change typically involve: system downtime, hardware unavailability, slow turnaround of documents or programs, or almost anything that is out of the control of the extended team. Since non-compliance changes are usually a combination of many small items, any lost time over 30 minutes should be recorded and tracked. Lost time will be reported on weekly progress reports. Remember, lost time only exists when a team member cannot work on anything else related to the project. The change procedure will be used for instances such as: • Any change that is outside the scope of effort defined in the Scope Planning document (SPD) business requirements (both high-level and detail.) • An additional deliverable not defined in the SPD or changes to an accepted deliverable defined in the project plan (see Acceptance Process.) • An additional activity or task not defined in the project plan for a planned deliverable • A contradiction to items, assumptions or responsibilities stated in the SPD • Changes in the personnel identified that negatively impact the project schedule • Time spent to investigate and/or estimate any change request • Time lost due to reasons such as:
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This change procedure can be activated when there is any deviation from the approved SPD, requirements or project plan. The purpose of a change request is to provide a formal written communication vehicle between the project team and management concerning changes. The formality of a notification in writing is critical to communicate that there is a need for discussion, agreement, and planning for handling changes that can and will affect a scheduled deliverable. |
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The Change Request form will include information on the impact that the change will have on the schedule. When requesting a change, the project manager will document the change on a Change Request form. After receiving change requests, the Project Manager will review the proposed changes and negotiate the impact of the change with management. A maximum of three working days will be allowed for approval of the change request. |
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Formal change acceptance is required before working on any changes outside of the scope of the project. Change acceptance is given when the Project Leadership Team formally approves the change by signing off on the request form. Approved changes will immediately be included in the project plan. |