TOPIC: What happens first - Change Request or Analyze Change Request

I did a practice test this morning and found an inconsistency in answers. The images of the test questions are attached.

In question ID 12242 the answer says that the first step in processing any change request is to fully analyze and understand its impact on the project.
In question ID 12215 the answer says that even before you review and evaluate the impact of a change, we need a documented change request to proceed.

Which is correct?

Hi Kris,

There is no inconsistency with these questions.
The creation of a change request is the beginning of the process. And the first thing that has to happen when a change request is received is to assess its impact.

The second question is meant to underscore the importance of a documented change request. The project team will not spend time evaluating a potential change until it is formally requested following the defined process.

I hope this helps clarify things for you!

Best regards,

Tracy

Thanks for your speedy reply!

So when a stakeholder informs you they would like a change to the project which of the following would you do as Project Manager:

A. Complete a Change Request form and then analyze the request to determine if it is a valid and necessary change that should be fully explored. If it is not, reject the Change Request. If it is, then submit it to the Change Control Board.

B. Do an initial quick review of the request. If it is not a valid and necessary change reject it and inform the Stakeholder. If it does seem like a valid and necessary change, then fully analyze the change request, and then complete the Change Request form and submit it to the Change Control Board.

I suspect the answer is A, but please confirm.

Many thanks,
Kris

The answer is A insofar as the change request comes first. WHO fills out the change request would depend upon the nature of the change. A change to a software requirement may come from one of the business users. A change related to the management of the project may come from the project manager.

Best of luck,

Tracy

Sorry for being troublesome, but I still don't understand this. Regardless of who physically completes the actual Change Request form, is this form always created at the first mention of a change requirement, or does the PM do some analysis first before he decides if an official Change Request should be raised.

Question 12501 has a situation where a stakeholder at a status meeting asks for a change to be made to scope that he thought had been agreed at a previous meeting. Two possible answers are "Document issue in the issue log" and "Issue a change request". The answer is to document the issue in the issue log, but then in the explanation it says that the issue should be first documented and then you may possibly create a change request depending on further discussion and examination of the issue. This would tend to support the idea that a Change Request is not immediately created and is instead subject to an initial analysis, which could lead to this change being denied before any Change Request form is actually completed.

Kris,

Since the question arose as to whether a requirement needs to be included, it's certainly appropriate that the issue be added to the issue log. At this stage, the PM is not going to do an in-depth analysis of the impact of the requirement on the project (e.g., impacts to cost, schedule, etc.). The issue could be resolved in a number of different ways (e.g., everyone could agree the requirement is not needed and could be eliminated or delayed to a future, post-project date). If, however, a change request asking to add the requirement is generated then it will be necessary for the PM to assess the impact of the project in a much more detailed fashion and present that to the Change Review Board who would either accept or reject the proposal.

With regard to an "initial analysis" during the evaluation of the issue, this could certainly happen. But in no case would resolution of the issue on the issue log be tantamount to approval of the change - such approval only happens though the process as defined in the change management plan.

Tracy

Thanks for the clarification.

Same problem I have faced, but I never get a response from Prepcast. So, mentioning it here.
Question ID 6113361

The request from stakeholder must be analyzed first, then submitted to CCB as a change request.
But the answer from Prepcast mentions it the other way round.

How does PM judge whether the request from stakeholder is worth the time and effort of CCB?
Please answer

basically when stakeholder identified something new, the stakeholders is supposed to first submit the request to the responsible party (usually project manager) through change request template.
once the template is submitted to project manager, project manager and in some cases engineers are going to analyze it before implementation. so the order is: submit change request (document)-analyze change request- plan for implementation or reject.

hope this helps

Thanks for the reply.
However, if the stakeholder asks for a change to Project Manager, should the PM submit the change request or evaluate it or pass on to team for evaluation.

i would say it depends. usually i would take the submitted change requests to the meeting with the engineers team and technical subject matters experts to review the impact and business value of this change request. after that we would decide to either put it into the planning and do prioritization, request more info on the request to the stakeholder or reject it. Sometimes if the change requests required more technical expertise, the engineering team would take time to analyze the request.