Project management · Defining the work · Component
The change record
What was added or removed, when, and who agreed — because scope change is normal and scope drift is change nobody recorded.
The deliverable
What it is
Change is expected and manageable. What is not manageable is a series of small additions each absorbed without adjusting the date, until the project is late for no identifiable reason.
Recording the time cost of each change is what makes the accumulation visible rather than a mystery at the deadline.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
Small changes need a fast approval route, or they bypass the process and become drift.