Perform Integrated Change Control and its importance: In this article, you can get most of the important information about Perform Integrated Change Control process and its importance including Inputs, Tools & techniques and Outputs based on latest edition of PMBOK. Reading this article, you will be more clearer about change requests, change control tools approved change requests, configuration management and change management.
Perform Integrated Change Control and its importance in Project Management
Perform Integrated Change Control Process
Perform Integrated Change Control process is an important process of Project
Integration Management knowledge area which provides us facility to review and
approve all change requests.
Process Group
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Knowledge Area
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Monitor & Control
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Project Integration Management
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7 processes of Project Integration Management knowledge area
What is Perform Integrated Change Control process in Project Management?
Perform Integrated Change Control is one
of the most important project management process which ensures approved changes
and manage changes to deliverables, project documents, organizational process
assets, communication and the project management plan. This process happens
throughout the project. Changes to any part of the project can be requested at
any time during the project.
A project manager not only needs
to concern with the impact of change on project schedule and cost but also needs
to look impact of change at other parts of the project. For evaluating impacts
of change, it requires a realistic project management plan and complete project
& product scope.
One major key points needs to understand
is that the change which doesn’t affect key elements such as project management
plan, baselines, policies and procedures of the company etc. may allow project
manger to approve the change and the change which affect those key elements,
the decision for acceptance & rejection of change can be done by change
control board (CCB) or project sponsor.
What are the major benefits of Perform Integrated Change Control process?
The key benefit of this process
is that it is responsible for approving or rejection of changes. Also, within
the project, this process allows for documented changes to be considered in an
integrated fashion and hence risk in the project can be minimized.
It also provides information to all project team members to be aware of any changes made and impact of those changes.
It also provides information to all project team members to be aware of any changes made and impact of those changes.
Inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs of the process Perform Integrated Change Control
What are the inputs of Perform Integrated Change Control Process?
Perform Integrated Change Control: Inputs
1. Project Management Plan
Project management plan includes:
- Change management plan
The change management plan
provides guidelines to manage change control process and records the roles and
responsibilities of the change control board (CCB). Change control board exists
because a project manage may be required to facilitate decision about changes
required rather than making decisions. It’s decision of change control board to
approve or reject changes.
- Configuration management plan
The configuration management plan
defines the project items those are configurable. It records how configuration
management will be performed and how to control changes to issues.
- Scope baseline
This process of scope baseline helps
us providing appropriate definition of project and product.
- Schedule baseline
Every project has specific fixed
schedule but if any changes done in the project parameter, project schedule may
get impacted which can be assess by schedule baseline.
- Cost baseline
The cost baseline helps the
project manager to assess the impact of the changes to the actual cost of the
project.
2. Project
Documents
Project documents includes:
- Basis of estimates
It indicates how the project duration,
cost, and resources estimates were derived and how they can be used to
calculate the impact of the change in project schedule, budget and resources.
- Requirement traceability matrix
Defining project scope is major
part of project management and requirements traceability matrix helps assess
the impact of the change in the project scope.
- Risk report
As defined in previous chapter,
the project document called risk report provides information on sources of individual
as well as overall project risks involved by the change requested.
3. Work performance
reports
Physical representation of work
performance information is normally called work performance reports which includes
the followings:
- Resource availability
- Deliverable status
- Schedule progress
- Cost incurred
- Earned value reports
- Burnup or burndown charts
4. Change requests
Change requests includes
corrective action, preventive action and defect repairs. Any changes decisions are
usually made by the project manager. But changes should be approved by the
change control board and the customer. Changes not always affect baselines
instead sometimes performance against baselines may get impacted.
Change requests that have an
impact on the project baselines normally include information regarding risks,
requirements of resource, cost of change implementation and modifications in
the scheduled dates.
5. Enterprise
environmental factors
The enterprise environmental factors that can influence the Perform Integrated
Change Control process includes:
- Governmental or industry standards
- Legal restrictions
- Legal and regulatory requirements and constraints
- Contracting and purchasing constraints
- Organizational governance framework
6. Organizational process assets
The organizational process assets that can influence the Perform Integrated
Change Control process includes:
- Change control procedures
- Configuration management knowledge base
- Procedures for approving and issuing change authorizations
What are the tools and techniques used for Perform Integrated Change Control process?
Perform Integrated Change Control: Tools & Techniques
1. Expert judgment
Expertise
should be considered from individuals or groups with knowledge of industry and
focus are of the project, legal and procurement, regulations, configuration
management as well as risk management.
2. Change control tools
Change control is most essential
process in project management. Either automated or manual tools can be used for
change and configuration management. Selection of appropriate tools is based on
the requirement of the stakeholders.
Configuration control is focused
on the specification of both the deliverables and the processes, while change
control is focused on identifying, documenting, and approving or rejecting
changes to the project documents, deliverables, or baselines.
Change control tools should
support the following configuration management activities:
- Identify configuration items
- Record and report configuration item status.
- Perform configuration item verification and audit
Change control tools should
support the following change management activities as well:
- Identify changes
- Document changes
- Decide on changes
- Track changes
3. Data Analysis
Data
analysis techniques include:
- Alternative analysis
It is
used to assess the requested changes. It is also most essentially used to decide
changes accepted, rejected, or any kind of modification required for final acceptance.
- Cost-benefit analysis
This
analysis is used to determine whether the requested change is worth its
associated cost or not.
4. Decision Making
Decision
making techniques includes:
- Voting
Voting
process can take various forms for deciding whether to accept, defer or reject
change requests. Few major forms are:
- > Unanimity
- > Majority
- > Plurality
- > Majority
- > Plurality
- Autocratic decision making
Decision
making techniques in which only one person is authorized to make decision for
entire group in an organization.
- Multicriteria decision analysis
Technique
which uses a decision matrix to provide a systematic analytical approach to
evaluate change request according to a set of predefined criteria.
5. Meetings
Change
control board (CCB) is responsible for change control meetings. CCB reviews
change requests and decides either to accept or reject change requests. Changes
that needs to be implemented may impact cost, schedule, risk and resource
requirement which needs to be assessed in change control meetings.
Change
control board includes multiple stakeholder, project sponsors, customers,
project manager, functional manager etc. Decision taken by change control board
are recorded and communicated to relevant stakeholders.
What are the outputs of Perform Integrated Change Control process?
Perform Integrated Change Control: Outputs
1. Approved change requests
Changes
that are requested by the project manager is approved change requests. According
to the change management plan, change requests are processed by the project
manager, Change control board and project team member. Changes may be either
accepted or rejected by the change control board.
At
any stage of the project, approved change requests can take place. Change log
is used to record all change requests as a project document update.
2. Project management plan updates
Subsidiary
management plan and baselines subjected to formal change control process are
the elements of project management plan. As a result of this process, any
formally controlled component of the project management plan may be changed.
Changes to baselines are only made from the last baseline forward and past performance should not be changed which protects historical data of past performance.
Changes to baselines are only made from the last baseline forward and past performance should not be changed which protects historical data of past performance.
3. Project document updates
As
a result of this process, any formally controlled project document may be changed.
Change log is the project document that is updated as a result of this process.
Change
log is used to record any changes maintained by the project manager that occur during
a project.
Conclusion
Most
hopefully, you would like this information, and this chapter is more important
as few questions will be asked in PMP examination. The information shared above
about Perform Integrated Change Control and its importance is an
extremely important for any project as changes are an integral part of any
project.
Manage changes in the project as per
project requirement is prime responsibility of project manager. Following Perform
Integrated Change Control process, one can improve the performance of the
project which helps to maximize the probability of project success.
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