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Change Management Plan

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 Project Name
Change Management Plan

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Approval Signatures

Project Sponsor: Name Signature: _____________________

Project Manager: Name Signature: _____________________
Client Representative: Name Signature: _____________________
Quality Assurance: Name Signature: _____________________
Author: Name Signature: _____________________

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Revision History

Version # Release Notes Issue Date

1.0 Initial Draft

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Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................1
1.1. Purpose..............................................................................................................1
1.2. Audience.............................................................................................................1
2. CHANGE MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW............................................................2
2.1. Change Management Approach........................................................................2
2.2. Change Management Cycle...............................................................................2
2.3. Sources of Change.............................................................................................3
2.4. Roles and Responsibilities.................................................................................3
3. CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES......................................................4
3.1. Raise Change Request......................................................................................4
3.2. Asses Change Request......................................................................................4
3.3. Approve/Reject Change Request.......................................................................4
3.4. Implement Change.............................................................................................4
3.5. Close Change Request......................................................................................5
4. SCOPE CHANGE MANAGEMENT...................................................................6
4.1. Scope Change Categories.................................................................................6
4.2. Scope Change Management Cycle...................................................................6
4.3. Scope Definition.................................................................................................7
4.4. Scope Stability....................................................................................................7
4.5. Scope Change Recognition................................................................................7
4.6. Scope Change Control Procedures...................................................................7
4.7. Scope Verification...............................................................................................7
APPENDIX A – CHANGE REQUEST..................................................................8
APPENDIX B – CHANGE CONTROL LOG.........................................................9

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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Purpose
The purpose of this Change Management Plan is to set out the methods
and procedures to handle all changes affecting this project’s:

• Resources, costs, and timing as set out in the Project Plan

• Deliverable, product and process Quality

1.2. Audience
This Change Management Plan is intended for the Project Board, key
stakeholders, and the core project team.

Author Instructions
Text in italics, such as this paragraph, contains instructions and
information that is intended to give you guidance on what to insert as
content. It is not meant to be part of the content itself. Delete the
italicized lines before submitting the deliverable as final. Non-italicized
text may be used verbatim at your discretion.

The deliverable author is to complete each section with the required

information, as instructed in the italicized text.

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2. CHANGE MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW

The following sub-sections contain boilerplate text. Use it as is, or modify it to suit
your project situation.

2.1. Change Management Approach

This Change Management Plan employs an industry standard cyclical
approach to:

• Ensure standardized methods, processes and procedures are used

for all project changes
• Facilitate efficient and prompt handling of all changes
• Maintain a proper balance between the benefits of change and the
detrimental impact of change on the Project Plan.

2.2. Change Management Cycle

The Change Management Cycle is comprised of the following events:

• Raise and record Change Request (CR)

• Assess impact and value of change
• Present assessment results and obtain approval
• Implement change and re-baseline plan
• Close CR

The following diagram represents the flow of change management events.

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2.3. Sources of Change

All project changes must enter the Change Management cycle in the
format of a Change Request. Legitimate changes to the product/project
may stem from:

• Responses to problems internal to the project

• Externally imposed requirements
• Change in business requirements or strategy
• Proactive changes to improve performance or benefit

2.4. Roles and Responsibilities

The following list outlines the key responsibilities of personnel involved in
the Change Management process:

• Project Manager - assigned full responsibility for facilitating or

executing the change management process to officially provide new
requirements, scope, schedule and resources
• Project Sponsor – responsible for reviewing, authorizing and
funding changes
• Project Coordinator – assists with estimating and scheduling
change against existing baseline
• Configuration Manager/Change Manager – accept, log and track
CR’s
• Change Advisory Board – comprised of Sponsor, Technical and
User representatives, responsible for accepting or rejecting CR
implementation

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3. CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCEDURES

The following sub-sections contain boilerplate text. Use it as is, or modify it to suit
your project situation.

3.1. Raise Change Request

The change initiator communicates the details of the change to any project
authority, such as the Project Manager, Project Sponsor, or any other
member of the Change Advisory Board or Project Board. This constitutes
the initial informal change communication. At this point, the project
authority may direct the initiator to prepare a Change Request, or that duty
may be delegated to the Project Manager or Change Manager (if one
exists for the project).

Once the details of the change have been recorded on a Change Request
form, it is submitted to the Configuration Manager or Change Manager to
log into the Change Log.

3.2. Asses Change Request

The Change Request is escalated to the project core team for evaluation.
A high level assessment is first performed by the Project Manager to
determine if the CR is of sufficient magnitude to require independent
funding for detailed assessment. If so, the Project Manager requests
additional funding to carry out the extra assessment tasks.

