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The unique nature of projects leads to an inherent level of uncertainty. Project managers should expect and plan for project change.
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Quick reference
Change Planning
The unique nature of projects leads to an inherent level of uncertainty. Project managers should expect and plan for project change.
When to use
When establishing a project baseline, the project manager should also establish an approach for how to change the project baseline. These changes may come from outside the project team or they may be initiated by team members who uncover threats or opportunities within the project activities. A regular part of each project review should be to identify when change is needed and to manage the implementation of those changes to the project baselines.
Instructions
The more uncertainty there is on a project, the more likely it is that changes will need to be done to the project baseline at some point in time. Traditional projects, those with clear goals and little uncertainty in the planning and estimating of tasks will normally have few changes. However, if the goal is clear but the tasks are not - often because it is an area in which we have little or no experience - an adaptive style of project should plan for changes at each major phase gate or decision point. If the ultimate goal is not certain but a specific path or set of tasks has been established in the baseline the project is focused on discovery. This type of project will normally be rebaselined at the end of each phase or iteration using the results of the previous generation to plan the next. When both goals and actions are uncertain and changing, a project is in an extreme or crisis mode. Change will be continuous. If the organization's change management system can not react quickly, the project manager and core team will need to take change management upon themselves.
At every project review with stakeholders, the project team should determine if there are any changes to project boundaries or constraints. These can occur due to many reasons such as industry dynamics changing, technology changes, organizational changes, and the impact on available resources due to the success or failure of other projects.
Periodically within the project, the project team should assess the current baseline project plan and determine if it is still the best plan to achieve the project objectives. I normally do this as part of the preparation for phase-gate or toll-gate reviews and I will do this following the completion of a major risk event or milestone. At those times there is usually a significant amount of new information or the validity of assumptions can now be checked. With this information, improvements to the project plan can be developed.
A project change management process is created at the time of project baseline approval. If the company has a Project Management Office, a project change management procedure probably exists and that should be used. The elements of a change management procedure should include:
- The mechanism for requesting a change.
- The process for evaluating and approving or rejecting the change.
- The definition of roles and responsibilities concerning who can approve the change.
- The purpose of the change management plan and the limitations or boundaries on what it controls.
- Any templates, checklists, or logs, such as the Change Log, to be used throughout the process.
Large complex projects are often managed as a program made up of related smaller sub-projects. When this is the case, the change management system must also address how changes in one subproject will be communicated to other affected subprojects and the approval mechanism that is to be used for multi-project changes. This is one of the most difficult aspects of program management and will often require a full-time dedicated resource to manage this process.
Definition
Change Control System: “A set of procedures that describes how modifications to the project deliverables and documentation are managed and controlled.” PMBOK® Guide
Change Log: “A comprehensive list of changes submitted during the project and their current status.” PMBOK® Guide
These definitions are taken from the Glossary of the Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017. PMBOK is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
Login to download- 00:04 Hey, I'm Ray Sheen.
- 00:05 I'd like to talk about another important aspect of project planning, and
- 00:09 that's planning for change.
- 00:11 >> This diagram provides a framework for thinking about change.
- 00:15 When we start to execute the project, is the goal clearly defined or
- 00:19 is there uncertainty on the goal?
- 00:21 And is the project fully plan or
- 00:23 is there some uncertainty on how we're going to do the work?
- 00:26 This diagram is based upon Bob Wysocki's book, Effective Project Management.
- 00:31 Projects are unique, this framework helps us to understand and
- 00:35 manage that uniqueness.
- 00:37 When the goal and the plan are clearly defined and understood,
- 00:40 you can follow the traditional predictive project management approach.
- 00:44 That means there will be very few changes.
- 00:47 When the goal is clear but the path to achieve it is not,
- 00:50 Wysocki says use the adaptive project management methodology, and
- 00:54 that means changes after each phase.
- 00:56 When the goal is uncertain Wysocki says that the path can't be defined,
- 01:01 but I think it can and I've worked in that type of project.
- 01:05 It is a research and development project where we have set a plan for discovery but
- 01:10 we don't know the results until the research is over.
- 01:12 Again, few changes on that one.
