Guideline: Change Management Meeting Best Practice
This guidance describes the best practices associate with running a change management meeting.
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Main Description

What is the purpose of a change management meeting?

The purpose of a change management meeting (CMM) is to review the suitability of changes scheduled for implementation, and to verify the coordination and cooperation of participating areas. The results of this meeting become the basis for a summary report for Management (Project Sponsors).

The function of this meeting is to review the business and technical assessment, to review and approve the schedule of each change, verify that the changes meet the business objectives, and that the changes do not negatively affect the business community. Another function of the meeting is to review all of the changes to see if and how they affect the other business plans and strategies. If it is determined that a change is not needed or is untimely, it will be cancelled or rescheduled.

This meeting marks the change request deadline for the current iteration of the customer deliverable. All change requests that are issued after the meeting begins will be deferred until the next meeting. If the request cannot be postponed due to an emergency of some kind, then it may be discussed at the current meeting.

Who should participate in the CMM?

  • Change Coordinator (Meeting Chairperson)
  • Change Planner or Developer: The person who requests or creates the change
  • Project Sponsor: The person who pays the bills
  • Project Stakeholders
  • Development
  • Finance
  • Quality Assurance and Testing
  • Marketing
  • Sales
  • Legal
  • Business Planners
  • Services

What are the goals of the CMM?

  1. To review the effects of significant changes (high and medium risk), and confirm schedules for implementing these changes. The meeting is the focal point for all planned change information and management controls.
  2. To review planned changes for the next iteration.
  3. To discuss any emergency changes since the last change meeting.
  4. To review any schedule or procedural violations since the last meeting, and review results of prior approved changes.


How often should a CMM occur?

A change management meeting can be scheduled regularly (such as weekly), or it can coincide with the project’s next iteration. A meeting only needs to occur if required. Obviously, if there are no changes to consider, the meeting can be cancelled.