Cesar FiestasTechnical Project Leader| Intuitive ProjectsNewport Beach, Ca, United States
Team,
I hope everyone is doing terrific!..How do you handle out of scope "changes" on a project?...
Do you document them and continue with the project?
Do you document them and charge a fee for the changes? Or
Do you not do anything and continue with the project?
Yes, I understand that in some cases and based upon the size of the project, the client, etc, perhaps an "out of scope" change should not incurred a fee but regardless of the situation a change most likely may increase resource hours and in some cases may even delay the project.
So what is your rationale when it comes to handling a change or at least what is the minimum a project manager should do if this happens. Saving Changes...
Dinah YoungProject Manager / Software Asset Manager| Prince William CountySpringfield, Va, United States
Your process for handling scope changes should be documented in your Scope Management Plan.
The way we handle scope changes is through our CAB - Change Advisory Board. All changes need to go through the CAB. They will determine whether the change needs to be incorporated in the project now (in the case where the project cannot be successful without the change) and will the change effect the schedule or cost, or will the change be delayed to a later Sprint or Phase. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Obvious answer: following the defined project change mangement process.
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1 reply by Cesar Fiestas
Sep 30, 2018 9:03 PM
Cesar Fiestas
...
Sergio,
You have a good point too, and sure enough if the proper change management process have been defined during the build of the charter...or another words at the beginning of the project. This action will definitely avoid misunderstandings with the clients and/or the stakeholders or projects sponsors.
Thanks Sergio for your input.
Saving Changes...
Cesar FiestasTechnical Project Leader| Intuitive ProjectsNewport Beach, Ca, United States
Dinah,
First of all Thanks for your time. A CAB process is indeed nowadays used by several enterprises around the world. I have seen enterprises hosting a CAB meeting once a week, but not only to discuss changes for projects but also to discuss changes on the infrastructure . What is funny about CAB meetings is that in large enterprises where there are many teams, presenting or trying to get their changes approved most of the times, the 9 times out of 10 the changes are approved on the fly...approved next, approved next.
So now after few years of seeing this behavior i seem think that CAB is mostly a waste of process and time.
But yes your answer is totally valid. Thanks Dinah, have a wonderful day
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1 reply by Dinah Young
Oct 01, 2018 9:28 AM
Dinah Young
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Our first attempt at a CAB was like that. But what was happening was that the CAB was doing too much. So what we did, was set up a TRB. The Technical Review Board now reviews technical approaches, architecture changes, etc. Truthfully, we are still working the kinks out of the process, but it is starting to work.
Now I will say that the majority of our projects use predictive project management as opposed to Agile. Obviously, Agile is set up better to deal with change. But even with Agile, change is not always immediate. Change is reviewed and it is decided if it will be included in the next iteration.
Saving Changes...
Cesar FiestasTechnical Project Leader| Intuitive ProjectsNewport Beach, Ca, United States
Sep 30, 2018 8:17 PM
Replying to Sergio Luis Conte
...
Obvious answer: following the defined project change mangement process.
Sergio,
You have a good point too, and sure enough if the proper change management process have been defined during the build of the charter...or another words at the beginning of the project. This action will definitely avoid misunderstandings with the clients and/or the stakeholders or projects sponsors.
Thanks Sergio for your input.
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1 reply by Sergio Luis Conte
Oct 01, 2018 5:43 AM
Sergio Luis Conte
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In our case is part of our organizational process. Always we put it clear inside the business case and the contract if we need to make a procurement. No project will be started without the agreement in the project management process. Nothing jeopardizes a project more than not have or not have clear the project change management process.
Saving Changes...
RAJESH K LProject Manager, PMP| Bharat Electronics, Bengaluru, IndiaBengaluru, Karnataka, India
Scope changes need to be discussed with Customer, Project Sponsor and relevant stakeholders. Changes to be documented and necessary approvals to be taken.
It may so happen with scope change some of the already agreed requirements can be dropped. use of MoSCoW method helps. Saving Changes...
Tamer Zeyad SadiqAssistant Cost Manager| Turner & TownsendRiyadh, Ar Riyad, Saudi Arabia
Change Control Board (CCB) manages all changes, approve, reject, delay, document,..etc. and updates in change log for motoring status. After that, they will update the project management plans and documents. All processes are mentioned in PMBOK!!!!!
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1 reply by Cesar Fiestas
Oct 01, 2018 8:59 AM
Cesar Fiestas
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Tamer,
Thank you sir for your time. While I have the PMBOK with me, I am looking for actual experiences in the field and for different opinions, rather than a reading it from the book. I do appreciate your time.
Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Sep 30, 2018 9:03 PM
Replying to Cesar Fiestas
...
Sergio,
You have a good point too, and sure enough if the proper change management process have been defined during the build of the charter...or another words at the beginning of the project. This action will definitely avoid misunderstandings with the clients and/or the stakeholders or projects sponsors.
Thanks Sergio for your input.
In our case is part of our organizational process. Always we put it clear inside the business case and the contract if we need to make a procurement. No project will be started without the agreement in the project management process. Nothing jeopardizes a project more than not have or not have clear the project change management process.
...
1 reply by Cesar Fiestas
Oct 01, 2018 9:04 AM
Cesar Fiestas
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Sergio,
Thanks, let me ask you a question, does your company handles budgets differently from department to department? another words could a project be funded from different departments?
Also you do work directly for your company right? meaning you are a full time employee rather than a contractor.
Saving Changes...
Drew CraigSr. Agile & Product Coach| VanguardPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Best to have a set of guidelines in place with practice and consistency. Also, based on the agreed-upon scope definition (and what is not in scope), as well as how defined in the SOW.
Agile approach accommodes best for changing customer requirements and priorities. I would suggest to consider iterative delivery / iterative charging as per agile approach in the future.
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1 reply by Sergio Luis Conte
Oct 01, 2018 9:45 AM
Sergio Luis Conte
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Liucina, in Agile approach a change mangement process still remains. There is a point in the process, sometimes depending on the method you use, where changes are not accpeted.
Saving Changes...
Cesar FiestasTechnical Project Leader| Intuitive ProjectsNewport Beach, Ca, United States
Oct 01, 2018 3:57 AM
Replying to Tamer Zeyad Sadiq
...
Change Control Board (CCB) manages all changes, approve, reject, delay, document,..etc. and updates in change log for motoring status. After that, they will update the project management plans and documents. All processes are mentioned in PMBOK!!!!!
Tamer,
Thank you sir for your time. While I have the PMBOK with me, I am looking for actual experiences in the field and for different opinions, rather than a reading it from the book. I do appreciate your time. Saving Changes...
