When consulting with clients, I often convey that there are two types of change management in product development:
Proactive Change Management
Reactive Change Management
Suspect triggers and suspicion are great examples of “reactive change management.” Something changed upstream, and you are notified so you can react.
You may ask, “Mario, wouldn’t it be ideal to react and prepare for change BEFORE it happens?” I would then shake your hand, nod my head in proud agreement, and we would be off to enjoy a festive beverage together.
This describes proactive change management, often referred to in requirements management by its function: “Impact Analysis.” When you take the time to build proper trace links across your requirements, you gain a view of all downstream impacts BEFORE you make a change.
It effectively allows you to notify your teams to prepare for the change and provide details so that when it happens, you can reduce risk and maintain compliance.
In the “old days” of the 1900s, you would handle this by calling all your cross-functional team representatives into a conference room and getting their sign-off. Hopefully, they were paying attention and not on their BlackBerrys or Palm Pilots.
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In the modern world, impact analysis is essentially the click of a button, showing you all related downstream items, multiple levels deep—including verification and validation.
Collaborative features such as “discussions,” “subscribing,” and “review and approval” allow for formality in this process, collaboration, and official sign-off (with audit history). For significant changes, this gives teams time to discuss and prepare.
When I work with clients and there are features we are building internally that I know will be useful for them, I often “subscribe” myself to the relevant requirements. This way, if there is an update or status change, I automatically get notified via email.
This keeps me connected to the development process without even having to go into a tool. If I want more information, I simply click on the link and log in.
The Takeaway:
Suspicion catches the change after the fact, forcing teams to react. Impact Analysis allows you and your teams to PLAN for a change BEFORE it happens.
Build strong traceability, accept that change is inevitable, and take a proactive approach to your requirements management change process.
