Changes to projects are inevitable and it is a rare client who will not request a change at some point during a project. But the challenge for a project manager is to implement a change process in such a way that the project schedule or budget are not impacted or, when this is unavoidable, that the over-run in time or funds is acceptable to, and agreed with, the client.

In order to control and manage change within a project there is certain basic information that must be fully documented – the what's, who's and when's:

·         what items were changed

·         what items were added

·         what items were removed

·         what is the impact on the rest of the project

·         who requested to change

·         who approved the change

·         who made the change

·         when was the change made

Because change is so commonplace and so frequent in projects, most organisations dealing with large or complex projects will choose to implement a formal change management process to help with managing the information associated with each change request.

With tools that can assist with managing changes, the whole process becomes simpler to deal with and is more likely to result in a successful outcome and a satisfied client at the end of the project. The best processes and tools provide good resource impact features which assess human resources, budgets and time. They also ensure that changes are communicated, reviewed and approved efficiently.

If change management is not performed efficiently then there can be a substantial administrative overhead that will eat into both the schedule of the project and the budget and eliminate any advantages of having a change management process. So it is important that the process is included in both the schedule and the budget but that it does not take a disproportionate amount of resources away from the main tasks of the project.

Automated change management tools can help to keep the effort required in proportion to the advantages and provide a central repository for prioritising, scheduling, tracking and reporting changes to all interested parties on the project.

It is important that both the process, and any tools used to implement the process, are clearly understood and adopted by all those involved in the project. Everyone should appreciate that the process is not designed to add another unnecessary layer of bureaucracy but to improve the final outcome of a project for everybody.

Every change management process should include the following basic features:

·         A description of the tasks within the project that need to be controlled

·         A list of project tasks that can be excluded from the change control process

·         Details about who can request changes

·         Information about how to request a change

·         Details about who can approve a change request

·         Information about the approval/rejection criteria

·         A method of prioritising and recording changes request

·         A tracking system

The steps required for a simple change management process might be as follows:

1.      Project team member or end-user completes a change request form and logs the request with the change manager, who is often the project manager.

2.      On a regular, scheduled basis, which would typically be a weekly meeting, those assigned to approve change requests discuss each request and then approve it, reject it or request more information. Each one of these three statuses should be accompanied by a description of the reasons for the decision and that should be communicated back to the requester.

3.      Approved change requests are discussed with other members of the project team to determine the best way of implementing the change.

4.      The schedule and/or budget is modified to incorporate the approved change.

In any change management process it is important to remember that it should be designed to prevent unnecessary changes but make those changes that are necessary (i.e. those with a solid business case) easy to control and include in the project schedule and budget.

Change management is just one area of project management best practice but by applying it throughout every project you will achieve the highest chance of success. Your can study best practices, including change management, on project management courses for all the internationally recognised methodologies such as PMP, Prince2 or APMP.

Project management, which was born in the 1960,  is increasingly being recognised as a true project profession with recognised standards and accreditation routes. However around the world a number of different standards have emerged for the accreditation and certification of project managers. These include


   1. PMP Certification from the USA based Project Management Institute. This is the most popular certification standard with about 450,000 practitioners. This certification is based on a role delineation study which looked at the skills project managers use day to day in delivering projects. It draws heavily, but not exclusively, on the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, which is a detailed description of the processes and procedures which underpin project management.
   2. PRINCE2 Practitioner which is sponsored by the Office of Government Commerce which is part of the UK Government. This also has around 400,000 qualified practitioners. PRINCE2 is a method that describes the stages a project should go through to operate in a controlled way, along with the roles and responsibilities of the key members of the project team, including the Project Executive, Project Manager, Senior User and Senior Supplier.
   3. APM Training from the UK Association for Project Management includes a wide range of qualifications at different levels including the APM Introductory Certificate, APMP, APM Practitioner and APM Registered Project Professional. The latter of these is a professional standard for managers of complex projects. These qualifications are less popular than the other two but they do offer a clear development roadmap for project managers at different stages in their career.

Which Standard to Select for a Global Organisation?

For most organisations working in one national territory then the selection is easy, in the UK the APM or PRINCE2 qualifications are very strong and wildly recognised, while in the rest of the world PMP is the natural choice. However this creates a difficulty for multinational organisations. For those based in the USA then PMP is the natural choice however a UK multinational  may be inclined to adopt one of the UK standards (APM or PRINCE2) but these will not be recognised or have little value for those outside the UK. These organisation have the dilemma of selecting between a standard recognised in the UK and one recognised in the rest of the world. The solutions is to combine the different approaches into one Project Academy.

What is a Project Academy?

A project academy is a structured development programme to meet the specific development needs of project managers at different stages in their project management development. If combines three elements


   1. External certification to a standard reliant to the local standards (APM, PRINCE2 or PMI).
   2. Bespoke training modules specific to the needs of the organisation for example the need to improve commercial management of projects or adopt a consistent method across all projects.
   3. Continuous professional development activities which can include external development activities including local chapter meeting, participation in conferences or internal development opportunities such as job shadowing or project secondment.

The aim is develop the whole project manager both the generic skills but an understanding of the business context in which the project is being delivered. Organisations such as NASA have been running Project Academies for many years. This offers a number of development activities to build a complete project manager. Including formal and informal development activities to develop project managers from a introductory to a strategic level of project management leadership. This more rounded approach to the development of professional project management is going to be critical in developing professional project managers of the future. Parallel Project Training are working with a number of organisations to develop and implement project management academies based on these principles for more information download our Parallel Project Academy White Paper

PMP Certification required three elements

1) A record of project management experience

2) 35 hours of project management training

3) Completion of a 200 question exam

A record of project management experience PMP certification needs candidates to demonstrate experience managing projects. With a degree you need three years leading project tasks, without a degree must demonstrate five years leading projects. All candidates have to complete and experience record as part of the application. It is strongly recommended that candidates are honest about their levels of experience because the PMI will audit a sample of applications.

36 hours of contract time You also need to demonstrate 35 hours of project management training. The most common is a PMI Registered Education Providers (R.E.P.s),  but also other sorts of training count including internal company training, training delivered by consultant, on-line e-learning with an end of course certificate or training from a PMI chapter. However the training must be formal training and cannot be general seminars and discussions or self directed study such as reading the PM BoK.

The exam is 200 questions The PMP exam is based on 200 questions of which 25 are test questions which are being developed for future exams. So the actual exam is 175 questions, these are selected at random from a large question bank, however the are weight to cover the different areas of the PMBoK.  In the following sections:

Initiating

11%

Planning

23%

Executing

27%

Monitoring and Controlling

21%

Closing

9%

Professional and Social
Responsibility

9%

Advantages of PMP Certification

There are many advantages of PMP certification for project managers. These include

1.         It will make you a better project manager because you will have a better idea of the best project management processes to use.

2.         It will bosst you project management confidence

3.         PMI research shows you can expect to earn 15% more income

PMP certification form Parallel Project training can fat track your career