How do we track the cumulative effect of many changes?
Invisible aggregate change impactReview the combined effect on the baseline and outcome rather than assessing each request in isolation. Small approved changes can still create a large funding or delivery shift.
What to do now
- Summarize approved changes by outcome
- Reconcile their combined cost and schedule impact
- Check interaction between changes
- Request a wider replan when needed
When to escalate
Escalate when
The aggregate effect breaches the project's authorized tolerance.
Who decides
The authorized change decision maker
Example
Several interface additions together require a new testing cycle and revised deployment window.
Mistake to avoid
Approving each request because it looks small on its own.
Prevent a repeat
Compare delivered changes with authorized decisions and keep the current baseline distinguishable from earlier versions.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Documents
- Approvals
- Tasks
Keep the change request, impact assessment and recorded decision together; update affected tasks only after the appropriate authorization. See the platform
Related cases
- How do we assess the impact of a change properly?Incomplete change analysis
- A change affects another project. Who coordinates it?Cross-project change impact
- How many project KPIs should we track?Metric overload
- The new system changes people's responsibilities, but nobody told them. What now?Unmanaged role transition