Change control

0:00Sara: Welcome to Project Management Exam Prep.

0:02This episode is about change control. Every project management exam tests it,

0:07because every project changes, and undecided change costs time and money and puts

0:12benefits at risk.

0:14Leo: You will learn how the three bodies frame it, the route from request to decision,

0:19who decides at which size, how to keep one version of every product,

0:24and how agile teams handle change. We finish with a drill, so keep a pen ready.

0:29Sara: Let us start with the three lenses. What does IPMA® say?

0:34Leo: IPMA®, the International Project Management Association, sets out its standard in

0:38the Individual Competence Baseline, the ICB4.

0:43Change control is part of its plan and control element.

0:46It asks you to agree the change process with stakeholders at the start,

0:49and prefers a process that expects change to one that only reacts.

0:55Sara: And PMI®?

0:55Leo: PMI®, the Project Management Institute, publishes the PMBOK® Guide,

1:01its guide to the project management body of knowledge.

1:05The eighth edition has a process called assess and implement changes.

1:10The outline of PMI®'s Project Management Professional exam, the PMP®,

1:15has a task to manage and control changes, which includes reporting on changes still

1:20waiting for a decision.

1:22Sara: And APM?

1:24Leo: APM, the Association for Project Management, publishes the APM Body of Knowledge.

1:30Its section on change control covers the process, impact assessment and configuration

1:35management. The syllabus of APM's Project Management Qualification,

1:41the PMQ, asks for the stages, what a change request records, and where linear and

1:47iterative work differ.

1:49Sara: Where do the words differ?

1:51Leo: In three places. First, the name. The ICB4 calls this process change management.

1:57PMI® and APM call it change control, and keep change management for organisational

2:03change.

2:05Sara: Second?

2:06Leo: Who decides. PMI® names a designated person, or a change control board.

2:12APM makes the sponsor accountable for the decision.

2:16The ICB4 asks you to agree the decision process with stakeholders.

2:22Sara: And third?

2:23Leo: Keeping one version of the product. The ICB4 says scope configuration.

2:28PMI® and APM say configuration management.

2:32Sara: What is the core, whichever exam you take?

2:35Leo: Three ideas. One: a change is measured against a baseline, the approved version

2:41of the scope, the schedule and the budget.

2:44Before the baselines are set, you are still planning.

2:47Once they are set, every change needs a decision.

2:50Sara: Why does it matter?

2:52Leo: Because small changes add up. Each one looks harmless.

2:56Together they move the date, use up the budget, add risks and tests,

3:01and leave people working from different versions.

3:04Change itself is normal. The aim is change that someone decided,

3:09knowing what it costs.

3:11Sara: Two?

3:12Leo: Who decides depends on the size. Each level decides within the limits delegated

3:17to it, and anything larger goes one level up, with options.

3:21While a request waits, the team keeps working to the approved plan.

3:26Sara: And three?

3:27Leo: In iterative work, the backlog, the ordered list of work still to do,

3:32absorbs most change. A new idea becomes a backlog item, and the product owner,

3:37who orders the backlog, ranks it. PMI® notes that a low rank means deferred,

3:42and leaving it out means rejected. The current timebox, a short fixed period of

3:48work, keeps its goal, so new work usually waits for the next one.

3:52Sara: So no formal control at all?

3:55Leo: Not for the backlog. But the total budget, the contract and the release date sit

4:01above the team, so changing them still needs formal control.

4:05Sara: Now the model. The one-page model sheet, free in the description,

4:09shows the route.

4:10Leo: It is our own route, in five steps. One: log.

4:14Anyone may ask for a change, and it goes into the change log at once:

4:19who asked, what, and why. A change made without approval is logged too,

4:24after the event.

4:25Sara: Two?

4:26Leo: Assess. Weigh the impact on six things: scope, time, cost, risk,

4:33quality and benefits. Then give options with a recommendation:

4:38now, later, or instead of planned work.

4:41Sara: Three?

4:42Leo: Decide, at the level whose limits cover all of it: approve, reject or defer.

4:48The reason goes in the log.

4:50Sara: And then?

4:51Leo: Four: implement and update. Do the work, then update every baseline it touches,

4:56the tests, and the contract if needed. Five: communicate.

5:01Tell the person who asked, the team and the suppliers, and report the status of

5:05every open request.

