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PMP Practice: Anticipate and embrace the need for change

Question 1 of 5 in Manage Project Changes

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Ash Volkov is managing a hybrid project for Swift Horizon Labs to develop a new patient management system. The project has two major work streams: the core database infrastructure (predictive approach with fixed regulatory requirements) and the user interface (agile approach with iterative stakeholder feedback). Three months into the project, the compliance officer requests adding a new audit trail feature to track all patient data access. The compliance officer states this is mandatory for upcoming regulatory inspections in six months. The database team has completed 60% of their planned work and is on schedule, while the UI team is in their fourth sprint. Kenji confirms the audit trail spans both work streams and will require integration work. What strategy should Kenji use to handle this change?
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Correct answer: Submit the change through the formal change control process for the database work stream, and add the UI components to the product backlog for prioritization by the product owner in the next sprint planning session

Explanation

In a hybrid project, each work stream should maintain its appropriate governance approach. The database infrastructure is being managed predictively with a fixed baseline due to regulatory requirements, so changes affecting that component need formal change control to assess impacts on schedule, budget, and other approved work. The UI work stream is being managed adaptively, so new features should enter the product backlog for the product owner to prioritize based on value and urgency. Since the audit trail spans both streams, Kenji should honor each stream's governance model: formal change control for the predictive component and backlog management for the adaptive component. This ensures the database team's schedule commitments are protected through impact analysis while the UI team maintains flexibility. The compliance officer's statement about mandatory requirements justifies prioritizing this work, but the mechanism for introducing it should align with each stream's methodology.

**Why not A:** Immediately implementing the change across both work streams without impact assessment violates the predictive governance required for the database component. The database team has completed 60% of planned work on schedule, and adding scope without formal evaluation could disrupt their baseline and introduce uncontrolled risk.

**Why not C:** Adding both components to the product backlog and allowing the product owner to prioritize all work ignores the database team's predictive governance model. The database infrastructure has a fixed scope baseline that requires formal change control, and the product owner does not have authority to unilaterally modify a predictive workstream's approved scope.

**Why not D:** Submitting the entire change through formal change control for both streams applies predictive governance to the agile UI component, which is unnecessarily rigid. The UI work is managed adaptively with a product backlog, and new features should enter through the product owner's prioritization process rather than a formal change control board.

Key Concept

This question covers Anticipate and embrace the need for change under Manage Project Changes (Process).

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