Step 05: Change Control
Description
Objective

To

- control the addition of work to the stage activities,

in a way that

- assesses the value of the change request,

- presents alternative solutions,

- assesses the impact of the alternative solutions,

- records all change requests and resulting actions,

- enables changes to completed products,

so that

- the Stage Managers and Project Board can make controlled changes to projectscope, schedule and cost.

Overview

As a project progresses, the people involved with the project develop a better understanding of what the end product should be and what they need to do to produce the product. This increased understanding manifests itself as changes to the stage activities, and changes to the products. This will disrupt:

- project and stage schedules,

- project and stage costs,

- project scope,

Such changes cannot always be avoided, but their impact can be predicted and controlled.

Change requests may come from a variety of sources but they wil require Project Board sponsorship to be processed. The originator will describe the change request and provide a justification.

Alternative solutions, and their respective impacts on the project, will be identified and a recommendation made.

The recommendation will be presented to the Project Board who will decide whether to accept it or make an alternative recommendation.
Task .010 Request Change
This is a formal request from either a member of the project team, a client, a coordinator or Key Stakeholder to make a change to the project scope or functionality. The originator must obtain sponsorship from a Project Board member for the proposed change request.

The proposed change request will be submitted on a Change Request Form by the originator. Before it can be accepted as a proposed change request the originator must complete the following information:

- Request Title,

- Originator's Name,

- Originator's Phone/Email/Mailstop,

- Sponsor's name,

- Description, of the proposed change,

- Justification, for the change, with quantified benefits,

- Originator's priority.

The Stage Manager will review the change request and assign it to someone to investigate alternative solutions.

The Stage Manager will update the Change Request Form:

- assign a unique Change Request #,

- update the Request Date,

- set status to "Open",

- update "Assigned To" and "Response Date".

The Stage Manager will update the Change Request Log.
Task .020 Identify Alternative Solutions
Evaluate the change request and identify several alternative solutions.

Assess the impact of each solution on:

- Functional Scope, including baselined products, tasks in progress and future tasks,

- Schedule,

- Effort,

- Cost.

One solution may be to reject the change request.

If a solution will force the stage out of tolerance, explicitly state this on the Change Request Form.

Make a recommendation.

Update the Change Request Form with the alternative solutions, their respective impacts, and the recommendation.
Task .030 Decide Change Actions
Present the change request, alternative solutions and recommendation to the Project Board.

The Project Board is required to either accept the recommendation, chose an alternative solution, or request further investigation.

Update the Change Request Form:

- update "Action", "Authorized By" and "Authorization Date".

- set status to "Close"

Change Log:

- update "Status" and "Close Date".

If the Project Board requests further investigation then the Change Request remains open.

Notify the originator of action.

If the chosen solution will cause the stage to exceed the tolerance limits then the Project Board may require the Stage Manager to produce an Exception Situation Report which will replace the Stage Plan.
Task .040 Implement Change
Make appropriate schedule and other project plan adjustments and communicate these to team members impacted. Include activities to monitor progress and execute quality control on the changes.
Step 06: Issues Management
Description
Objective

To

- resolve issues affecting the success of the project,

in a way that

- identifies issues affecting the project,

- assesses the extent to which issues affect the project,

- identifies actions to resolve issues,

- involves the appropriate level of management to make decisions on issues,

- tracks progress on issues,

so that

- the project can be carried out as planned.

Overview

There will always be issues that arise during the course of a project. Some of these issues may have a bearing on the project, and some will be of little consequence.

Issues can arise from within the Project Organization and from the environment that impacts the project.

Any issues that arise should be evaluated and dealt with as efficiently and effectively as possible.

An issue can often linger on, even after it has supposedly been resolved, so it is important to track issues to complete resolution.
Task .010 Identify Project Issue
Identify and describe an issue that is thought to affect the project. Determine whether to pursue the issue and, if any further research is required before assessing the issue, assign someone to research the issue.

Update Issue Log as follows:

- Assign a unique Issue No.

- Issue Title

- Type

- Internal, where the issue can be resolved by the project team.

- External, which cannot be resolved by the project team, but requires client or Project Board resolution.

- Priority

- 0 irrelevant, since it does not impact the project in any way,

- 1 low, whereby the unresolved issue will not impact current stage schedule,

- 2 medium, whereby the issue will impact the stage schedule if not resolved within four weeks,

- 3 stage stopper, whereby the issue must be resolved for work to continue on the current stage,

- 4 project stopper, whereby the issue must be resolved by the end of the stage for work to continue on the project.

- Originator's Name

- Assigned To

- Response Date

- Status (Open or Closed)

Forward the issue to the appropriate team member, client, coordinator or Project Board member for assessment and recommended resolution.
Task .020 Assess Impact of Issue
Consider the potential impact of the issue on the project:

- what happens if the issue is not actioned?

