Manage and Control Changes

Every change request — regardless of who raises it — should flow through a defined change control process: submit, assess impact (scope, schedule, cost, risk, quality), approve/reject/defer (often via a Change Control Board), then update the baseline and communicate. Skipping the impact assessment step is the classic exam trap, even when the requester is a senior stakeholder pushing for speed.

In agile contexts, "change control" looks different — it happens through backlog reprioritization each iteration rather than a formal CCB — but the underlying principle (changes are deliberate, visible, and prioritized, not silently absorbed) still holds and is still tested.

Study focus: know that a verbal approval from a sponsor is not the same as going through change control — PMI's correct-answer pattern almost always routes the change through the documented process regardless of who requested it.