TOPIC: change requests & project documents updates

Hi Everyone,

My Question is regarding to the project documents updates.

In referring to the PMBok Glossary , change request defined as (a formal proposal to modify any document, deliverable, or baseline) , however there are some documents that need to be regularly updated like ( Risk register , Stakeholder register, issue log, Requirement tractability matrix, etc) , my question is : what are the documents included in the above definition?

Thanks
Housam Kerma

Housam, the documents referred to by the definition means just that: "any document." The definition of the change request is sufficiently general to ensure you understand that when you come across a change request in project management, you'll know to update any document that might be associated with the result of the change request. One example could be resource calendar if a date change for a resource is re-scheduled.

Dear Housam,

You are asking an excellent question. We frequently get similar questions from our PM Simulator LiveFeedback^TM feature.

The thing is that the PMBOK^® Guide does not really clarify what documents require change request to be issued in order to modify them and what documents do not require it. As you and Michael correctly mentioned, it just says “any document”. But this is not what really happens. Well, the PMBOK^® Guide does differentiate between Project Management Plan and Project Documents. Please take a look at the table in the PMBOK^® Guide, Fifth Edition, page 78. Project Management Plan (with all its subsidiary plans and baselines) is considered to be a controlled document, while all the rest are non-controlled documents. As a rule of thumb, if a change will require a modification to any of the project management plan documents (controlled documents), then a formal change request should be issued and submitted to the Change Control Board (CCB) approval. However, if the change will affect non-controlled document, for example Issue Log (as a result of some issue that a project manager added), then no change request is required.

Having said that, some cases will require a change request to be submitted even if they touch project documents only. It will heavily depend on the question, on how it’s worded, and what is its context. For example, milestones list is a project document. However, if any milestone is required to be changed, most likely it will require the project schedule (another project document) to be changed, which, in turn, most likely will require a change to the schedule baseline, which is part of the Project Management Plan. And, therefore, a change request will have to be issued.

So, it all depends on the question.

On the flip side, if eventually a change request was issued and approved, project documents are likely to be updated in many cases (you can see that project documents update is one of the outputs from many processes). Again, which document and how it should be updated, will depend on the particular question.

Hope it clarifies.

Thanks Stan, very well explained

Hi Housam,

You are welcome.

Let me add one more point please: if the Project Management Plan is still being developed (not approved yet), then no change request is required in order to modify the plan or any parts of it.

Good luck in your preparations!

If you disapprove a change request - besides the issues log - what other documents would you have to update?

Nice explanation.

However I have one question,

Ideally data flow should be Process-->Raise CR--> Perform Integrated Change control --> Approved CR--> Update Plan.

Then why output of all Control Processes is allays Update project plan and CR?

Should it not be only CR?

Stan Po, MBA, PMP, PMI-ACP, CSM wrote: Hi Housam,

You are welcome.

Let me add one more point please: if the Project Management Plan is still being developed (not approved yet), then no change request is required in order to modify the plan or any parts of it.

Good luck in your preparations!

Thanks!!

So it this reason control processes have output as Change request as well as Update PMP...?