Change Management Assignment: Importance Of Change For Project Execution

Question

Task: During project execution, project managers ensure that project work is completed as specified in the Project Management Plan and according to project requirements. Requirements may change throughout the course of a project. Changes need to be controlled, ensuring all of their impacts upon the project are managed effectively and are incorporated into existing management plans and project baselines. The process of directing and managing project work requires project managers to take on numerous responsibilities and to exhibit characteristics such as attention to detail, constant communication and effective leadership.

Change Management Assignment Part A: Discussion Forums

Managing Project Changes

Why is change management a necessary component of project management? What processes or strategies do you think work best to manage project change?
Recall any tools or techniques you have used to stay organised and keep professional projects on track. Perhaps you created schedules using software like ProjectLibre or Microsoft Project. Or, potentially, you created a task list using MS Word or an application on your mobile device. Maybe, you used an issue tracking software to monitor progress. How have these tools and techniques helped you to manage change?

Change Management Assignment Part B: Change Management Report
Based upon your readings and discussions on change control, in group or individual, develop a change management report. In your report,

1. Identify and analyse the time, cost and quality impacts of the change upon the project and the techniques used to manage them
2. Identify options to satisfy the change request and any associated risks for each change
3. Complete the change request/control form provided or one that is used from a workplace.
4. Explain the term scope creep and use examples from your group discussions of tools and techniques that can be used to manage scope creep. The written part of your Change Management Report should consist of 800-1000 words

Answer

Change Management AssignmentPart A: Discussion Forums
Personal Discussion Post
In the management of a project in the business and marketing industry, change management is becoming more and more important every day as it helps in ensuring that the technologies and innovations delivered by the project management planning and procedures are being used by the employees properly and they are being able to implement them for the betterment of the associated company. change management helps deal with several factors that arise in the business of a company. firstly, the process helps in dealing with the external factors of business such as contemporary issues of digitalization that has exponentially increased due to the transition of the companies into remote systems during the pandemic and lockdown condition (Vlados & Chatzinikolaou, 2019). Enabling cross-functional changes within a company helps it to align the overall strategy with the planning of an individual project along with tracking and resolving issues. Restructuring job roles, the implementation of new technologies and restructuring the business processes are other positive effects of change management. The performance and productivity of the employees can be effectively improved by this, as efficient change management can confirm the creation of a safe workspace and healthier work environment within the company.

Choosing the correct approach to manage the change inside an organization or in the execution of a particular project is very much important. The project manager and other stakeholders and employees should be able to concentrate on the planning stage. The crucial details of the changed scenario must be known beforehand, otherwise, chaos can take place. Transparency is another thing that must be maintained within the employees at all levels of the project. This will create a condition of a reliable and loyal work environment and if unprecedented risks arrive during the process, it will be easier to manage when transparency is maintained. To do so, communication becomes another important factor to focus on for change management. Without proper communication, it is impossible to coordinate the employees of different sectors within a project to work with each other (Cameron& Green, 2019). For successful change management, the different sectors within the organization must work fluently by themselves and in coordination with each other. It is best to create and provide a detailed roadmap before the process. the mapping should be aligned with the histories of the company and the future needs and requirements, so that the employees feel connected with the root. Training periods and talent management facilities can be provided to complete change management and to familiarize the employees with the entire process.

Change management is becoming inevitable within the organizations that work in the international platforms and marketplaces because the world economy and market are going through several alterations during this pandemic and lockdown condition (Jayatilleke& Lai, 2018). There are several tools that a company can use to initiate the change management procedure. Whatfix, the popular digital interactive platform is one of the major software used by companies. The software offers the employees support and training along with providing interactive sessions of 'walkthroughs' to speed up the companies' change processes. The software also comes with a customizable analytical dashboard and training programs for the employees, which also helps to enhance the entire process.

Students’ Posts Responses

Part B: Change Management Report
Introduction
The systematic tactic or approach implemented to deal with any form of transformation or transition in an establishment that enables the achievement of pre-set goals is known as change management. This report is based on the importance and effectiveness of change management for the accomplishment of a project. It portrays how changes can be applied and how to control various changes for the benefit of the organization. This report will provide detailed information about the several aspects of the changes that a company intends to implement. It will help us in understanding the significance of the changes.

Discussion
The effect of time, cost and quality impacts of the change upon the project and the techniques used to manage them Time: The change management processes do not only require a previously mapped and well-planned time management routine but the project manager and other stakeholders also need to look at the capture of perfect timing to initiate a particular change procedure. for example, the digitalization of the companies has become extremely important during the pandemic situation and thus the change managers must look at it right now. Constant monitoring of the companies' market conditions and logistics, comparison with the rivals can indicate the perfect time management for a change manager.

