Process Improvement Change Log
This is a practical guide to building a change log for a process improvement project — a record of change requests and their decisions, adapted to the realities of improving an existing business process.
What a Change Log is
A change log is a record of change requests and their decisions. For the full concept and how it works in general, see Change Log. On a process improvement project it plays the same role, tuned to this kind of work.
Why it matters for a Process Improvement project
Process Improvement projects live or die on improving an existing business process. A well-built change log gives the team a shared, explicit reference for exactly that — reducing ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, and making problems visible early enough to act. Skipping it, or doing it generically, is how process improvement projects drift into avoidable delay and cost.
What to include
- Change ID and description
- Impact assessment
- Decision and date
- Updated baselines
Process Improvement-specific considerations
Tailor the change log to the risks that most often derail process improvement projects:
- Change resistance
- Measuring the baseline
- Scope discipline
Example
On a real process improvement project, the change log would be shaped by improving an existing business process. In particular, it should explicitly account for the project’s biggest risks — change resistance, measuring the baseline, scope discipline — rather than treating them as afterthoughts.