The CR is assessed for its impact on the project plan (resources, costs
and schedule) by the Project Manager and Project Coordinator. A
separate timeline is built for later incorporation into the master plan, if and
when the CR is approved. The Project Manager completes a brief
Business Case with the assistance of the Project Board members
(technical and user representatives).

3.3. Approve/Reject Change Request

The results of the CR assessment are presented to the Change Advisory
Board and/or the Project Board. Based on the value judgement passed on
the CR, it is accepted or rejected. If accepted, sign-off represents a new
agreement on the updated Project Plan. The new timeline, Scope, costs
and schedule are baselined.

3.4. Implement Change

The new work required by the change is undertaken and completed
according to the new Project Plan. Success criteria or testing for the
change are applied to the CR work. Completion is assessed at the
appropriate milestone.

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3.5. Close Change Request

Following successful implementation and testing of the CR work, the
Configuration Manager makes a closing entry in the Change Management
Log.

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4. SCOPE CHANGE MANAGEMENT

4.1. Scope Change Categories
Changes in Scope fall under two broad categories:

• Product Scope Change

• Project Scope Change

Changes in Product Scope are drawn from the sources identified in

section 2.3 and follow the specified Change Request path through Change
Management. Such changes also affect Project Scope, but are typically
value-added and usually result in an increase in scope.

Changes in Project Scope are drawn from problems, issues, or executive

decisions involving key project dimensions, specifically time, cost, and/or
quality. Such changes usually result in a decrease in Scope to
accommodate changes in the project’s duration, budget, or quality
demands.

4.2. Scope Change Management Cycle

Document how your organization implements changes in Scope through
the Change Management Cycle. The following text is an example of how
the Change Management Cycle is applied in a straightforward project.

The Change Management Cycle is applied as follows:

• Changes in Product Scope, typically through Change Requests for

additional functionality or performance, are handled through the
documented Change Management Cycle.
• Changes in Project Scope are handled similarly by the Change
Management Cycle but include an additional Risk Assessment step.

Project Scope changes can effectively be handled in the same way as

Product Scope changes, but organizations which recognize there will be
frequent and ongoing Scope changes (often when there are shifting
requirements or other sources of project risk) should document a specific
process for Scope evolution.

You may choose to document the Scope evolution process in a separate

Scope Management Plan, depending on how formalized the process is.
The Project Management Institute (PMI) recommends a plan with the
components described in the next sub-sections.

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4.3. Scope Definition

Provide a reference to the Scope document and/or provide a summary of
the key points.

4.4. Scope Stability

Provide a brief narrative assessment of the stability of the project scope,
including how likely it is to change, how frequently and by how much.

4.5. Scope Change Recognition

Describe how new conditions and situations which require scope changes
will be formally identified and communicated to the Project Board. Also
document how the Scope Changes will be categorized, such as
Major/Critical, Minor/Non-Critical, etc.

4.6. Scope Change Control Procedures

Provide a brief descriptive narrative or point form summary of how
changes in project scope will be handled. This includes how the change
management is integrated into the overall change control system; that is,
how it is identified, categorized, analyzed, communicated to the
stakeholders, accepted, and implemented. It also requires procedures
specifying how the project deliverables, including the Scope Definition, will
be updated.

4.7. Scope Verification

Document how the scope changes will be formally accepted by project
stakeholders. Usually it involves a formal review, discussion, and sign-off
by the Project Board.

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APPENDIX A – CHANGE REQUEST

Change Request Form
CHANGE IDENTIFICATION SECTION Name or Project/Program

Change Control # Date:

Short Title: Affected System(s):

Requested by: Supporting Materials Attached (yes/no)

Type of request (P, A, D, T): P=Plan/Sched Chg, A=Architecture Chg, D=Design Chg, T=Tech Chg

Description of Change Request:

Reason for Change:

EVALUATION SECTION

Identify requirements, & products/deliverables changes: Estimate of effort (hrs) :

Identify plan changes:

Total Hours:

Description of risks:
Risks associated with making and not making changes to system, project, and business:

Recommendation:

Evaluated by: Date:

DECISION APPROVAL SECTION

Cancel __ Postpone __ Integrate into Project __

Reconsider on:
____________
Decision Approval Signatures:

Sponsor: Technical/User Rep: Project Mgr:

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APPENDIX B – CHANGE CONTROL LOG

CHANGE MANAGEMENT LOG
YOUR PROJECT NAME
No Issue Requestor Title of Impact and Deliverables affected Resp. Compl Status
date request Person Date

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