Change management refers to the tools and processes used to manage change within a project and its team.  The main concept of Project change management is to coordinate changes across the entire project. Project change management begins at the inception of the project and ends with project closure. During this process, ensure all changes are carefully controlled and approved. 

There are many different ways to categorize change management in an organization. However, it is generally understood that there are four main approaches, which can be adapted to suit varying areas of project management. 

Anticipatory: This involves planning changes in advance of an expected situation. Once the project manager affirms the likelihood or even inevitability of such an occurrence, they can set plans in place for when it arises. An example could be a change management plan for when a senior employee hands in their notice of leaving.

Reactive: A reactive approach is used when an unforeseen event occurs. This type of change management is often employed in crisis situations, where there is little time to plan, and the project manager must think on their feet. Reactive change management is not ideal but often necessary.

Incremental: This refers to introducing gradual changes over a prolonged period, such as the ongoing addition of new features to an existing app. As these alterations are small, they are unlikely to cause any upheaval in the overall project. Incremental changes are closely linked to scope creep in project management. 

Strategic: These changes are much larger and can affect the overall direction of the organization. A strategic shift in project management could involve implementing brand-new technology, requiring a rewrite of the original project plan. 

Change Control Boards

• Responsible for reviewing and analyzing change requests in accordance with the change management plan for the project.

• The CCB then approves, defers, or rejects the changes.

• The results of the board's decisions are documented in the project's change log.

• The board may include the project manager, the customer, experts, the sponsor, functional managers, and others.

In the previous article we mentioned that in order to prevent the occurence of scope creep, changes in a project should be documented and reviewed. A project team should seek approval from the change by filling up the Change Request Form and updating the Change Request Log. Below is a template of a Change Request Form and Change Request Log.

Change Request Form - Template 

Change Request Log- Template