Change Control Board

If you are a project manager or a business representative, how do you handle change requests that come from internal processes or external stakeholders? Can you accept and implement those changes without proper impact analysis?.

The uncontrolled expansion of cost and time due to changes can be controlled by establishing a change control board (CCB) and strict guidance on what is needed as per the scope statement. 

The change control board (CCB) is responsible for reviewing, evaluating (against scope, time, resources, etc.), approving, delaying, rejecting, recording, and updating those changes in the changelog, and, communicating such decisions to the stakeholders.

These changes can require adjustments to the project management plan and other project documents. Customer or sponsor approval may be required for certain change requests after CCB approval unless they are part of the CCB.

The CCB members include the project sponsor, project manager, subject matter expert (SME), and other relevant people from the team, management, and external. Some organizations have permanent CCBs that are staffed by full-time employees dedicated to managing change for the entire organization, not just for project change. The change control board can conduct a meeting once a week, every week, or even once a month depending on the project. All the change request should be documented in the changelog whether it is accepted, rejected, or deferred. The CCB can provide the authority to the project manager to make decisions on small changes on the spot and keep the project moving along. In some organizations especially IT organizations where service management is well implemented, they may use a change authorization board (CAB).