Perform Integrated Change Control

Unlike its very confusing title, the process itself is very simple to understand, but extremely complex to perform. During the project executing and monitoring and controlling processes, changes are requested that effect different components of the project. These requested changes are accepted/rejected and handled in perform integrated change control process. In simple words, perform integrated change control looks in to the changes and their impacts on all knowledge areas. As previous, the integration means dealing with all knowledge areas.

Consider a change in scope requested by the customer. Imagine what severe problems the project manager could face if he just calculates the cost of this change and starts working on it rather than performing a complete integrated change control process. He might totally be missing out the impacts on HR, schedule, quality, etc. and the project may end up in a total disaster. The very next thing to be done after receiving a change request is to calculate its impacts on all knowledge areas in the perform integrated change control process. It is only after this complete impact analysis that the change request, its required actions and strategies are sent to the change control board for the final approval. Change control board are made so that the responsibility of accepting or rejecting a change does not only fall on the shoulders of the project manager alone. The board may include the project manager, customer, industry experts, the sponsor, etc. Once this process is done, the project management plan is updated in its respective areas. There may be changes in the project baseline after the changes are approved, so all these effects have to be reflected in all the documents.

Monitor and Control Project Work

This is another of the integration knowledge area process which means it has to do some thing with processes in other knowledge areas and process groups. This process is very closely knitted with the direct and manage project execution process we discussed in the last post. As the name suggests, this process is about monitoring the activities and tasks being done by the project team and controlling it to stay within the acceptable limits of the project scope. The project manager is required to do this process from the initiation of the project till its end. He has to keep measuring the project performance against the project baseline defined as part of project management plan. This process is considered among the most important of the tasks a project manager does because this is where he finds out whether or not the project is being completed as per the project management plan. If not, the project manager requests changes including recommended corrective/preventive actions or defect repairs to change control board. The monitoring part is reviewing and analyzing the project performance while the controlling part is about taking steps to ensure that project remains within acceptable limits.

There can be situations where in a project, the scope is completed but quality is not acceptable or the quality is met but with excessive cost. These are the situations where monitor and control project work process comes handy if done properly. the project manager can continuously balance the requirements of different knowledge areas to control the project within acceptable limits. The integration function of monitor and control project work mainly involves reviewing the current status reports, analyzing them, foreseeing and forecasting the changes to be made in order to keep the whole project under control. There is a concept of work authorization system associated to monitor and control project work process specifically. This means that there has to be a system under the project manager which ensures that no work on the project is carried out or started before the authorization of the project manager. This is a very important concept to understand. As we know that the project manager is a person who knows about all the activities going on in a project, their results and their inter-dependability in detail. He knows which activity is to start after which one is finished. He cannot afford to have an electrician or a painter show up to work on a construction site where the foundations are being laid. Without a proper work authorization system, things like this are likely to happen.

The key is to remember that this process is in the integration knowledge area and that the monitoring and controlling means measuring actual project performance against the project baseline.