What is a change request? Definition and meaning
Projects do not always proceed as desired. During the course of a project, adjustments to the workflow or to certain work results are often necessary. Minor adjustments usually lie within the individual’s scope for action and decision and can be implemented immediately. Larger deviations, however, require a formal request and subsequent review by the project management.
The instrument for this is called a change request. A change request is a formal proposal from a person involved in the project. Its purpose is to deviate from the original planning, the result or the organisation of a project at a defined point in a specific way.
A change request can relate to the following matters, for example:
- Requests to change processes, plans, deadlines and procedures
- Requests to extend or reduce the product scope or content
As a rule, a specific procedure for submitting and processing a change request is defined in advance. This procedure should be clearly communicated to all project stakeholders. Every change to the project parameters in turn requires the attention of the project management. Their task is to review and finally assess change requests.
When reviewing change requests, the project management must carefully weigh up whether
- … the proposed deviation leads to an overall better project result or not.
- … the additional effort resulting from the change, if any, is in reasonable proportion to the benefit.
Often the last point in particular is decisive. Since projects are usually planned with minimal resource use, deviations from the plan can quickly lead to project timelines or project costs being exceeded. The decision as to whether the extent of these additional costs is offset by other factors is often difficult and must be made under uncertainty.
Regardless of the outcome of the final decision, all change requests and their outcomes are documented. This makes it traceable when a change request was submitted but ultimately rejected. Conversely, every change request that is approved is of course documented as well.
Change requests can be submitted by your own project team, but they can also come directly from the client. If the change request lies outside the scope of the concluded contract, an appropriate adjustment to the project order must also be made, or a new order is created.
Every approved change request has a direct effect on project content and scope. In order to map these changes to the plan efficiently, flexible project management software is an advantage. Changes in prices and costs also frequently need to be factored in. Contractors then benefit from a unified software solution with which quotations and invoices for (partial) projects can also be generated automatically.
Change request vs parliamentary amendment: which one is meant
In politics and in association law, the term “change request” also refers to a formal motion used in a meeting or assembly to request a change to a proposal, a law or a set of statutes. In project management and business software, however, it means the request used to demand a deviation from the original project planning, which is then reviewed. It is this meaning that this article refers to.