CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Nothing remains static, least of all a project environment. Change is common, and it is easy to react to it. A better way to approach change is to manage it. The way to do that is to establish policies and procedures for identifying and evaluating changes, whether to designs, requirements, documents, training programs, and so on.

The benefits of change management are threefold. First, it allows the project manager and the team to respond, rather than react, to changes. Second, it encourages anticipating the impact of a change and taking appropriate actions to minimize or preclude negative impacts. Third, it instills confidence in everyone that the project manager has control of the project.

Effective change management has three characteristics. First, it provides a means for placing changes into categories, such as major, minor, or corrective. Second, it provides a means for prioritizing a change; for example, it may determine whether a change is an immediate priority, minor priority, or not a priority. Third, it sets up a change board, usually consisting of two or more individuals. The purpose of the board is to categorize and prioritize changes, evaluate them, and decide their fate.

for Change Management

• Select a medium for recording changes.
• Establish criteria for prioritizing changes.
• Establish criteria for categorizing changes.
• Establish a change board for categorizing, prioritizing, and evaluating changes.
• Document a change from identification to its eventual disposition.
• Document and communicate the change management process.