Considering the effort that it takes to gather
requirements, assemble a team, secure approvals, and create a
working schedule, sudden and unexpected “changes to plan” are not
always wise – and certainly not always welcome. There are times
when change is a mistake, and times when change is
essential.  No matter which side any given change may be on,
change is a reality that must be
faced and controlled. 
Read on to learn how it’s done.

Change is a fact of life for most every project.  To begin with, projects occur over a span of time, and with the passage
of time, underlying circumstances and conditions can and do change. In addition,
projects are completed by people, and people have new ideas, recognize
mistakes and change their minds. Under these circumstances, it would
be unwise, if not impossible, to proceed without recognizing,
accepting and preparing for the possibility of change.  That’s
the purpose and goal of standardized “change management”.

What is Project Change Management?

Project change management is defined by the body of concepts,
steps and strategies used to manage, control and implement “change”
within a project. Change management applies to all elements of the
project and project management process, covering the
project vision, scope and
related procedural components. Change management procedures are
sized and applied to a given project as part of the
project governance phase
and are executed as part of project oversight. The key to effective
project change management is not to prevent change, but to control
it. This is the whole point – to identify, evaluate and adopt
changes so that project results are enhanced. To that end, project
should be managed with a structured process designed to accept
positive change and avoid negative change.

Key to Success: Effective practices for project change management must incorporate
and address the two (2) primary types of change:

1. Reactive Change: When changes are necessary to respond
   to project problems (i.e. delays, technical failures, funding shortages,
   resources issues, etc.). In all likelihood, reactive changes are not
   optional as long as you wish to sustain or salvage the project.
2. Requested Change: When changes to project
   requirements, scope, deliverables or related management plans
   are requested by end-users or other project participants. These
   changes can arise from new ideas, new information, or new
   perspectives, and usually are requested by
   project customers (i.e. your
   end-users). In any event, requested changes are usually
   discretionary, and therefore, are difficult to control. While
   certain changes can enhance and improve a project, if left
   uncontrolled, excessive change
   can lead to multiple, varied problems. Excessive project
   changes can overwhelm a project to the point where original
   benefits are lost, and the project can no longer be completed as
   expected. The trick to change control is to continually balance
   change requests against original project goals, ensuring
   enhanced value, without diminishing schedules and results.

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Manage Change: Be On Time, Be On Budget

In order to properly “control” changes for any given project, appropriate
boundaries must be set that will both establish and limit the types of
changes to be considered.  Obviously, if a change is required to
keep a project going, that change must be accepted. But if change is discretionary,
that change must be weighed against existing project conditions and
established boundaries. Taking a standardized approach, it takes
just five (5) analytical variables to set realistic,
flexible boundaries for managing project change:

• Value and Priority. If a project is very visible
  and important, you may need to set high limits for discretionary changes
  to avoid unwarranted risks.
• Timing. If the change request arrives at an early
  stage in the project, that change can probably be absorbed, but if the
  project is more than 50% complete, that same change may actually interfere
  with timely completion.
• Cost. Project changes can increase (or decrease)
  project costs. In order to properly manage changes, you should set limits
  on change related costs, so that your budget is appropriately maintained.
  In addition, for large projects, separate change budgets (also known
  as a contingency fund) should be established to set limits for change
  costs outside of the original budget. In effect, your initial budget
  establishes expected costs, and your change budget controls the costs
  of subsequent changes.
• Impact. In order to maintain proper control of project
  change, you will need toevaluate and identify “change impact” – i.e.
  how will a given change affect the project as a whole or in part? Will
  the change impact scope, deliverables, schedules, resources, or some
  other project element? With this detailed understanding, you can set
  appropriate, yet flexible boundaries as a guideline for change review
  and approval.

Producing the “Change Impact Statement” (CIS)

Once change requests are processed, reviewed and approved, the corresponding
changes must be incorporated into existing project plan, vision and
scope. Depending on the specific type of change, one or more elements
of the project may be affected, and this may necessitate changes to
project plans, technical designs, resource assignments, budgets or other
project documentation. No matter how many areas of the project are affected,
changes should be properly recorded to ensure that original documents
and plans are maintained as a baseline, with changes clearly identified.
Most automated project planning tools will track changes to plan, and
will produce reports of all variations. However, as time passes, and
with multiple projects underway, these reports may not provide sufficient
“lessons learned” information as to the “whys and wherefores” of change
approval, and the related change results. That’s the point of the “Change
Impact Statement”.

The “Change Impact Statement (CIS)” is a project oversight and
review deliverable used to record change reasoning, execution and
consequences. To serve it’s intended purpose, the “statement”
deliverable should accomplish all of the following:

• The CIS should describe the defining characteristics of the
  proposed “change”
  considering the type, scope, characteristics and potential impact. 
  (Change decisions should be based on the “define,
  align and approve” paradigm).
• The CIS should provide a detailed explanation of the reasoning behind
  change approval including a brief summary of the approval process, description
  of anticipated benefits and related consequences for a failure to act
  (if any).
• The CIS should provide a detailed description of the steps and procedures
  followed in implementing the related change.
• The CIS should include an evaluation of change planning compared
  to actual change results.
• The CIS should include an evaluation of change management “lessons
  learned” for use in the project review process.

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