Change Control Examples – Benefits & Process 

Change control is a method of recognizing, documenting, validating, and authorizing the changes to reduce the disruption rate in the project and the organization. The objective of the change control is to optimize the allocation of resources, decrease errors, and limit unauthorized upgradation. Today, we’ll discuss the change control examples; various stages in the change control process, and its benefits.

For instance, a company has launched a change initiative of digital transformation, and it needs support and assistance from various team members of different departments. It is because the associated risk rate in such projects is very high. Such types of change initiatives demand high control processing and a formal approach.

Change Management Vs Change Control 

Both terms may seem similar, but they are completely different. Change control is a very small part of the overall change management processes. However, change control processing allows companies to smoother and streamline various change programs; it comprises formal documentation of the change plans.

On the other hand, change management is an overall and broader plan that focuses on various areas ranging from planning, funding, communicating, and execution.

Change Control Process – Stages 

Some of the key stages in the change control process are as follows;

Change Request

It is the stage when you recognize the company’s need for change because of the latest customer trends, tech development, and inefficient existing processing. Usually, customers, top leadership, and project or team member make requests for such types of changes within the organization.

That’s why it is significant for businesses and companies to have an open communication channel so that they would gain insight from team members and departments of the organization. The change initiator should have a detailed plan discussing what change means and how it would benefit the organization to make the change request. The initiating person shouldn’t forget to mention the reasons for the change in the online form.

Request Analysis

The company’s top management evaluates the change request in terms of required resources, budgeting, and the impact of the change on the company. It also conducts risk analysis and required behavioral modification for the growth and success of the change program. The request would move to the next stage for further processing if approved. If the evaluating team rejects the request, they would communicate and document the reasons for the rejection.

Change Management Strategy

Here, you should develop a plan and a strategy for the change program. The change leader would develop a comprehensive strategy by discussing timelines, resource allocation, testing, and the impact of the change. Some of the steps you should keep in mind while developing the organizational change management strategy;

• Recognizing clear goals and objectives
• Developing communication plan
• Defining roles and responsibilities
• Reducing the resistance to the change initiative

Executing Change

As the name implies, it is the stage where you disturb the company’s change processes and launch the change plan. It is critical to make sure that they are executing the changes in various stages rather than all at once.

Closure of Change Request

After implementing the change program, it is time to analyze whether they are a success or a failure.

Benefits of Change Control Process 

Some of the main benefits of the change control process are as follows;

High Productivity

Research studies have shown that an average person would only be productive for three hours a day. It is because of poorly managed execution processes and unclear delivery results. Often, change control managers resolve such issues by decreasing employee confusion, improving overall employee productivity, and project delivery timing.

Teamwork

The documentation in the change control processes streamlines the execution of the project. It offers clear communication, making cross-functional teams collaborate with one another on the change program.

Better Change Communication

Transparent change communication plays a significant role in your workforce to adopt the upcoming change both at the personal and organizational level. An effective change communication plan would help you to decrease internal resistance and barriers.

Lower Cost

The change control processes decrease the risk and failure relevant to the change initiative program. When your processes are streamlined, then it reduces the cost and optimizes the resources.

Change Control Examples 

Some of the main change control examples are as follows;

Software Execution – IT Change Management

Launching the software is a very complicated task and it involves a lot of risks. In order to avoid failure, the company takes the following steps;

• Analyzing the Scope: By analyzing the need for change; combine needs, and features, you should narrow down your research to the top vendors and suppliers
• Execution Plan: creating a team from different departments and also developing a backup plan; it is significant to launch the training program in order to upgrade their skill
• Pilot Testing: creating an environment to test the software for configuration analysis and checking bugs. Before implementing the software on the entire company, you should launch it on a small scale. It would help you to recognize the bugs before launching it on the entire company
• Integration & Launching: you should integrate and launch the new software, and send training materials to the end users
• Reviews & Feedback: gather feedback to recognize questions and any issue that needs further support

Database System – Web Theme Changing

A company is working on a web-designing project, and the client has requested you make some color changes to the theme. Some of the steps in the change control process are as follows;

• Change Proposal: the client changes his mind during the meeting with the project manager; the manager would document the changes for his record
• Change Analysis: the designing team would look into the changes and analyzes their effect over the entire web theme, and they would also check whether the color change would impact other areas of the website or not
• Strategic Changes: the manager would further analyze the impact of the change, decide how it would impact the budget, discuss it with the client, and gets his views
• Execution of Change: when everyone is on the same page about the color changes in the website, they would implement it on the website
• Closure: the change program ends after implementing the changes based on the requirements of the clients

Conclusion: Change Control Examples – Benefits & Process 

After an in-depth study of the change control examples; various stages in the process, and its benefits; we have realized that change control is a step-by-step process. If you are learning about the change control processes through examples, then you should keep in mind the abovementioned examples, processes, and benefits.