Introduction
Change Management is an important part of any project. Changes must be vetted and managed to ensure that they are within the scope of the project and are communicated to all stakeholders if they are approved. The process for submitting, reviewing, and approving changes must also be communicated to all stakeholders in order to properly set expectations. If changes are allowed to be submitted or are implemented in and unorganized way, any project is sure to fail. All projects must include a Change Management Plan as part of the overall Project Plan, it can either be included as a section in the Project Plan or as an appendix as a subsidiary management plan.
Change Management Approach
This section of the Change Management Plan describes the approach the organization will use for managing change throughout the project. Throughout a project’s lifecycle there may be very few or very many submitted changes. The approach taken to manage these changes must be consistent and repeatable in order to provide a quality change management plan and process.
Definitions of Change
This section of the Change Management Plan defines the different types of changes that may be requested and considered for the project. These changes may include schedule change, budget change, scope change, or project document changes. Most changes will impact at least one of these areas and it is important to consider these impacts and how they will affect the project.
Change Control Board
Here the Change Management Plan describes the Change Control Board, the purpose of the board, and the members and their roles on the board. The change control board is the approval authority for all proposed project changes. If a change is not approved by the control board then it will not be implemented with the project. The size and function of change control boards may vary depending on the organization but their purpose and the roles and responsibilities are consistent.
Roles & Responsibilities
This section of the Change Management Plan describes the roles and responsibilities of project team members in regards to the change management process. It is important that everyone understands these roles and responsibilities as they work through the change management process. These roles and responsibilities must be communicated as part of the change management plan to all project stakeholders.
Change Control Process
This part of the Change Management Plan should describe the change control process from beginning to end. Typically, a change control process should be an organizational standard and repeatable. This process is the tool which is used to ensure adherence to the organization’s change management approach which was discussed in an earlier section. By following all of the steps, the project team can successfully incorporate approved changes, communicate the changes, and update project documentation.