Change Control

Change Control

Syllabus

CS & MP: Three & 2 Half Distinct Related Themes

CS3, 4, 8 in Detail

CC02: Administration of Change Control

CC 01: The Purpose of Change Control

CC04: Change Control Technique

CC04: CS4 Impact Assessment

CC10: Change Authority

CC05: Change Control Responsibilities and Activities

CS3, CS4, CS7 and CS8 Change Control Approach Technique

CC03 & CM07: Link Between Change Control and Configuration Management

	A15 Issue Log
	A28 Project Issues
	A18 Off-Specification*
	A33 RFC*
	A12 Exception Report

Exception Plans & Correction

A11 Exception Plan

Exception Plans

Responsibilities in CS Issue, Change or Exception Handling

DP4 in Detail

CS & MP Summary

Change & Issue Log Context

Change Control Ch20 & Ch23 Fig 23.1

CO02: Project Issue Records Contents

Recap & Summary

Applying PRINCE2®

Change Control Practitioner Question

CC 01 describe the purpose of Change Control (p)

CC 02 identify the products and general administration of Change Control, and understand the content and purpose of a Project Issue, Request for Change, and Off-specification (p)

CC 03 understand the link between Change Control and Configuration Management (p)

CC 04 understand the PRINCE2® Change Control Approach technique (p)

CC 05 understand the Change Control responsibilities and activities of the various PRINCE2® roles within each of the eight processes (p)

CC 06 create, modify or discuss any of the products of Change Control in a given project scenario

CC 07 apply Change Control to a given project scenario

CC 08 apply the Change Control Approach technique to a given project scenario

CC 09 discuss the factors determining escalation of Project Issues to the Project Board, identify the processes involved and create/discuss the products required, for any given project scenario

CC 10 discuss the factors affecting the application of the Change Budget and the possible appointment of a Change Authority in any given project scenario

CC 11 identify the relationship between Change Control and other PRINCE2® components within any given project scenario

20.2 Project Issue Management “captures, logs & categorises all Project Issues. Project Issues…may be raised at any time…, by anyone …”

Steps

	Capture and determine Issue Type (CS3)
	Assessment and formulation of responses (CS4) appropriate to Type 23.1.3 Six steps [Identify] What would have to change (including any related products/ secondary impacts) Assess the effort required 4, 5 and 6 ! [Assess] Impact on tolerances within plans at all levels, the impact to Business Case and to the risk profile for both customer and supplier   7!   Reassess priority 23.1.2 Suggests as scale of 1 to 5         “1: A Must, 2: Important, 3: Nice-to-have, 4: Cosmetic, 5: Not a Change”
	Take action via (CS7 & CS1/MP1 or CS8 & DP4…) then confirm completion

Any (All) consideration to alter plans [or any base-lined project element] is managed as a A15 Project Issue

Provides a single, integrated mechanism for any situation where “what next?” requires challenging the existing plans

	Covers discretionary and non-discretionary changes
	Covers change within tolerance or exceeding tolerance (at any management level)

20.1 “control of change means the assessment of the impact of potential changes, their importance, their cost and a judgmental decision by management on whether to include them or not

Approved changes must be reflected in … schedule and budget”

Fragmented in the manual: Component in chapter 20 & Technique in 23

23.0 “the control of changes to specialist products, not management products”

	“If a product is to be changed, its Product Description should be checked for any necessary changes
	Once a product has been approved, the Project Manager should not authorise any work that would change it without the approval of the Project Board [or delegated change authority]”
	23.1 “All changes [are Project Issues and] use [exactly] the same technique”

Implemented in the process sequence CS3àCS4àCS5àCS7 or 8

	CS3 just admin (record to Issue Log)
	CS4 analysis
	CS5 PM decision making then
	CS7 correction or CS8 Escalation for Project Board decision making

Considers affect of changes on A2 Business Case, A34 Risk & A30+A35 plans

23.1.3 Change control technique

	Optional impact assessment procedure
	Performed by team members with expertise to make assessment of significance and required response

20.4 Project Issues [20.4.3 Timescales Costs & Risks] should be viewed against the benefits they offer and their impact on the Business Case]

Balance the advantage achieved by incorporating the change and the time, cost and risk of implementing it

20.4.2 The Risk Log

Project Issues should be considered to identify new risks, any impact on existing risk & check if they are already accounted for

20.3 Authority Levels

	“During IP* the Board must consider who is permitted to authorise changes (Project Issues) …to what the Project Board originally committed”
	“May delegate decisions … to a group, here called a ‘change authority’ ”
	Assess Project Issue priority and authorise or reject Project Issues 23.1.4 Authority level required for decisions based on size & type of response Controls the Change Budget
	20.5 H&T “Very often … Project Assurance … act as the change authority.”

