Help! really confused with change control process.

Submitted by xiaou24 on Sat, 05/15/2010 - 23:59

I did the head first pmp test, and got several answers wrong about change control process, my question is -- Should we documented the change request first or should we evaluate its impact first?


Before I thought document change request went first then its impact was evaluated, but according to headfirst answers, evaluate impact goes first. I am really confused.


here is the question, I answered A, headfirst answer is C.


A team member approaches you with a change that could cut your schedule down by a month. What is the first thing you should do?

A Write up a change request and see if you can get it approved.




B Make the change. It’s going to save time and nobody will want the project to take longer than it should.




C Figure out the impact on the scope of the work and the cost before you write up the change request.




D Tell the team member that you’ve already communicated the deadline for the project, so you can’t make any changes now.

any idea? thank you!

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The PMP Guru's picture

The PMP Guru

Sun, 05/16/2010 - 09:05

Hi xiaou24,

Don't be confused, Let us clear it for you.

Remember Change is in-evitable, But Project Manager's Job is to influence the factors causing changes.

If you look at this specific question, you can see that the initial investigation (Cut your schedule by Month).

Remember, These Constraints has sort of relationship that when one is changed, It has a definite effect on another constraint. E.g, If there is a change in the Schedule, the budget needs to be changed as well.

Whenever there is a change, The Project Manager and Team has to evaluate all the possible effects of the change and give reason's and justification before forwarding it to the Change Control Board.

I hope other's can put more light over it.

 

Kind regards,

The PMP Guru

http://thepmpguru.wordpress.com/

 

Kitu

Sun, 05/16/2010 - 15:41

PMP Guru, what you say makes perfect sense and that is what a project manager would do in the real world too but this confusion still prevails.....coz even as per Rita Mucahy in her process for making changes lists creating a change request first and then follows it with assesing the change and then looking at the impact of change.

The PMP Guru's picture

The PMP Guru

Mon, 05/17/2010 - 09:13

@Kitu,

I will Check RITA for this and I cannot Contradict RITA.

If RITA mention this then she is very right. HOW.?

The impact you are talking about is after you make the changes, You should Monitor the change whether the change has any effect or immpact and does it serve the purpose for which it was undertaken.

I hope You got my point above.

e.g: I don't know whether it's relevant or not.

You are manufacturing Surf for washing Machines. The purpose of surf is to clean the clothes, You notice that your surf dosen't clean well. So you make changes in the surf creation formula by adding .1% more soda.

Now you made the changes, Are you going to analyze it's impact or not. are you going to check whether increase of 1% Sode in the Formula is really making a difference in cleaning the clothes or not and also does it has other impacts as well, Like it don't effect the material of the cloth, leaving spots on the clothes etc etc.

I hope it's clear now.

 

Kind regards,

The PMP Guru

http://thepmpguru.wordpress.com/

badhrig

Mon, 05/17/2010 - 12:40

Change and questions about is always tricky and u need to judge based on the situation and scenario that you are in


If I ask you, is it the chick or the egg, which one came 1st can you answer ??? Yes you can based on what scenario you are in....


Try to go by the scenairo and the answers presented and try to go for a logical answer that makes more scence...


A PM should always think from a front runner position so that he can guide others...


In this scenario some one presented with a suggestion/recomendatoin/preventive or corrective action...


so who knows better of the situation, is it the PM or the one who recomends(every1 should ideally know, but think from PMBOK prespective)...who' s in control of the project. You as a PM are in control of the project and yours should always be in the best intrest of the project, so in this scenario, without evaluating u cant go and make changes, as this might bring in new risk to your project...


A real life example can be, you are planning to buy a 2 wheeler, when some1 comes to u and recomends a particular manufacturer of 2 wheeler, if you have already done a review about the manufacturer and you already know abt the manufacturer and you already have tht manufacturer in you mind then you will go for that, if not you will first collect info about the manufacturer, analyse the data you ve got and then choose the best fit for you...


Hope this clears you doubt...if something in wat I've said is incorrect please correct me...still in the learning phase... :)


BR


Bad...

pradeepsodha

Tue, 05/18/2010 - 05:53

 


A team member approaches you with a change that could cut your schedule down by a month. What is the first thing you should do?

A Write up a change request and see if you can get it approved.




B Make the change. It’s going to save time and nobody will want the project to take longer than it should.




C Figure out the impact on the scope of the work and the cost before you write up the change request.




D Tell the team member that you’ve already communicated the deadline for the project, so you can’t make any changes now.

Answer is C.


Forget about what comes first and what comes next. Think what is required to be written in change approval note? You need description what is to be changed, why, when, by whom, how and what could be impact on constraints. So 'change evaluation' is required before one can write change request.


Here a team member approaches you for change, that means he wants to do some change to meet stakeholder requirements or initially that requirement might have missed somehow. In this case, PM has to initiate change.


If change comes from customer, than he has to write change request 'formal written' format and PM can evaluate change after getting change request.


There is catch here in question so you have to think where the change is coming from and according process steps can change.


I hope this clarifies your queries.


Regards,


Pradeep

The PMP Guru's picture

The PMP Guru

Tue, 05/18/2010 - 09:20

@pradeep,

What do you mean by you should know where the change is coming from:

If you or your team member wants a change, Don't you need to evaluate it's impact on other constraints and go directly to change it and you go to CCB only when there is a request from customer.

This is what you are trying to say....

riyaz145

Sat, 03/02/2013 - 13:14

 Happen to go for the same answer as per the originator and ended up reading this old post. Hence appreciate the experts to confirm the response.. 

Kindly help me clarify that as per Option A which I believe is the right one...

As per option A impact assessment is part of this. While writing the change request and until it gets approved, the impacts are looked upon in between. 

Is it because the second part of the Option A makes head first to say that Option C is right ?

After posting the above comment, happen to look at PMBOK page 93, and the first item listed is "influence the factors that circumvent".. Then I believe the first step is "assess the impact"

So, kindly help me to finalize my knowledge gap as to what is the proper sequence of change control.. 

Is it documenting the change or assess the impact..

Another Example

Your team has recommended a change to the Verify Scope process. What’s the first thing you should do?

You answered: C.

A

Implement the change.

B

Analyze the change versus the Project Management plan to see what its impact will be.

C

Write up a change request.

D

Tell your team that the process has already been decided and they should follow it.

Thanks,