Change Control Process

Certain experts describe change control as a set of six steps:

1. Record/classify: The client initiates change by making a formal request for something to be changed. The change control team then records and categorizes that request. This categorization would include estimates of importance, impact, and complexity.

2. Assess: The impact assessor or assessors then make their risk analysis typically by answering a set of questions concerning risk, both to the business and to the process, and follow this by making a judgment on who should carry out the change. If the change requires more than one type of assessment, the head of the change control team will consolidate these. Everyone with a stake in the change then must meet to determine whether there is a business or technical justification for the change. The change is then sent to the delivery team for planning. The decision whether to accept or reject a change would be based on a number of rules. The fundamental logic should be:

• Is the change unavoidable (e.g. legislative changes, mergers, etc.)?
• or Does the change increase the overall benefit to the organization (taking into account any impact on the costs, benefits, timescales and risks)?
• and Is the Project Team able to make such a change?
• and Is the change best done now, or would it be more beneficial to defer it until the current work is complete?

3. Plan: Management will assign the change to a specific delivery team, usually one with the specific role of carrying out this particular type of change. The team's first job is to plan the change in detail as well as construct a regression plan in case the change needs to be backed out.

4. Build/test: If all stakeholders agree with the plan, the delivery team will build the solution, which will then be tested. They will then seek approval and request a time and date to carry out the implementation phase.

5. Implement: All stakeholders must agree to a time, date and cost of implementation. Following implementation, it is usual to carry out a post-implementation review which would take place at another stakeholder meeting.

6. Close/gain acceptance: When the client agrees that the change was implemented correctly, the change can be closed.

An efficient Scope & Change Control process should be defined. There are needs to be a balance between flexibility and control. If the process is too onerous, either valuable changes will be lost or the participants will ignore the rules - leading to uncontrolled scope and configuration. If the process is too easy, then many changes may be applied with insufficient thought given to their merits and consequences.

It is common to define various responsibilities and authority levels so that routine changes can be dealt with efficiently but significant changes receive due management attention. Where a proposed change affects the scope of the project it should be seen as a business decision requiring approval from the business owners of the project (e.g. Project Sponsor, senior leadership, Steering Committee). Where scope is not affected, it may be agreed that the Project Manager has the power to approve the change within certain authority limits. In some projects, Change Control Boards are defined and convened to consider and approve change requests on a regular basis, say every two to four weeks. Different panels might be appropriate for handling different types of change request. For example, a technical panel might look at technology issues, departmental leaders might look at the business processes, and the HR managers might examine organizational issues. Above a certain level of impact, the request would normally be referred to the overall Steering Committee.

Tip: Change is inevitable. During a project there will be many good reasons why things need to change. There will also be a few bad reasons - bad, but unavoidable.

The basis of decision for Change Requests should be agreed as part of the Project Definition work. It should define how the Project Manager is allowed to exercise the power to approve minor changes, and should provide guidance for the decisions of the Change Control Board(s) and Steering Committee.

Particular considerations occur where the change impacts the relationship with an external sub-contractor. Each time the work content increases the contractor might reasonably demand further time, resources and fees. If the change is due to the contractor's own fault, then, arguably, there should be no allowance made.

The Change Control process will involve a combination of procedures, responsibilities and systems. The key to success is to have a well-controlled but efficient process. Define and agree:

• on what basis changes should be approved,
• who does what,
• the membership of the Change Control Board(s),
• the detailed procedures, forms, etc.,
• protocols for levels of authority, e.g. what types of change can be approved without reference to the project's business owners,
• linkage to other management procedures, e.g. the issue management process, configuration management,
• which tools will be used to support and manage the process,
• how to communicate and promote the process and its importance to all participants.

“Change is the only constant in life!” - Unknown author