- will it impact project scope?

- will it impact the quality of the final product?

- will it cause the project to go out of tolerance?

- will it impact resource usage?

- will it change the project benefits?

- will it increase project risk?

Determine how the issue might be resolved.

Update the Issue Log with the recommended "Resolution".
Task .030 Resolve Issue
Determine whether the to accept the recommended resolution.

If the recommendation is accepted, and no additional effort is required, execute the resolution. Set Issue status to "Closed". Update Close Date.

If additional effort is required to execute the recommended resolution, create a Change Request. Set Issue status to "Closed".

If the recommendation is unacceptable, then determine next steps. Issue status remains "Open".
Step 07: Exception Situation
Description
Objective

To

- take corrective action when a project is off course,

in a way that

- minimizes impact to the project,

- gains agreement from all parts of the Project Organization,

so that

- the project can still be successfully completed.

Overview

The Project Initiation Report defines the project tolerances with respect to:

- cost,

- schedule,

- quality.

During the lifetime of a project it is possible that:

- a stage tolerance set by the Project Board is or will be exceeded,

- a major technical deviation is identified and recorded,

- an important dependency from another project is not available.

Their effect is that the current Stage Plan will not be met and so the Stage must be replanned in the light of the new situation. This is done by preparing an Exception Report.

An Exception Report serves the essential purposes of any plan; it must contain all the information normally given in Stage plans since, after approval, it will replace the current Stage Plan. In addition it shows the effect on the project of exceptional situations; for this reason the exception plan includes information on the exception that has arisen, the options that have been examined and the action that it is proposed to take.

In addition to the information contained in the Stage Plan, an Exception Report contains the following:

- an explanation of why a given situation is an exception and the circumstances that led to the situation,

- a prediction of the schedule, cost, schedule, functional, quality and technical impact if no action is taken,

- the recommended recovery action (changes to scope, organization, budget, timescale, etc),

- the consequences of this corrective action on both the Stage Plan and the Project Plan,

- a recommendation.

The Exception Report is prepared by the Stage Manager and submitted to the Project Board at a Mid Stage Assessment (MSA). Consideration should be given to both the project objective statement and the original Control Factors when considering recovery actions. If approved it becomes the effective plan for the remainder of the stage.
Step 07: Exception Situation
Task .010 Analyze Cause of Exception Situation
Confirm which component of the project is out of tolerance. Ensure that the control measuring the tolerance is functioning correctly.

Analyze the causes of the Exception Situation. These may include:

- resource utilization and availablity,

- resource productivity and performance,

- external factors,

- under estimating,

- scope creep,

- quality issues requiring the rework of products.

Assess the impact on the project of doing nothing, and continuing with the original plan, with respect to:

- stage and project schedule,

- stage and project cost,

- scope,

- quality of development products,

- interproject dependencies, both business and technical projects.
Task .020 Create Exception Plan
Review, from the Project Initiation Report, the Project Objective Statement, Measures of Project Success and the Control Factors. They will help to focus on identifying the most effective changes.

Consider each aspect of the project, identify appropriate changes and define their probable impact.

Dimension of Scope

- functional,

- organizational,

- data,

- performance requirements,

- implementation environment,

- development products.

Plan

- identify new tasks and products,

- modify original tasks and products,

- remove tasks and products,

- review resourcing,

- review workflow and task dependencies,

- re-estimate.

Organization

- review the effectiveness of the Project Board, Key Stakeholders, and Project Coordinators.

Schedule

- Recreate the stage and project plans.

Cost

- Recreate the project budget.

Business Case

- Quantify the impact of the proposed changes on each benefit, and the on the time to break even.

Risk

- Conduct a risk analysis.

- Identify new project risks and appropriate countermeasures.

If there is a single course of action, prepare the Exception Situation Report which summarizes:

- the causes and impact of the Exception Situation,

- recommends recovery actions,

- assesses the impact of the recovery actions,

- creates an Exception Plan which replaces the original stage and project plan.

If it is not clear what option should be taken, prepare an analysis of the options for the Project Board together with an outline Exception Report for each option.
Task .030 Prepare for Exception Assessment
Arrange a project assessment meeting of the Project Board to decide what course of action to take on the project.

Prepare an agenda and any presentation material that will be required to present the Exception Report to the Project Board in order for them to make a decision.
Task .040 Conduct Exception Assessment
Conduct the Project Assessment meeting. The Project Board should make a decision on how to proceed with the project, that the Stage Manager and Project Team can follow.
Task .050 Follow-up Exception Assessment
Record the decision made by the Project Board and take the appropriate action.

In most cases, this will be a series of additional project activities that are required to address the causes of the Exception Situation.

Execution of the Exception Plan may require invoking the Change Management process.