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The Change Request Form in Web Projects

September 2, 2008 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Change Management, Scope Change Control

The Change Request Form in Web Projects
By Katy Whitton

So, you’ve tested the site and are approaching the sign-off phase but before you can jump the last hurdle the client turns around to you and says, “Well actually, I’d like it to do….”

You check back through your Technical Requirements Specification: what’s been asked of you was never in the TRS and has never been mentioned. So, what do you do?

I’m going to go ahead and do it anyway of course!

Are you now? And so the project begins to creep, and creep, and creep until what the client finally signs off on bears no resembalance to the original project. They’re happy but you’re out of pocket and way behind on other projects.

The first thing you have to do is to sit down with the client and see if what they want is actually worth doing and is it worth doing now. If you feel that the addition is indeed worthwhile, this is where the change request form comes in. The form allows you to scope out the details of the addition rather like a mini TRS. Listing what it’s supposed to do, functionality, how it will fit in with the exisiting site/infrastructure etc. This will then allow you to estimate how long the project will take.

Whether you charge for the addition will depend on how long it’ll take, how much profit is left in the budget and how much you want to impress/retain the client. Once you’ve decided on the charging, the sheet is presented to the client, outlining the functionality, delivery date and cost (if applicable). The client then signs this off and the design, development and testing takes place.

When the addition is delivered, the client will either sign-off on it and the project moves to the sign-off and delivery stage, or they’ll ask for further changes. Again, if this wasn’t in the TRS or the previous change request you repeat the process.

This practice is very useful as you have a fully documented trail of changes and the client can see the escalating cost of the project quickly - which is great if you want a way to dissuade them from further work for the time being!

Basic elements of the Change Request Form include:

  • Client Name/Reference Number
  • Revision Number - Useful for keeping track of how many revisions/what stage you’re at
  • Revision Request - What has the client asked for, how will it work?
  • Date Requested
  • Time required for revision
  • Due Date
  • Cost
  • Client signature (although they could agree by email - but make sure you keep it!) & date signed off

Katy Whitton has over 10 years of experience in dynamic website creation, e-commerce, database integration, accessibility, usability and project management and has worked with a variety of clients including Cable & Wireless, NATS, Ribena, Wourburtons and The British Dental Journal amongst others. She also run a successful blog which discusses productivity, motivation, project management, web development and whatever else takes her fancy!

After becoming Senior Web Developer and Maintenance Manager she decided to change directions and worked for a series of startups managing their website design and build from start to finish and now works for a large multi-national Printing and E-Commerce company.

For more information about Managing Web Projects and for your free sample chapter, please visit http://www.managingwebprojects.net/.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008 and is filed under Change Management, Scope Change Control. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 people have left comments

I’ve written 5 articles about “tools for Project Management” and one of these articles talks about the Change Request form.

Articles are written in French.

PS : I’m a Web Project Manager and I’ve discovered your blog a few days ago. Congratulations, it’s great to read a good blog specialized on PM ;-)

Eric - SuperFiction
(from Paris, France)

Eric - SuperFiction wrote on September 2, 2008 - 7:46 am | Visit Link

We’ve added a couple of additional fields to our change request form which we have found really useful.

An ID for each change so that its easier to track for all involved.

Wider Issue - If we feel that the change or testing has discovered a wider issue that will affect many projects we document this for the post-project review.

Scott Hewitt wrote on September 2, 2008 - 10:33 am | Visit Link

[...] management plan. At a minimum, the change control process must ensure the consistent use of the change request form, the change order form and the change-tracking [...]

Project Scope Control - Part 2: Change Management - PM Hut wrote on February 6, 2009 - 7:27 pm | Visit Link

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