I am currently in the implementation phase (my personal favorite) on two large projects for my employer.  But as I begin to look ahead on day-to-day AD and Group Policy operations, and requests for packages, inventories, reports in SMS I see a need for change management in our environment.  I know CM is usually something most people in IT hate, but I see it as a huge advantage and here is why.

1.  Is this request valid?  This goes for all requests, AD, GPO, and SMS.  I don’t know how many times I have gotten a request to make a change and it was just a fleeting idea, no real thought, no approval.  By making them put this request into electronic format it forces them to answer some key questions for you and if you have an approval process you will know not only have your questions been answered but their manager has also signed off on it.  That doesn’t mean it will get approved, but at least two sets of eyes have seen it before it hits your inbox.

2.  Documentation to back you up.  This can be for your charge codes, if they try to come back and say that is not what I wanted, I meant, I said, I, I, I…You have in in writing now, they can’t back track and say it never happened or this is what I meant.

3.  Questions answered.  This removes the burden of having to remember everything you asked and if you asked everything, not to mention if you took the right notes.  You should have all your answers in the form, if not send it back.  And when you go to plan and make the changes you have everything you need.

4.  Tracking.  This is probably most important.  And it goes back to #2 as well but I can’t tell you how many times I have worked on something to later on get that look of “what are you talking about?”  Even when I can repeat back verbatim the conversation I have still gotten the “what are you talking about?”  While this does not eliminate it, and may not keep it from changing, they can’t say I don’t recall that, and I am not paying for that or you can’t use the charge code for this.  You have it in writing from them.

The article below speaks to several of these points and deals with PM more than SMS or AD/GP but it is still valid.  I have talked to a few people who use CM at their company and most are in favor of it.  I see it as a good thing, yes it is paper work and it may not be fun, but it will save you frustration and more work on the back end if it is done right. 

If you would like to share your CM process shoot me an email or better yet leave a comment so everyone can read it.

Regards.

Original source:

The Key to Project Success (Part 2 of 2)
Bob Weinstein
August 30, 2006


Most project managers learn the importance of change management the hard way--on the job, where mistakes are inevitable and textbook principles don’t seem to work that well all the time.

Margaret Meloni, PMP, president of Meloni Coaching Solutions in Long Beach, Calif., discovered this first hand. Meloni also teaches a course in the project management certification in UCLA’s extended education division.

This story is about how one PM learned and eventually mastered change management principles, and how they improved her relationships with customers.

Looking back on her 11-year career as a PM, Meloni says that many of her early experiences helped shape her career. As a novice and inexperienced PM, for example, Meloni learned that giving short shrift to change management amounted to poor customer service. She cites two scenarios where she experienced what she called “consistent project manager remorse.” The first was being told that the project she had just been given to manage was a slam dunk. Meloni mistakenly believed what she was told. The second scenario was opting not to manage scope according to a standard change management process.

Early in her career, Meloni discovered that her success as a PM was largely dependent upon customer satisfaction. She had come to appreciate the importance of strong collaborative relationships with her customers. And it all hinged on their respecting and trusting her to get the job done properly. “I needed them to help keep project priority high, and to provide financial support and subject matter expertise,” she says. “I loved giving them good news and I hated giving them bad news.”

To document her observations so she could learn from them, she decided to put her lessons in formula form, a habit she still religiously keeps. It’s helped her refine her management strategies and become a better PM.

As for Meloni’s formula about keeping her customers informed?

Announcing new requirements (or any change in direction) as a scope change = bad news

But Meloni also learned that most of the early customers with whom she enjoyed an excellent rapport had no idea why projects were often late, or why they cost more money than originally estimated. “It was as if all of those conversations and agreements about adding five more days to development for more in-depth error messages had never occurred,” she observes. “How could that be?”

Meloni was puzzled, yet her customers were happy because they got what they expected. “There were no changes and everything was in scope from day one,” she says. It seemed to always simmer down to a case of IT taking too long. It was another learning experience for this PM, and another formula to document it:

Skipping change management = Undocumented overages + poor customer perception

So Meloni moved on, determined to take on bigger and better projects, yet always remembering the importance of building excellent working relationships with her customers. Somewhat more streetwise and cautious, she was determined to incorporate change management principles into every project she tackled. In fact, she made it a point to document possible CM scenarios in her project plans, and then review them with her teams.

Every change, no matter how insignificant, was documented and acted upon. As soon as problems surfaced, Meloni responded. “I helped my customers by actually filling out their IT change request forms,” she says. “Talk about customer service.”

Meloni’s efficiency paid off. Not only did it make things easier for her customers, but it lessened her burdens. “All that my customers had to do was review and approve the change forms, and off we went.”

Sounds like PM utopia, but Meloni still wasn’t totally on track. She mistakenly reasoned that once the change forms were in IT’s hands, clear sailing was ahead. Wrong. “I was still missing the much-needed customer buy-in,” she says. Hence another formula to be applied on her next project:

Change management without customer participation = Documented overages + poor customer perception

Despite the steady stream of surprises over the years, Meloni says she never gave up on the importance of CM and, most important, making her customers partners in the CM process. “From the outset, they must understand and support the process,” she says. “They need to see the value of tracking changes, and I needed to understand that expecting their support and participation amounted to good customer service.”

Here are few of Meloni’s big lessons, which she feels PMs can apply and adapt to all projects:
If your current environment does not have a CM process, introduce one. Invite input and encourage others to expand upon it and make it better. This way everyone owns it.
Do not over-engineer your CM process. Set rules and standards that allow for rapid processing of change requests.
Never be apologetic about expecting customers, project sponsors or team members to issue change requests.
Documented changes support and encourage better estimating procedures for future projects. They also help customers better understand the true scope of their requests and requirements.
As Meloni sees it, if CM is not in place, don’t expect an accurate accounting of project scope, scheduling and budget. And this leads to Meloni’s final formula:

Skipping change management = Poor customer service

The Key to Project Success (Part 2 of 2).