Shashwati RoyInformation Technology Specialist II| California Department of Food and AgricultureFolsom, Ca, United States
IN my experience over the years, and traversing through different environments, I have realized that a project success is heavily dependent upon a robust and strong change control system. Why when a change request creeps into a system, demanding a change in existing functionality, it needs to be vetted with the various stakeholders. When a change request comes into play, it comes with some requirements, some expectations, and some design considerations.
These initial requirements are typically called business requirements which later get translated into detailed requirements. So it is important that stakeholders review the requirements of the change , understand and set expectations. These expectations are listed and translated into the high level requirements and then move deeper onto the project to be detailed out. A Strong change management system helps us to understand these requirements. So when these requirements get detailed out, translate into test scripts and acceptance criteria, the teams expect the results. They involve the customer at every stage of the SDLC . This breeds cohesiveness, team work and one more time setting and meeting expectations.
If in the middle of a project, either customer or vendor feel that a critical requirement got missed out during the initial change request discussion, that change goes through the robust change management system. One more time everyone should be on the same page. Together ad a team, these changes are assessed for time, effort and cost.
Changes are evaluated as either a " Nice to have " or a " Must Have " change. All teams understand the ramifications and jointly take decisions as a team. This breeds team camaraderie and one more time meets and sets expectations.
All along the team is being referenced as a group along with the customer. All stakeholders will preferably be on the same page They understand what changes are expected from the project team and one more time it comes to setting expectations.
The more time we invest to setting expectations, it will help us in the long run. We will design, develop to requirements and the more we involve the customer, it is to our advantage Saving Changes...
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Drew CraigSr. Agile & Product Coach| VanguardPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
It is not solely about setting expectations, but also revisiting those expectations regularly as a reminder of the original direction, intent, and rationale. It's natural to want more - chasing butterflies - but it is our responsibility to keep the group on the chosen path. Saving Changes...
Paul HollingsIT Project Manager| Self EmployedHerne Bay, Kent, United Kingdom
I agree with your approach to CRs, but I think there is a key factor that needs to be more explicitly called out.
The CR is just that, it is a request, and one that can be accepted or, importantly, rejected.
The PM and requestor must present the stakeholders with sufficient information to make a valid decision whether to accept or reject the CR. Saving Changes...