“[in] a programme, programme management define the … authority that the Project Board will have to approve changes”

PM when with-in stage tolerance and not an approved (baselined) product

	Project Board [or change authority] if within Project Tolerances All baselined products require project board’s authority to change
	CoPM if impact to project tolerance

*IP1 and IP4 are both candidates as IP1 sets up Change Process & IP4 sets up controls (and IP2 decides change budget size!)

Change Budget: 20.3.1 An optional budget allocated to the change authority for funding the anticipated level of change

	Avoids each change exceeding tolerance and triggering exception assessments (i.e. without the sequence from CS8àSB6àDP3)
	Responsibility, size & constraints proposed in (IP1?) IP2 & ?IP4
	Agreed with the Board in DP2
	Changes outside the change budget and tolerances will require an Exception Report & may require a request to CoPM

20.5 H&T “… the Project Board may wish to put a limit on

	(a) the cost of any single change and
	(b) the amount spent on change in any one stage without reference [to themselves]”
	Total impact of changes agreed to date is reported by CS6 in A14 Highlight Report

Change control & Configuration management (CM) are both concerned with control of versions of products and managing baselines

19.6 "Close liaison [is required]...to identify & control versions of products”

	A baseline is only changed when a Project Issue is authorised by the Change Authority 20.5 “Procedures used to control Project Issues must be integrated with the configuration management approach…”
	Exceptions caused by Project Issues require a A.24 Product Status Account to assess progress and create A11 Exception Plan

Configuration management stores the specialist & management products

	I.E. Issue Log and the Configuration Item Records are stored CM
	Both stored in the Project Quality File (Appendix E.3)
	Configuration Item Records cross-reference the A28 Project Issue that gave rise to changes to a product

An ‘index’ into and summary listing of, the complete set of all A28 Project Issues

	Created in IP5
	Access is controlled by the Configuration Librarian and the use of CS3 and CS4
	CS3 may be used by anyone at anytime to log a new Project Issue of appropriate type

Composition

	Project Issue number, Issue type & Priority Issue Type is one of: A33 Request for Change, A18 Off-Specification, general question or statement of concern
	Author, Date identified & Last updated
	Description
	Status (action taken – if any)

Generic means to raise (at CS3) either of:

	A Statements of concern, Question or new Risk
	Otherwise use an A33 Requests for Change or A18 Off-Specification

Raised by anyone at anytime. Then:

	Impact Analysed at CS4,
	Considered at CS5 (and also at CS8 and DP4 if outside project or stage tolerances)
	Actioned at CS7 or SB and DP3 à CS1

Provides the means to raise & analyse (“in the normal manner” 20.2) a new risk outside of sub-processes dedicated to management of risk

Composition

	Project Issue number, Author, Date raised & Priority
	Description of the Project Issue
	Analysis of positive and negative impacts on: Any & all product A1 Acceptance Criteria Project effort, cost, schedule and A34 Risk Log Impact on A2 Business Case All Plans and all tolerances
	Decision from Project Manager or Project Board as dictated by authorities required
	Signature of decision maker(s) & date

A. 18 Off-Specification

	Warning that a product may/ will/ has failed to meet its A1 Acceptance Criteria in its A22 Product Description Often Supplier side & non-discretionary
	Logged in CS3, Assessed in CS4, Actioned in CS5?7 or CS5?8 Logged by anyone at any time May be raised as an A28 and redefined as A18 in CS4

Composition

	Date & Issue Log number
	Status & Priority assessment
	Description of & Impact of the fault
	Decision
	Allocation details, if applicable
	Date allocated & Date completed

23.1.4 “the Project Manager may try to solve the problem within the stage tolerance…or if the Board…accept the Off-Specification without corrective action; this is called a ‘concession’”

A. 33 Request for Change

	Requests that a modification to a product or its A1 Acceptance Criteria be considered
	Often customer led and discretionary
	Logged in CS3, Assessed in CS4, Actioned in CS5?7 or CS5?8
	Logged by anyone at any time
	May be raised as an A28 and redefined in CS4

Composition

	Date & Issue Log number
	Status & Priority assessment
	Description of & Impact of the proposed change
	And of not doing the change
	In measurable terms
	Decision
	Allocation details
	Date allocated & Date completed

