Mastering the Change Request Form Before you use a change request form, you must understand how it can help and support you on your project . The following project scenario stresses the tool's importance and why the change request form is critical to every project. A large mattress company in Jefferson City, Missouri recently designed a new king- sized mattress they call the "King Plus," because it is the largest and most luxurious mattress on the market. The company is receiving more and more requests for something larger than the California King mattress, so they decided to step up and meet the demands of their customers. As the senior project manager at the plant, management asked you to lead this project. You accept and are excited about getting started immediately. A couple of months pass, and the project is moving along nicely. You complete the design phase and begin the prototyping phase. Upper management has seen some of the results from the prototyping. They are commenting about the size, feel, and comfort of the mattress; this is exactly what prototyping is all about, so you are glad they are providing their input. As testing continues, leadership is starting to complain and becoming more negative about the mattress. You begin to think this whole idea was a big mistake. Some of the customers who are testing the prototype mattress are calling and complaining as well. Those customers want many changes, and the only part that people like about the mattress is its size. Upper management knows they must get the mattress design correct before it hits the market because it will be widely scrutinized, and any bad press will hurt the company. As the prototype phase completes, leadership requests a series of changes to the mattress that are outside what they originally wanted for the King Plus mattress. You must get a handle on and control everything they are seeking to make sure the mattress, in the end, meets management's needs. You are quickly becoming overwhelmed with all the changes that everyone is requesting and must get a handle on the situation fast or your project will spin out of control. You have a series of questions to find out how to get the project under control, but you have no one to ask. These questions include: o How do I track and control the changes? o How do I report and keep a handle on the changes? o What process can I set up? o How does leadership or the customer document a change for this project