1.9 Change Management

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Change management is the process of managing proposed changes to project scope as defined during the requirements phase. This process will ensure consistent handling and escalation of all change requests. The primary objective of change management is to provide a defined process for managing changes to requirements and to set guidelines for approving and escalating change requests. This process will provide corporate executives and project members with timely information regarding changes to requirements. An obvious benefit of a successful implementation of change management will be a positive effect on the work environment and relationships with sponsoring organizations, employees, and other stakeholders by minimizing scope creep and requirements churn.

When establishing a change management program, ensuring consistent handling and escalation of change requests is critical. You should obtain Project Sponsor support for the change management process. The Sponsor must be assured that his or her project is following a well-defined process and is not going outside the boundaries of this process to include new scope (and cost). All requirements should be baselined before a change management process is implemented.

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