Managing Changes to the Project Scope Document, Case Study Example

All business should have the will to change. With the business needs changing rapidly and with the raised competition and new technological explorations, change is inevitable. However, the approach in managing changes is what defines an efficient project manager. An efficient scope change process defined. A balance between flexibility and control established to avoid ignorance and the inability to control the scope and the rules.  The various responsibilities, including authority levels associated with the change and the routine changes considered. If a proposed change affects the scope of the project, then it is a business decision that requires approval from business owners. This may include the senior leadership, Project Sponsor, or the Steering Committee. However, if the scope not affected, then the Project Manager approves the changes within certain authority limits. For an effective change, the cost associated, risks and duration compared to the likely output of a project considered to come into a decision of acceptance or rejection of the change.

Points and pitfalls to consider

1) Level of Work Package Detail -Ensure micromanagement of the project extremely large details become impossible or difficult to manage.

2) Deliverables, Not Activities – ensure the WBS contains a list of broken down deliverables of what the customers will get upon completion of the project

3) WBS is not a Schedule – ensure the WBS not made to be more of a project plan or schedule. A WBS created to be a visual breakdown of deliverables.

4) WBS Updates Requires Change Control -The WBS is a document subject to change. Changes to the WBS bring change to deliverables and the scope of the project.

5) WBS is not an Organizational Hierarchy – The Organizational Hierarchy shows the lines of communication and commands while WBS is showing the deliverables and scope of the project.