Question

All good project plans have a change control system as a component. Briefly explain the change control process.

What are the two primary purposes of control?

Why is control difficult?

What is earned value?

Define the terms monitoring and control.

What actions can you take to help avoid the common problems associated with meetings?

Answer 1

Change Control Process:- Change control process is a systematic approach in order to make decisions & managing all the changes that are needed to be made in a system/ process for betterment of the same. The primary purpose of this process is that no unnecessary/ unrequired changes are implemented & all the changes are properly documented. Resource management & allocation would also be kept in mind & efficient use is always the agenda. There is a team which is responsible for conducting such process, & is formed with its stakeholders. Few basic steps in Change Control Process are mentioned below:-

1. Changes request catering/documenting.
2. Justification for changes to be made in process.
3. Action plan to be created by responsible team.
4. Quality check/ testing to be performed prior sending these for implementation.
5. The desired team implements the program/process & then changes are reviewed.
6. Final check & audit is being conducted & if qualified satisfactorily, the change request is closed.

2 Primary purpose of control:-

1. Prevent/Stop unnecessary changes:- Controlled changes under proper supervision will help the process to gain efficiency & should gain the resource utility. If not performed under controlled manner, changes might lead to process deviation & could lead to unnecessary efforts for correction.
2. Documenting the Changes:- Controlled & step-by-step procedure of making any change in product/ process, helps you to properly document & pen-down each & every detail of the change. Documenting helps to control the resource utilization as well.

Control, as a word is very difficult when come across in day-today life scenarios as well. It is very easy to say, one should control their temper, one should have control over emotions, controlled driving etc, but when the actual situation arrives, most of us fail to control ourselves. Controlling changes or anything can be complicated & needs proper supervision. While controlling any process, each & every aspect should be clear & sound enough, deadlines must be defined, quality cannot be compromised.

Earned Value:- earned value is process which helps the manager, to calculate the amount of real/actual work performed on that process. This helps in monitoring the projected plan, actual progress & other details to have an overview if project/ process are on their right track? It is basically a measure of what money & duration should have been spent, in comparison to the amount of work performed so far. It covers the budget of the cost of work performed till date. It is toll which can be used to predict future of projects, in terms of deadline, money & other factors.

Monitoring & control:- Monitoring as word suggest is just, checking & keeping an eye over the process so that fault & shortcomings can be analyzed. Monitoring is about just documenting the points that needs discussion over meeting. Results & better process would be achieved post meetings. The process which needs monitoring are being observed closely until project completion so that potential problems, faults can be identified in a timely manner & accordingly changes can be performed. Controlling as explained above is the making changes post monitoring if needed in any aspect/stage of project/process. The monitoring & control processes are executed respectively throughout the life of project.