Cost: Cost management is the fundamental backbone of a change management process, as any kind of alteration requires a huge amount of cost and money investment by the company (Thakur & Mangla, 2019). Not only that, but the managers should be ready for any unprecedented risks regarding the financial setbacks that may arrive during the execution of a change management process. Maintaining good and constant communication with the investors and stakeholders, constantly working after the taxes and bills can help in managing the financial effects of change management.

Quality: The sole reason for initiating change management is the improvement of the companies' services' quality that directly affects the reputation and marketing of the company. Not only the quality of the result, but the implementations that have to be done during the execution of the changes must be of good qualities and that includes the technological tools and other facilities.

Options to satisfy change requests and potential risks associated with these changes
Any proposal, often issued by the team members, to adjust a particular agenda or modify a product during working on a project is known as a change request. These requests are usually raised internally and require software upgrades or alteration of codes to meet new objectives. Change requests can be managed by the following five steps. The first one includes supporting the request with materials with explicit details. Old case studies can be useful to understand ways in which a situation can be dealt with. Determination of whether the request is suitable for the project scope (Galli, 2018). Prioritization of the request based on current scenario along with identification of potential risks. The fourth stage includes approval or rejection of the request. Lastly, deciding the course of action once the change has been implemented. To satisfy the requests, reviewing the possible changes should be conducted beforehand. If the company intends to devise new strategies, it should take into consideration the essential factors such as cost, quality and efficiency (Dzwigol et al. 2019). Various tools that are used for change management are flowcharts, Gantt charts, stakeholder analysis, culture mapping and change request forms. Ten possible risks come in the way of change implementation such as technology risk, communication risk, scope creep, cost risk, operational risk, health and safety risk, skill resource risk, performance risk, market risk and external threats. These risks should be identified and forestalled to prevent further complications in the future.

Change request form in the workplace
Change request forms are the primary change management tools that are used for issuing, requesting, documenting and approving the required changes that are necessary for the accomplishment of any project. In the change request procedure, every individual involved with the concerned project should be well aware of the changes that need to be implemented and it should be decided unanimously. The request form provides a detailed description of the changes and their impact upon the chosen project like time, resources, cost, quality, scopes and benefits. It should be able to predict the probable consequences (Dawood, Siddle & Dawood, 2019). Alternate options should be considered before the execution of the changes. The request forms must describe all the steps that are required for the implementation of the changes. Other important details such as the name of the project, request number, sponsor's name, date, name of the individual who raised the suggestions behind the issued changes and the project manager who approved the change, should be mentioned in the form.

Define scope creeps and suggest ways to manage them with suitable examples
Continuous and uncontrolled changes in project management can be termed scope creep. As it can be gathered, the needs of a project tend to increase over its lifecycle. This kind of situation occurs if the project scope statements are inadequately defined. These unauthorized changes commonly known as scope creeps are one of the biggest disadvantages of change management (Ajmal, Khan & Al-Yafei, 2019). If not eliminated properly, they can affect the project in the long run and open room for further changes impacting company profits. They can also happen due to vague documentation or statement of work, specific deadlines or timeframes that are impossible to meet and poor communication among team members, managers, stakeholders and other people related to the project. Some of the examples of scope creeps are Denver International Airport Project, Chrysler's PT Cruiser Project and Kitchener's Main Library Extension.

Conclusion
This report offers thorough information about ways in which changes should be managed in an organization for the benefit of the employees as well as the potential customers. Methods of cost and quality control provide comprehensive knowledge about possible consequences of the changes that need to be implemented. A proper description of change request tools allows a better understanding of how to manage these requests in the workplace. The team members and managers should prioritize the adjustments based on present conditions with consideration of other significant aspects. Thus, it can be concluded that change management is very essential for any establishment.

References
Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2019). Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.
Jayatilleke, S., & Lai, R. (2018). A systematic review of requirements change management. Information and Software Technology, 93, 163-185.
Thakur, V., & Mangla, S. K. (2019). Change management for sustainability: Evaluating the role of human, operational and technological factors in leading Indian firms in home appliances sector. Journal of cleaner production, 213, 847-862. Vlados, C., & Chatzinikolaou, D. (2019). Crisis, institutional innovation and change management: Thoughts from the Greek case. Change management assignmentJournal of Economics and Political Economy, 6(1), 58-77.
Galli, B.J., (2018). Change management models: A comparative analysis and concerns. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 46(3), 124-132. Dzwigol, H., Shcherbak, S., Semikina, M., Vinichenko, O. & Vasiuta, V., (2019). Formation of Strategic Change Management System at an Enterprise. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 18, 1-8.
Dawood, H., Siddle, J. & Dawood, N., (2019). Integrating IFC and NLP for automating change request validations. Journal of Information Technology in Construction, 24, 540-552.
Ajmal, M., Khan, M. & Al-Yafei, H., (2019). Exploring factors behind project scope creep–stakeholders’ perspective. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business.