Managing Change

Looking ahead and planning for change is essential in most aspects of life. Managing change effectively is an integral part of any project or programme delivery, and is therefore integral to dB’s business as the UK’s largest broadcast systems integrator.

An agreed change control process will need to be in place between all parties from the start of any contract, with each potential change assessed for its possible impact on project duration, quality, performance and total costs.

dB Broadcast has developed its own change management process to track and manage all elements of change. The procedure allows control of design changes, so that the impact on other areas of the project, and the overall project programme, can be assessed. It also provides a mechanism for tracking and logging changes.

At the outset of any project, it is essential to have a clear baseline from which change can be measured. A set of documentation would include any or all of the following: a written response to an RFP, a priced Bill of Materials (BoM), stated assumptions, a detailed project plan, project risks, programme approach, resource model, dependencies and key stakeholders. The Project Manager will agree the details of the change process with the client; the change control communication lines and authorities for all parties are defined.
Each proposed change in the client’s requirements will be assessed and submitted for approval before taking action. Projects are typically gated, so that as the design progresses, dB will seek written client approval for changes before instigating them. Changes typically create either a potential delay in project timescales or a cost change, or both. Customers want to be sure they are getting  value for money with changes mid project, as it is impractical to involve competitive tenders at this stage, so dB often agrees commercial terms in advance on how changes are costed. This has a double benefit in that the customer is ensured good value, and dB avoids having to negotiate every change. All major changes will also require a risk assessment, i.e. would the change impact on an existing risk, or create a new risk?

In the high-level design phase of a project, relatively frequent negotiation with the client project team will be expected. Proposed changes are recorded in a change register as soon as they are identified, and may be grouped together into a single contract change for client approval. Urgent client changes mean that a change request will be raised immediately. In the low-level detailed design and installation phases, changes will in general be requested individually, as their impact is likely to be greater than in the early stages of system design. The later in the project the change is requested, the greater its likely impact.
A changes register for the project is used at internal project reviews to assess the impact on the project costs and timescales. The Project Management Office maintains records within each project for all client approvals and tracks the status of each change as 'in progress', 'approved' or 'rejected'.

An effective process for managing change should help minimise surprises when seeking a successful outcome in delivering complex broadcast projects.

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