What Conditions Must Be Met to Close Out a Change Request?

In project change management, stakeholders might request a change to introduce new functions, modify a requirement, or resolve an issue. Many project managers close a change record when the change control board approves the change to proceed. Others when the change has been completed and included in the project deliverables. Neither approach is valid, because the reason for approving the change request in the first place might not have come to fruition. So, what conditions must be met to properly close a project change?

• The change is completed within an acceptable cost range. When management approves a change based on estimated costs, they believe the benefits justify the cost. If the change has exceeded estimated costs, you need to re-evaluate the validity of the change request’s business case. That is, does a positive business case still exist for keeping the change in place?
  • If the change will produce value that justifies the cost of the change, close the change request        record.
  • If the value provided doesn’t justify the cost, keep the change request record open for further action. For example, you might back out the change from the project to avoid downstream risks or issues with increased solution complexity.
• Tests prove the installed change satisfies the stated business need. Business stakeholders should test the products created to satisfy the requirements of the project change request. Also, determine whether stakeholders can follow the instructions in any user documentation produced for those products. You can close the change request record only if both activities have been completed successfully. If not, determine whether corrections can be made as part of the current change request record. Or you can create a new change request record to address modifications required to satisfy business stakeholders.
• The change doesn’t introduce unanticipated risks/issues. A change request approval process includes estimated costs, confirms the approach for making the change, and highlights risks. If the design, construction, or implementation of a change introduces unanticipated risks or issues, keep the change request record open. Then, determine how to address the issue or mitigate the risks. Review your plan to address the issue/risk with key stakeholders. If stakeholders approve of your plan, take those actions, and close the change request record. If the stakeholders aren’t satisfied, rework the plan until the stakeholders are satisfied. You can close the change request record only when unanticipated issues and risks have been addressed to the stakeholders’ satisfaction.
• The change doesn’t affect other constraints. A change request might affect other project constraints. For instance, implementing a change might require other changes to make it work. This form of scope creep can be expensive. So, watch out for a change domino effect to get something to work. Quality concerns can also arise from the results of a change. What if an added function in a solution leads to occasional operational errors? Answering that question can be difficult and contentious. Finally, a change might increase the cost of ownership of the product(s) the project produces. Of course, this is something that should have been identified during the analysis of the change request before its approval. If something was missed, re-evaluate the change to determine whether the increased support costs are worth the business gains.

Do you have questions or tips for closing out change requests? Share with us in the comments section.

For more about managing project change requests, check out Claudine Peet’s Change Management for Projects course.

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