Due to increased volatility in the market, you must change your project plan almost regularly. So, you know that despite your best efforts to gather all the requirements, change requests will come. You even have to change the project timeline to accommodate the demands at times. No matter how challenging it is, you cannot deny client requests. In this article at PM Tips, Elizabeth Harrin shares how you can change your project plan with the least disruption.
Methods to Change Your Project Plan
The best way to change your project plan is to make a smooth transition. How do you do it? Here are the ways you can change your project plan without dismantling your previous progress:
Be Specific About the Change
Explain to the team why you want to change your project plan. Be specific about the areas you want them to modify. Some of the team members will have a better grasp of the inner workings of the team assignments. You must have the rest up to speed. If you have doubts regarding the requirements, clarify with the stakeholders that demanded it.
Follow a Change Guideline
You will find tons of change management guidelines online. First, you need to register the change in your project log. Analyze if you are going ahead with the change. Let all come to a consensus about the change implementation. If all say yay, change your project plan.
Modify Project Documents
When you are changing the plan, it is going to impact your schedule for sure. Find out if you must modify project documents like requirements traceability matrix, budget scope, and resource skills. Check if your documents are in line with the new plan. Maintain a version every time you change your project plan to make it easier for the team to retrace their steps if needed.
Check the Schedule
Once you are done gathering the changes, find out if you have buffer enough to add the new tasks to the existing timeline. If you do not know precisely how long the new assignments might take, change your project plan and timeline as you would typically have. You can update the time estimate once the team starts working on it.
To view the original article in full, visit the following link: https://pmtips.net/article/how-to-update-your-project-plan
