This is the fourth post in the Workflow series, which we hope has been helpful so far in showing you a few examples of how workflows can help automate some key areas of IPM you use every day.
In this post I’m going to cover the beginning of the change management process, and the next few coming will show you additional workflows you can use to help make manage changes to the project a little easier.
Typically many changes to a contract or part of the project will result from the identification of a certain issue. IPM has a comprehensive Issues register where you can record and monitor details of all the issues that arise on a project. Sometimes though, it may also be necessary to take the issue further, and the use of workflows can greatly assist this.
This workflow is a simple one, but one that can save you time and means you don’t have to enter duplicate data. Once an Issue is added to the Issue you register, you may discuss it will others involved in the project, and you may then need to create an RFI to get more information or a Change Request if the issue needs to be addressed with a change to the original plans.
To avoid re-entering all the information in the issue record into IPM in order to create an RFI or a Change Request, you can simply set up a workflow to run on demand that can automatically create these documents for you, using the information from the Issue. Simply select which Issue you wish to address, and run the appropriate workflow to turn it into either an RFI or Change Request. Of course, you can also create workflows with slightly different processes, for example you can turn an issue into a meeting minute item so that it can be discussed before the decision is made to proceed.
We have more posts coming in the Workflow series that show you how workflows can help you manage Change Requests once they are in the system, so stay tuned…
Note: for simplicity, I refer only to Change Requests in this post, but please note these are referred to as Variation Requests in countries outside the USA.
