Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Integrated Change Control for IT projects: why is it important?

At the beginning of a project, teams make a detailed plan of every aspect of it, but as it is executed, it usually begins to evolve. The ideal situation would be to minimize the number of changes through effective management; however, since change is almost unavoidable in a project, it is important to establish ways to manage such changes to make sure the right decisions are being made.

When making a change, it is vital to ensure that it will work to the project’s advantage. Some changes - for example, changing software for a newer, more efficient one for the same cost - will change the plan, but this change will also optimize it. Stakeholders must be flexible to embrace changes, even if sometimes it requires making trade-offs on key aspects of the project (scope, costs, time, etc).

Also, communication is vital because all team members should be aware of changes that could influence their work. Project managers are in charge of monitoring if a change has occurred; in consequence, they must be very attentive to the status of all tasks. Sponsors must be notified of important changes that could create big alterations to the final product.

Some suggestions to improve integrated change control are:

  • Evaluate each pending change with a list of pros and cons (or benefits vs. risks)
  • Make sure that changes meet the objectives of the project.
  • Designate a research team that could examine new alternatives for changes; this way, the teams could gather more documentation that could facilitate the decision process.
  • Look for fresh perspectives by consulting the opinions of experts outside the project.


4 comments:

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      1. Plan your day using time management techniques

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      2. Include stakeholders in important project conversations

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      A common problem project managers encounter is having the project aims not aligned with the organization’s objectives. A great project manager will strategize a plan for the project to lead back to the overall success of the business.

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  2. Thanks for sharing such an useful piece of information. :)

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