Project change management – don’t take the monkey!

Change is constant.

“The only way to make sense of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”—Alan Watts

The one item that you will certainly have on any project  is change. It always seems that as soon as the project is agreed upon, there is someone who has a better idea and wants a change.

As project managers, managing change is the essence of our jobs.  Here are a few hints and tips about managing change on projects to ensure that you deliver what the customer, and your management, is expecting.

Have a change process

It’s important to have a process to manage change. That process is not “Give it to me and I’ll consider it.” You, as the project manager, need to have a bit of distance from the proposed change. I suggest that whomever wants a change do a bit of work upfront. Create a process that includes formally submitting a written request for the change which includes basic information such as a description of the change, what deliverables are affected by the change, and the proposed budget. Then enforce your process.

Make them work for it

Part of the reason for the form is to make the person with the great idea think it through before you spend your time on it. If someone makes it over this hurdle, they are serious about the idea.

Use your team

Part of your new process is to use the talents of your team to evaluate the change. When the change request comes in, assign it to a member of the team that is familiar with the part of the project that the change affects.

Let the team review

For example, while working on a software release project, a member of the documentation team proposed that instead of using individual PDFs for release notes and updated technical documentation, the use of zipped files would be easier for customers and the company packaging group. It was passed on to the folks that were responsible for technical customer documentation, marketing, and the internal software packaging experts. They were the best individuals to review the proposal to insure that this change to the method of documentation delivery really did serve our customers and didn’t require changing the software release schedule.

As a project manager, let your team do what they do best.

Know your approver list

In every organization and for every project, there is an approver list. This list might be in your head. Please write down the list and run it by your sponsor, customer, or manager. If the change request passes your team’s approval, then your process should pass the request and the review of the request to your approver list. It’s important to know who is the ultimate approver.

I often had a list of five or six approvers, but I knew that if my Director approved the change, it was done. Often he would delegate the decision down to one of the other managers. It was his choice, not mine.

Change Approval Matrix

Consider an approval matrix if you have a complex project that might have approvers from different departments. The ultimate approver for the Marketing details is probably different from the IT approver.  This matrix could also include budget thresholds for decision-making.

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Publish the change process

Develop the process with your team, getting input from your customer, manager, and sponsor.  If your company already has a process defined, review it with your team and leadership to insure everyone knows the process. Then follow it.

Don’t take the monkey

 Don’t let one of the peers call you over into a corner to make “just a quick change” to your project or deliverables. These types of changes are never quick and almost never cheap.  As a PM, avoid offering to create these change requests. If someone wants a change, but can’t find the time or make the effort to use the process, why is it important to you, the project manager? Don’t take their “monkey” and put it on your back. Until it’s submitted properly, the request belongs to the initiator.

Change is an inevitable part of project management. Keep changes under control and managed through a change management process. 

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How does your company manage change in projects? Let us know in the comments.