Change Requests
A change request is how scope, schedule or cost moves deliberately rather than by accumulation. Programmes rarely fail from one big change; they fail from forty small ones nobody assessed together.
If you change this
It implies 5 topics across one module.
See the path ahead →Why it matters
Scope creep is not a single event. It is a series of reasonable-sounding accommodations, each individually affordable, which together consume the contingency and the schedule.
- It makes cost visible: Each change carries its own schedule and cost impact, assessed before acceptance.
- It protects the baseline: Without a baseline that only changes formally, there is nothing to measure against.
- It forces prioritisation: If everything can be added, nothing is traded off.
The workflow
- 01
Raise
Anyone may raise; the request states the need, not the solution.
- 02
Impact assessment
Cost, schedule, resource, risk and downstream effect, assessed by delivery.
- 03
Options
Including the option of not doing it, and doing it after go-live.
- 04
Decision
At the forum holding the relevant authority, on the assessment.
- 05
Baseline update
Approved changes update the plan and the budget, immediately.
- 06
Communication
Everyone affected told, including the people who asked for something else instead.
Assess the cumulative impact, not just the individual one. Forty approved changes of three days each is a six-month delay that nobody ever approved.
What you need in place
- A baseline worth protecting: Scope, schedule and cost agreed and frozen at a point.
- Impact assessment by delivery: Not by the requester, who is rarely disinterested.
- Approval thresholds: Small changes decided quickly, material ones escalated.
- A deferral path: Post-go-live is a legitimate answer and should be an easy one.
- Cumulative tracking: Aggregate impact reported, not just individual requests.
Questions to ask
01Baseline
What is the baseline, and when was it last formally changed?
If it drifts informally, variance reporting is meaningless.
02Assessment
Who assesses impact?
The requester's estimate is an advocate's estimate.
03Cumulative
What is the aggregate impact of approved changes?
Report it every time, or it stays invisible.
04Deferral
How often do we defer to post-go-live?
If never, the process is a rubber stamp.
05Informal change
Can scope change without a request?
Through design decisions, usually yes. That is the leak.
Metrics and KPIs to track
Change requests raised
By source and by workstream.
Approval rate
Approved, deferred and rejected.
Cumulative impact
Total cost and schedule effect of approved changes against contingency.
Assessment turnaround
Time from raised to assessed.
Post-baseline scope growth
Scope added since the last formal baseline.
Alongside this