Understanding Change Control Management

Change control management is a general term that refers to change control or change management. Often these two terms are interchangeable. Controlling change and managing change are interchangeable. For example take a software project. It would have a change control board. This board has members like stake holders. They will be approving any change that is requested in the software project. Their say is final in any change request.

In change control management not all the changes requested are accepted as it is. There are many rules based on which a change request is accepted or not. You have to answer a lot of questions like, whether the change requested is unavoidable or not, whether the change would bring in the needed improvement to the process or business. While considering this the costs associated with the change, the benefits, the time needed for implementation and the risks involved are taken into account.

 

The capability of the project team is also considered before accepting to do the change in the project or process. Sometimes it would be beneficial to do the change immediately or sometimes it would be better to postpone it until the current project is completed. These factors are considered in change control and change management.

 

There are many procedures adopted and the process should be well in control until it is completed. The rules for considering the changes, who is going to do the changes and the members of the change control board, are also considered. Forms and detailed procedures should be available. Authority levels are defined in the process. The change control procedures should also be linked to the other processes available in the organization.

 

The necessary tools should also be available to manage change. Communication between the various stakeholders, the team members, and the users is important and the way in which it is managed is also important in change control and management.