ProjectSmart

Managing Change

Introduction

Effective change management is key to the successful outcome of a project. Project Smart will implement an effective and easy to use process that will ensure that each change introduced is properly defined, considered and approved before implementation. Change management contains four stages:

• Proposing a change
• Summary of impact
• Decision
• Implementing a change

ProjectSmart can offer coaching, training, advice, process evaluation, simple to use templates or implement an effective change process for you.

Proposing a Change

This process gives the ability to anyone within the team (including the customer) to propose a change to a project. The proposal must include a description of the change and expected benefits or other reason for the change and is presented using a Change Request Form.

Summary of Impact

The project manager who will log the change and consider the overall impact on the project carries out this process. The following will be considered:

• Quantifiable cost savings and/or benefits
• Estimated cost
• Impact on timescales
• Additional resources required
• Impact on other projects and activities
• Additional risk and issues

Following this assessment, the project manager will make a recommendation whether to implement the change.

Decision

This process involves a review of the change request by an approved authority who will consider all of the information provided by the person making the request and the project manager. The decision will usually be to accept, accept with comments and/or special conditions or reject.

Implementing a Change

If the change is approved it is scheduled, implemented and closed in the Change Log.