Insights on Change Control Management – Part 2

Change Control Management Part-II

To get the desired effect from an identified change, all change efforts must pass through a process of due diligence & proper planning, on how to deal with various aspects and impacts resulting from change implementation for smooth transition and acceptance.

Creating a Change Control Board & Identification of Change Control Procedures

1. Key People

Selecting the right people, at the right level in the organization is a key step. The key is to identify people with proper temperament. People who are averse to risk will bog down the meetings, be unproductive, while if the people involved do not have a knack for asking the right questions, or are impatient, changes will be sped through without regard for process and critical thought.

Challenging our assumptions at the change control stage saves money, time, and potential failure.  The role of Change Control Board is critical as it is not for the change control board to decide what projects pass, but to see that the changes impacting the environment of the company are well thought out and understood.

As far as possible, the core team should include people from multiple areas with some level of expertise, like HR, Technology, Helpdesk, Maintenance / Operations, Sales, QC, Legal etc.

2. Key Areas

• Identification - The written procedure should cover the identification of the changed device, work package etc. The change control form should have blanks for recording this data.

• Effective Date - The procedure should cover the effective date of the change.

• Responsibility - The change control procedure should state which department or resource(s) is/are responsible for each function & if any extra management oversight is required.

• Revisions -  Which manner will be used to handle revision levels?

• Validation – Results from the change processes to be tested and endorsed by appropriate departments with careful records being maintained for review by Change Control Board.

• Communication - Change procedure should cover the communication plan for stakeholders.

• Updating Documentation – This is an important area to be covered. The procedure should cover updating documentation such as user instructions etc.

• Documentation Distribution - Documentation should be distributed to persons responsible for the operations affected by the change and old documents removed.

• Follow Up Tasks – Any other areas impacted indirectly by the change process should be identified and listed for impact assessment.

• Quality Assurance – Must document steps required for change to be assessed and certified.

3. The Framework

The following are generally considered to be the proper steps or project framework within which to study and implement changes.

• Project Evaluation: Who will implement it and who is affected?

• What do we need? What is it worth to us? What does it cost?

• Why do we need it?

• When must it be in place?

• Where will it occur?

• How will it be done? 

4. Project re-evaluation

It is also a great idea to do a Post Mortem, or follow up on the change control items and check whether they are implemented successfully or not.

• What variances from the expected outcomes were encountered?

• What did we do right?

• What could be done better for future projects?

• Were our initial assumptions correct?

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