The Hidden Cost of Poor Change Control (And How to Fix It)
Your project started with a clear scope. But six months in, it’s unrecognizable.
The marketing team “just needs one small adjustment.” Engineering discovered a “minor technical issue that requires rework.” Operations wants to “optimize the process before launch.” Each change seems reasonable in isolation.
But together, they’ve doubled your timeline, blown your budget, and left your team unclear about what they’re actually building.
This is what happens when organizations lack systematic change control.
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The change control gap shows up as
✦ Projects that creep from well-defined scope to ever-expanding wish lists
✦ Teams are drowning in change requests with no straightforward evaluation process
✦ Leadership is making decisions without understanding the full impact
✦ Timelines that slip and budgets that balloon from “small adjustments”
What execution-focused leaders do differently: They establish systematic change control processes that make scope impact visible before decisions get made.
Mini Case Study
We were engaged to conduct a PMO assessment for a company that provided hair-color kits. When we discussed change control systems, we found that they had processes in place to handle change, but the systems were becoming bogged down by the high volume of change requests.
Upon further investigation, we found that people would often throw ideas over the fence, expecting project managers to determine the scope impacts, compile the change request documents, and then lead the discussion with management about the change. We encouraged the project managers to push back on the organizations and let the people requesting the change conduct research on the change impacts, then write the document and review it. By doing this, people reduced the number of irrelevant changes, making the system more manageable.
Our approach to change control
✦ Clear impact analysis: Every change request requires cost, timeline, and scope assessment
✦ Systematic evaluation: Decision frameworks that prioritize changes based on strategic value
✦ Embedded accountability: Change originators own the analysis, not just the request
The Result
Leadership makes informed decisions about scope changes. Teams work on well-defined deliverables. Projects deliver promised value without scope creep derailing execution.
Stop accepting scope creep as inevitable. Systematic change control turns project changes from execution killers into strategic decisions.
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