In this article, the author proposes seven simple questions can help us assess change-related risk and gauge the effectiveness of our change-management process. The article is written for IT environments, but I think the questions are still applicable to our space:
- Who raised the change?
- What is the reason for the change?
- What return is required from the change?
- What are the risks involved in the change?
- What resources are required to deliver the change?
- Who is responsible for the “build, test, and implement” portion of the change?
- What is the relationship between this change and other changes?
I’d add another question is whether the customer will be charged for the change, but I couldn’t come up with an ‘R’ for that. Regardless, it is interesting to come up with a standard checklist that question whether proposed changes are really necessary.