^ [[9 Monitor & Control]] # 9.6  Manage Project Change Project change management defines the activities related to **identifying, documenting, assessing, prioritising, approving, planning and controlling project changes**, as well as communicating them to all relevant stakeholders. Changes can be requested (or identified and raised) throughout the project lifecycle by any project stakeholder. The Project Change Management Process can be tailored and customised to a project’s needs and can be ==documented either in a Project Change Management Plan or in the Project Handbook==. A Change Log is used to document, monitor and control all project changes (see Appendix B). This makes it easier to track the changes and communicate them to the Project Owner (PO) and/or the Project Steering Committee (PSC) for approval. ![[Table 9.6 - Manage Project Change - Key Participants.png]] ## Inputs - Business Case and Project Charter - Project Change Management Process - Project Work Plan - Communications Management Plan - Relevant logs (e.g. the Issue Log for managing changes related to issue resolution) ## Steps 1. **Identify** the change: The purpose of this step is to identify and document change requests. The Project Manager (**PM**) ensures that a Change Request is appropriately **documented** (**i.e. via a Change Request Form and in the Change Log**). 2. **Assess** the change and recommend action: The purpose of this step is to 1. a) **assess** whether this request is indeed a project change, 2. b) consider the **impact** ==of not implementing== the proposed change, 3. c) **estimate** the size of the identified change based on its **impact on the project objectives, schedule, cost and effort**, and 4. d) **prioritise** the implementation of the change request in relation to other change requests. 3. **Approve** the change: The purpose of this step is to **reach a decision** regarding the approval of the change based on the project’s escalation procedure (i.e. the change must be **reviewed by the appropriate decision-makers** within the Managing/Directing/Steering Layers as defined by the project’s Governance Model). There are four **possible decisions: approve, reject, postpone or merge** the change request. The decision details are **documented in the Change Log and communicated to the requestor**. 4. **Implement** the change: For approved or merged changes, the Project Manager (**PM**) should **incorporate** all related actions into the **Project Work Plan** and **update** the related documentation and logs (i.e. **Risk, Issue, Change and Decision Logs and other plans**). 5. **Control** the change: The purpose of this step is to monitor and control project changes so they can be easily communicated to the various project layers for approval or status updates. The Project Manager (**PM**) collects information on any project changes and related actions and controls the **status of each change management activity**. All stakeholders affected by the project changes should be informed and the Change Log should be kept up-to-date. ![[Fig 9.7 Manage Project Change inputs - outputs and main roles.png]] ![[Table 9.6 - Manage Project Change - Related Artefacts.png]] **Outputs** - Change Request Form (PM2 Template) - Change Log (updated) (PM2 Template) - Project Work Plan (updated) (PM2 Template) ___ Spanish Guide: [[9.6 Gestión de Cambios]] <-- [[9.5 Manage Requirements]] --> [[9.7 Manage Risk]]