Change is normal. Untracked change burns budgets. Use a baseline, tickets, and phased releases.
Why unmanaged change hurts
- Breaks integration windows
- Acceptance criteria drift
- Chat promises cannot be audited
Working rules
- Freeze baseline after prototype sign-off
- Every add goes on a ticket with effort impact
- Re-plan only after acceptance of the impact
- Protect the critical path; park nice-to-haves
- One decision owner
See custom software contract tips and admin system project timeline.
Ticket fields that work
- Why / who / screens
- Effort and schedule impact
- Accept / defer / reject
FAQ
Tiny copy tweaks too?
Batch them; structural changes need formal review.
Conflicts with agile?
No — change belongs in the next iteration, not a silent mid-sprint insert.
Takeaway
Baseline + tickets + phases beats heroics. contact for software projects