Change Control Board: Roles, Responsibilities & Processes

Change Control Board: Roles, Responsibilities & Processes

Project management is methodical, but change is not. A change control board is a group of people from the project team that meets regularly to consider changes to the project. It includes representatives of the relevant functional areas of the project in addition to the project manager. Large projects typically have a central change control board in addition to various change boards specific to their project area. The change control board looks at change requests which are then reviewed in detail and debates the pros and cons of a change.

It is important to have a change control board that reflects all project aspects, from the team to the end-user. The change control board determines if a change is worth the impact it might have on the schedule and budget of the project. It is not always the last word on the subject, and its decision is not always final and binding. The roles on a change control board differ by project, organization and industry, but there are fundamental roles that are common in all change control boards. The manager leads the group, coordinates activities and oversees all aspects of change.

The change manager is responsible for documenting the change management process and the necessary plans to implement the change. The approver or change authority decides if the change is authorized or rejected. The change control board is an important part of change management, with business stakeholders, team members, customers, and customer service/technical support/help desk agents all having a place on it. Approvers work closely with managers to approve and direct change in the organization and/or project, while change managers are the same people. Business stakeholders can be brought in to better understand the impact of the change, and team members can be software developers, testers, quality assurance offices, marketing teams, etc. Customer Service/Technical Support/Help Desk Agents are on the front lines of the business, dealing with customers and have an intimate understanding of whether a change will have a positive or negative impact.