- 01:15 And Wysocki says that if the goal is unknown and the path is uncertain, you're
- 01:19 in extreme project management, you're in a crisis and change will be continuous.
- 01:24 The magnitude and quantity of change increases as you move down and
- 01:29 to the right in this matrix.
- 01:31 And while we all wish we were in the upper left corner,
- 01:34 many projects never get to that point.
- 01:36 And even those that start there will often have some unexpected surprises that drive
- 01:40 them down and to the right.
- 01:42 By the time you're operating in the extreme mode,
- 01:44 you're undergoing continuous change as you react to the circumstances.
- 01:48 Uncertainty on the goals will lead to changes in deliverables.
- 01:52 But even when the deliverable stay unchanged, the plan or how we
- 01:56 achieve those deliverables may need to change because of changes in resources or
- 02:01 the impact of project risk events.
- 02:03 Which is why the project manager needs to have a change management plan.
- 02:08 Changes in one aspect of the project will cascade into others.
- 02:12 The project manager needs to have a method for evaluating the requested change,
- 02:16 and if approved to be certain that the change is implemented.
- 02:20 This process is part of the overall project management methodology, and
- 02:24 is incorporated into the project plan.
- 02:27 Let's consider for
- 02:27 a moment what the elements of a project change management plan should include.
- 02:32 First, it's always a good idea to clarify the purpose of this type of document.
- 02:36 It's explained the process and change criteria,
- 02:39 we don't change the project just because it's Tuesday,
- 02:43 we change it to create a better approach to reaching the project goals.
- 02:47 The plan needs to have a process by which changes can be requested,
- 02:50 this can be either from project team members or external stakeholders.
- 02:54 There then needs to be an assessment and
- 02:57 approval process that each requested change goes through.
- 03:00 The process considers the need for the change,
- 03:03 the impact of implementing the change, and the impact of not implementing the change.
- 03:08 The roles and responsibilities along with the authority level of each actor in this
- 03:13 process should be defined so expectations are clear.
- 03:17 Finally, the procedure should include any forms, templates, or
- 03:20 checklists that are used.
- 03:22 These are there to guide the requesting, assessing, approving, and
- 03:25 implementing processes.
- 03:27 Let's think about this process for a moment.
- 03:29 It will normally go through five steps, request, assess,
- 03:34 approve, implement, and record.
- 03:36 For a small project a project manager can often handle this whole process
- 03:40 informally.
- 03:41 But for large projects or programs with several sub projects,
- 03:45 the level of complexity and
- 03:46 difficulty in managing this process will quickly grow to a full time job.
- 03:51 The Project Management Body of Knowledge, the PMBOK Guide, defines a change control
- 03:56 system as a set of procedures that describes how modifications
- 03:59 to the project deliverables and documentation are managed and controlled.
- 04:04 This system is an important tool for
- 04:06 project managers when on a fast changing project.
- 04:09 In many organizations the system is managed by the project management office
- 04:13 or a change control board, not the project manager.
- 04:17 While this helps to ease the burden on the project manager,
- 04:20 it can slow the process with bureaucracy.
- 04:23 The project manager needs to still manage the changes through this process.
- 04:28 Generally when working with the organization change management system,
- 04:32 the focus is on risk reduction.
- 04:34 This could be a cost, schedule, or technical risk.
- 04:37 But the change request will need to identify the risks
- 04:40 that is being addressed.
- 04:42 There are some tools that can assist in managing this process.
- 04:45 A key tool for the change control system is the change log.
- 04:48 The Project Management Body of Knowledge, the PMBOK Guide, defines the change log
- 04:53 as a comprehensive list of changes submitted during the project and
- 04:56 their current status.
- 04:58 I use this log as both a planning and tracking tool for managing project change.
- 05:03 Each column in the log is another step in the change management process.
- 05:07 Another added benefit is the log then provides a record of the change.
- 05:11 This is useful for doing lessons learned, updating project templates or
- 05:15 estimating guides, and conducting a project audit if required.
- 05:19 >> Change is inevitable on projects.
- 05:22 A change management process provides the guidance needed to
- 05:27 prevent uncontrolled change on your project.
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PMI, PMP, CAPM and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.