5:07Sara: Where do versions come in?

5:09Leo: Through configuration management. It keeps one agreed version of each product,

5:14such as a design or a software release.

5:17APM's syllabus names five activities: plan it, identify each item,

5:22control its changes, report its status, and audit the finished item against the

5:26approved version. So nobody builds from an old design.

5:30Sara: And the change log?

5:32Leo: It is the memory of the process: every request, with its impact,

5:37decision, owner and status. Add up the approved changes, and you know how much of

5:41the change budget, the money set aside for changes, is left.

5:45Sara: How does this change between Mid-level and Senior?

5:49Leo: First, the two levels. They are this series' own labels.

5:53Mid-level means leading moderately complex projects, the level of IPMA® Level C and

5:59PMI®'s PMP® exam. Senior means leading complex projects and people,

6:04the level of IPMA® Level B and of APM's chartered status, Chartered Project Professional.

6:11At Mid-level, you run the route well. Take Parking Permits Online,

6:16a city project that moves resident parking permits online in eight months.

6:21The project manager, Anna, keeps one change log for the city team and its supplier,

6:26whose fixed price includes a day rate for changes.

6:28The steering group acts as the change board, because only it can release the change

6:33budget.

6:34Sara: And at Senior level?

6:36Leo: You design the change system for many parties.

6:39Take One City Account, a thirty-month city project that brings fourteen online services

6:44under one login, led by Anna some years later.

6:48Two suppliers and nine owners of old systems share one change process.

6:52Anna decides within the limits the steering board delegated to her.

6:56Teams reorder their own backlogs freely, but a change to a shared part,

7:00such as the login, is checked against every service that uses it.

7:04Sara: Now the drill. A city is moving parking permits online before January,

7:10when most residents renew. The supplier charges seven hundred and fifty euros a

7:15day for changes. Only the steering group releases the change budget,

7:19which has sixteen thousand euros left. The supplier's latest report shows five small

7:25changes to the parking wardens' app, worth twenty-eight extra days.

7:29Warden supervisors asked developers directly; nobody logged them.

7:34Three are built, worth fourteen days. What do you do?

7:38Leo: Pause and write your answer. You have forty-five seconds.

8:26Sara: The numbers?

8:28Leo: At seven hundred and fifty euros a day, every four days cost three thousand.

8:34Twenty-eight days is seven times as much: twenty-one thousand euros.

8:38That is five thousand more than is left.

8:41Sara: Then?

8:42Leo: Tell the supplier in writing that only logged, approved changes are paid.

8:47Log all five, after the event, assess them, and take them to the steering group.

8:53The three built ones are half the days: ten thousand five hundred,

8:57leaving five thousand five hundred. The other two need another ten thousand five

9:01hundred, more than is left, so propose that they wait until after January or replace

9:07planned work. Then update the plan, tests and app version, and tell the supervisors.

9:13Sara: What lifts that to Senior?

9:15Leo: A Senior answer fixes the system. Each change looked too small to report;

9:21together they broke the budget. Set one entry point: requests reach developers only

9:27through the log. Ask the steering group for a small-change limit with a running

9:31total, so they are decided in days. Freeze changes before go-live,

9:36so new requests wait. Treat the requests as a signal that the app misses the wardens'

9:43needs. Involve their supervisors, without blame.

9:47Sara: How do the exams ask this?

9:49Leo: IPMA®'s written exam asks for open answers; at Level B it may be oral.

9:54IPMA®'s certification also includes an interview, where assessors ask about your

9:59own projects, so note one change you controlled.

10:03The PMP® exam uses scenarios, and questions built on a case study or a chart.

10:09APM's PMQ asks for short written answers, such as what a change request records.

10:14Sara: Let us recap.

10:16Leo: One. A change is measured against the baseline.

10:20Small changes add up, so each one needs a decision.

10:23Sara: Two. The route: log, assess the impact, decide, implement and update,

10:31then communicate.

10:32Leo: Three. Each level decides within its delegated limits; larger changes go up.

10:38Sara: Four. Configuration management keeps one version of every product;

10:42the log keeps every request.

10:45Leo: And five. In agile work, the backlog absorbs change.

10:49The budget, the contract and the release date still need formal control.

10:53Sara: The model sheet and the study handout are linked in the description.

10:57Next time: closure, transition and handover.