Has anyone had an experience in their organization where you felt you were not controlling change on a project, but were just tracking change? Does anyone have any concrete suggestions for how to control vs track? Saving Changes...
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Gabrielle MaherPMO Consultant| IndependentLondon, London, United Kingdom
Hi Pamela - a change control process is a fundament control for any project or programme / PMO - it is used to manage scope creep - and is documented in most PM methodologies.
Typically a PMO will design the change process and change request form / agree it with the programme manager / director / and include it in the Governance handbook which incorporates the control framework so that its transparent to PMs.
Once a project scope is signed off (typically via the PID) - any further scope changes are controlled via the change control process. A project manager reports the request for change by completing a project change request form. The change control process requires the PM to assess the impact of the change in terms of time to implement, resource man days required and costs etc. In a mature PMO environment the change process is managed by a change manager - all requests for changes are sent to a Change Authority Board (CAB) for a decision (i.e. if the change is technical does it align with the enterprise technical strategy ).
The programme manager / director and project sponsor need to be informed of the change request and they need to agree to it. All change requests should also be notified to a project board and programme board for decisions - the board ultimately decide on whether they wish to accept or reject the request for change. Only project and programme boards can authorise a change which results in increased project costs and time. Most changes are accepted by a Board if they can be contained within the pre-agreed project / programme tolerances / constraints - time, cost and quality. Saving Changes...
> Has anyone had an experience in their organization where you felt you > were not controlling change on a project, but were just tracking
> change? Does anyone have any concrete suggestions for how to
> control vs track?
A project manager track the change. He ofcourse will follow the change management process and gets the impact analysis document prepared. Based on the impact analysis, the client and the business leader should decide if they want to goahead with the change. The actual control is in the hands of the client and the business leader.
Best Regards,
Vivekanandan M Saving Changes...
S.SHANMUGA SAMYEx. Chief General Manager| O.N.G.C.LtdChennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Hello Pamela,
The comparison is essentially between monitoring (tracking) and controlling. Monitoring and Controlling is ever present thru the life cycle of any excercise aiming at a process change.When the things are slipping beyond the scope boundaries, the PM/PMO may feel that they are only tracking (watching).The real control over the process change is to have the control over the attributes of the specific process(es) under change so as to deliver the end results within project scope,time and cost. So, have a pre-made monitor of those attributes with measurable limits. Prevail over those attributes when they are going (or will be going) against the project or the business itself.
>>>>>S.SHANMUGA SAMY Saving Changes...
Michael WoodProject Manager / Business Analyst / Business Process Improvement Guru| Independent ContractorGig Harbor, Wa, United States
Controlling change requires a specific set of activities that must occur in order for a change to take place. These activities include the protocols that must be followed from the point of request through the implementation. Control is a process of governance. Tracking is merely the process of recording the steps the change process went through and does not guarantee the change was wisely managed. Saving Changes...
Hans RobbersSenior Director| SalesforceVlissingen, Netherlands
Pamela
Michael is right about controlling the change. Controlling is flagging there is a difference requried from the scoep and estimating the impact, asking for approval UPFRONT to apply change and implement the change.
Monitoring change can be two-fold:
- as Michael is stating following in which stage the change is
or
- reporting upwards the number of changes applied. If there is no change control process the only thing you will be able to say is the number of times the scope has changed but you have no indication on budger or timeline.
If the latter is the case the project will not be completed ever is a serious possibility
You asked a good question her on how to control the change instead of Managing it and tracking it.
I would say. Change control mainly lies in controlling the tripple constraint. Very first thing we have to control the time. We have to closely monitor project execution in order to avoide any time lagging in the schedule. Second and more impoertant aspect is to control the scope of the project.
Saving Changes...
Elyse NielsenSenior Project Manager| Ascension Health Information ServicesHaines City, Fl, United States
Hi Pamela,
I'd recommend establishing a scope change control management standard. Reviewing the standard with you sponsor, and once you have their agreement rollowing the process out to you team.
Muhammad Arif NurrohmanPMO Support Access Supervisor| PT Mora Telematika IndonesiaBogor Residence, West Java, Indonesia
Hi Pamela,
Yes, I ever had experienced about it. When I felt, I can't determine which the following best strategy. I will blow up into forum especially at steering Committee meeting. So, please don't change your tracking if you not yet getting confirmation from all stakeholders. Because the tracking will represent how the project running and refer to current condition. So it's so related between change control & change tracking.
Best regards,
Arif Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
If you are talking about project management the gold rule is "all changes are welcome. Just take into account that all changes will follow our defined and agreed change management process". That´s all you have to take into account. Saving Changes...