Change to a baselined product always needs the Project Board’s approval

	RFC’s are funded from the project’s Change Budget or cause an Exception
	Impact Analysis is funded from day-to-day project resource allocations

A. 12 Exception Report

	Record of a forecast deviation beyond tolerance levels within a Team plan (project Issue raised at MP2?CS3) Stage or Project Plan (CS8)
	Identified from sources external to the project or any of the plans, logs and reports of the project

Composition

	Description of the cause & consequences of the deviation
	Response options and the effect of each on the A2 Business Case, risks and tolerances
	Escalating manager’s recommended response

Exception Plan requested by the project board DP4?CS8

	Produced by SB6àSB2àSB3àSB4àSB5àDP3 EXA
	Replacement team plan requested by the project manager from team manager

15.5.5 Exception plan runs from time of exception to the end of the plan it replaces

	May be project (and thus also stage and team) level (SB6 & SB2) Approved by CoPM
	Stage (and thus also team) level (SB6) Approved by Project Board in DP3 Exception Assessment
	Or just team level Managed between project manager and team manager “Following local procedures” (see A.11.2 bp3) CS7 Taking corrective action

A plan that if approved (by becoming the new baseline) replaces a plan whose contents is no longer desired or relevant

	Sets out the actions from current status/ context to currently desired team/ stage/ project outcome Based on recommendations made in an A12 Exception Report (Stage and Project Plan) or Project Issue (Team Plan) Resolves the concern raised in the Exception Report Approval by the next higher level of the project management team
	Requested as a result of detection and assessment of a tolerance threat*

Composition.

	Produced according to the product description and plan design of the relevant plan level Team plan changes may affect stage plan (with or without impact on stage tolerances) Stage plan changes may affect project plan (with or without impact on project tolerances)
	The exception plan may be wholly new or largely the contents of the replaced plan Includes all actions to create, quality control and accept relevant products within (possibly revised) scope, risk, benefit, quality, time or cost limits and tolerances

*Whether Mandatory (eg failure to perform) Discretionary (eg Request for Change) Certain (eg Project Issue) or Uncertain (Risk)

CS3         Capturing Project Issues

	Project Manager's responsibility
	Project Support/ Configuration Librarian may be central focus for receiving and documenting Project Issues

CS4         Examining Project Issues

	Project Manager's responsibility
	Team Members may assess impact of Project Issues on products, workload, cost, schedule and risk, and devise alternative courses of action
	Project Support assist with administrative work
	Project Assurance examine impact of Project Issues on the products, risks and the Business Case
	Configuration Librarian maintains the Issue Log
	Change Authority (The Board or a delegated authority) decides actions taken on Project Issues

CS8         Escalating Project Issues

	Project Manager escalates Project Issues
	Project Assurance monitor situations that could cause a deviation and alert the Project Manager
	Configuration Librarian updates Configuration Item Records

Any departure from agreed plans or product descriptions is a Project Issue

All issues are logged in the Issue log using a Project Issue, RFC or Off-Specification

Every approved or baselined item requires the Board's authority to sanction amendments

	Board may delegate authority to a Change Authority in IP1àDP2
	A change budget may be created (IP2/4àDP2 to forestall every change being an Exception

Steps are Log(CS3), Impact Assess(CS4), Escalate(CS8-->DP4) or respond(CS7)

Change control considers amendments to products, Configuration Management stores products therefore two interlinked

CC 06 create, modify or discuss any of the products of Change Control in a given project scenario

CC 07 apply Change Control to a given project scenario

CC 08 apply the Change Control Approach technique to a given project scenario

CC 09 discuss the factors determining escalation of Project Issues to the Project Board, identify the processes involved and create/discuss the products required, for any given project scenario

CC 10 discuss the factors affecting the application of the Change Budget and the possible appointment of a Change Authority in any given project scenario

CC 11 identify the relationship between Change Control and other PRINCE2® components within any given project scenario

Turn to Section:5 Sample Practitioner questions and try question 8

	Part A is a single answer worth either 5 marks or none
	May be worth consulting the Red Book for this one
	The worst I’ve seen was 14 marks or none! Very unfair
	Part B has a “best answer” question worth 0 (wrong), 1(OK) or 2(Best)

Re-read the scenario S:5.1 if you need to

	There is ‘Additional Information’ specific to Question 8
	Ignore all other ‘Additional Information’ you may have read

Answer the question using a blank answer grid from S:5.3 then mark your answer using S:5.4

Research any questions where you disagree with the marking scheme

How much exam-time was looking up references in the Red Book?