The Rewards of Change Control

John D’Entremont, PMP, is a program manager with over 15 years experience in training, managing training teams and designing materials to enhance the skills of managers and executives.

  Change Management   ProjectsAtWork  

When it comes to managing change on projects, the first step can be the toughest — acknowledging that change is going to happen. Once this is accepted, you can lay the groundwork for integrating change into your project, including four questions to determine whether a proposed chance is necessary.

It’s impossible to account for 100 percent of the variables that can insert themselves into a project. If you accept this fact, then you accept that change is something that needs to be planned for. By planning for change during the early stages of the project, you can alleviate some of the strain that can befall the project further into the timeline.

The best approach is some form of change control process. If project team members and stakeholders are given a formal process for requesting changes, they will be empowered to identify and communicate these changes before they become critical issues. A change control process can also provide a means for injecting improvements into an existing project plan.

Change control should be an integral part of standard project planning. It focuses on identifying changes, documenting them, and assessing their impact on the project baseline. When properly instituted, change control can:

     > Eliminate unnecessary costs and resource conflicts

     > Empower the members of your …

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