Controlling Mid-Stream Change

Kenneth has 14 years of healthcare experience in government and private industry. Over eight years of experience managing healthcare IT projects, operations, contracts, and personnel. His work experience includes project management, contracts and procurements, data analysis, claims adjudication, business writing, and business process modeling. Kenneth was certified in 2006 as a Project Management Professional.

  Communications Management   Risk Management   Scope Management  

At any time during a project, a customer or stakeholder could decide that something needs to change. The process in place is called the “as-is”; the new process or the change desired is called the “to-be”. Perhaps the process of updating the schedule is not working anymore or maybe the entire design of the project scope is incorrect. This changing of course may occur because of a problem with the project that needs to be corrected, or it may occur because somebody is not satisfied with the current processes.

Whatever the reason, the project manager will have to deal with this in some manner--and it may not be possible to simply say “no” to the client or your boss. When making a change to the project in the middle, you should tread carefully so that the project does not end up crashing into the rocks.

Document
The first step in changing course, even before you are able to do it, is to make sure everything is documented. Hopefully, the original process or scope is well documented; if not, there may be some catch-up work to be done. You cannot change things if you do not understand how they are done in the first place.

Assuming the “as-is” is documented, then you should begin to carefully document the “to-be”. Without this documentation, the project team will working in the dark through the change. …

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