Integration Management : Chapter 4 ( 4.5) Perform Integrated Change Control

Integration Management  Process :

4.1 Develop Project Charter
4.2 Develop Project Management Plan
4.3 Direct and Manage Project execution
4.4 Monitor and  Control Project  work
4.5 Perform integrated Change Control
4.6 Close Project or Phase

4.5  Perform Integrated Change Control 

Project almost never run exactly according to the plan and changes, accordingly, changes are a normal part of project management. Integrated change control is performed constantly throughout the entire project life cycle to effectively manage the change process. The integrated change control process includes reviewing all change requests as well as approving and managing changes to any of the following: deliverables, organizational processes, project documents and the project management plan. The following activities are part of integrated change control:

·         Identifying that

o   A change is needed  or

o   A change has occurred

·         “Influencing factor” that lead to informal, uncoordinated changes (i.e. preventing people from circumventing the required process). Informal changes often lead to a phenomenon known as “scope creep”

·         Reviewing, analyzing and approving requested changes promptly (usually done by a CCB, i.e., change control board .However, small changes may be designated to another party so that the CCB can pay proper attention to larger, more significant changes).

·         Managing approved changes

·         Maintaining the integrity of established baselines (i.e. You must adjust current baseline to reflect approved changes)

·         Reviewing and either approving or denying all recommended preventive and corrective actions.

·         Coordinating the effect of changes across the entire project (e.g., A change in the schedule may affect cost, quality, risk and staffing requirements).

·         Documenting the likely impact of requested changes (CCB).

Configuration management and change control work together to accomplish three primary objectives:

·         Establish a consistent method for requesting changes to established baselines. The system must assess the potential value of all requested changes.

·         Improve the project by evaluating the likely impact of all requested changes (i.e., approve good changes and reject bad ones).

·          Provide effective communication mechanisms so that stakeholders are aware of all changes.

Other key information about changes control:

·         Change control operates within the configuration management system. A major goal of change control is to control emerging scope against the baseline.

·         Changes may be requested at any time by any stakeholder.

·         Verbal change requested should always be recorded in written form.

·         Many changes systems use a CCB (change control board) for approving or disapproving change requests.

·         However, project managers may be authorized to approve certain change requests (e.g., if the likely impact is below established cost or schedule thresholds).

·         In some cases, changes may be approved by the customer (as per contractual provisions)

·         On large projects, multi-tiered CCBs, with different responsibilities, may exist (e.g., technical review versus cost or different CCBs for each project within a program)

·         Change systems often include provisions to handle emergency changes without prior reviews. In such cases, the change is usually documentary as soon as practical.

·         Every change request must be either accepted or rejected with documentary to support the decision.

Perform Integrated Change Control
Inputs	Tools	Outputs
1.      Project management plan 2.      Work performance information 3.      Change requests 4.      Enterprise environment 5.      Organizational process assets	1.      Expert judgment 2.      Change control meeting	1.      Change request status updates 2.      Project management plan updates 3.      Project document updates

Five Key Inputs for Perform Change Control:

1.      Project Management Plan: Provides the current, approved plan that may be affected by any approved changes.

2.      Work Performance Information: Provides the actual status of project activities and as such, may indicate where problems exist that requires changes.

3.      Change Request: This is the only instance in the site in which change request are an input. In the rest of this site, change requests are outputs to 2 of 20 planning processes, 5 of 8 executing processes and all 10 monitoring and control processes.

4.      Enterprise Environment Factors: Specific environmental factors that may influence integrated change control include:

  
Project management information systems (scheduling tools, configuration management system and information collection and distribution systems

5.    Organization Process Assets: The specific organizational process assets that may affect nitrated change include:

•  Change control procedures
•   Procedures for approving and issuing change authorizations
• Process measurement database (collect data on status of processes and products)
• Project files (scope, schedule, cost, calendars, network diagrams, risk registers, risk response plans)
• Control management knowledge base 

 

Two Key Tools Perform Integrated Change Control:

 

1. Expert Judgment: In this case, it is important to get right subject matter experts on the CCB.

2. Change Control Meeting: Meeting by the CCB to review change requests and either approve or reject each request.

Three Key Outputs for Perform Integrated Change Control

1. Change Request Status updates:

·         Approved change requests are implemented though Direct and Manage Execution and updates are made to project documents

·         Disapproved change requests are documented as such in the change request log.

2. Project Management Plan Updates: Subsidiary management plans and baselines are updated, as needed.

3. Project Document Updates: The change request log and any documents that are subject to the formal change control process are updated, as needed.

Other Information about Integrated Change Control: Change control operates as a subset of the configuration management system. Configuration management provides the following functions:

1. The first major step (performed early in the project life cycle) identifies the functional and physical characteristics of the product. This step result in the establishment of three key baselines ( scope, time and cost)

2. The next major step controls changes to those baselines and keeps careful records of the status of each change.

3. The final step audits the final results to verify conformance to requirements (including any approved changes)