Changes to a project can negatively impact the budget or timeline and if the project was a group effort; it can cause resentment and interpersonal issues if all parties were not in agreement with the changes. Customers may also refuse to pay for changes if there was not a cost associated with the change and a clear approval to the change in scope. Learning to communicate the ramifications of a change to the project team, customer, and other stakeholders effectively is essential for successful project management.
Respond to the following:
• As a project manager, identify a project and a reasonable change a customer might wish to make to that project. For example, if you are creating a website for a customer, they may wish to incorporate a new color scheme or logo to improve or enhance their corporate brand. In the situation you describe, consider the following:
o What should be the process for securing a change request?
o Who is authorized to approve or accept a change request?
o How should such a change be tracked?
o Is there a cost or modification to the project timeline to accommodate the request?
o If the change is minor, should the cost be passed on to the customer–why or why not?
o What is a reasonable number of change requests for a project?
o Is there ever a valid reason to disallow a change request or to stop accepting change requests? Please describe a situation to justify your answer.
• You find that a member of your team has accepted a change from a customer and the customer did not put the change in writing.
o How should this issue be handled with the employee?
o Should the change be honored or rejected?
o How will this decision and the proper change request procedure be relayed to the customer?