Project Management and Change Management
Project Management and Change Management tests controlled delivery: planning scope, managing risk and stakeholders, and moving changes into production without avoidable disruption.
Core rules
- Projects balance scope, schedule, cost, quality, risk, and resources. A change to one affects others; approve scope changes through change control.
- A WBS breaks deliverables into work packages. A milestone has zero duration.
- Change management types: standard changes are pre-authorized; normal changes go to CAB; emergency changes use expedited approval and retrospective review.
- A change record needs impact, risk, test evidence, implementation plan, rollback, and communication.
- Organizational change management addresses adoption: awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, reinforcement (ADKAR), or vision, coalition, and short-term wins.
- Separate project change (scope or schedule) from operational change (production configuration).
Worked example
A team wants to upgrade a learning management system during finals week. The change is normal, high impact, and high risk. CAB should require a tested rollback, a low-traffic window, vendor support, user communication, and a pilot. If the vendor cannot support rollback, defer or require documented risk acceptance. Emergency approval is not justified because the upgrade is planned.
Traps
Do not treat CAB as a rubber stamp or a technical design review. Do not implement without rollback. Do not confuse user training with communication. Do not let urgent requests skip records. Do not ignore stakeholder resistance until go-live.