Decision Lab · Change analysis versus authorized execution

Approval status changes the project manager's next action

The same requested feature can require a different next action when its authorization changes. Read the complete project state before applying a familiar rule.

Original case · Suggested 15 minutes · Edition 2026-10-12.1

By the end of this workshop

Choose a method that respects the supplied conditions.
Explain how a changed condition affects the decision.
Identify a physical or procedural cross-check and an applicability limit.
Record the assumption you would verify next time.

Start with the complete model

Givens and assumptions

Predictive project with an approved scope/schedule/cost baseline and a defined change-control process.
A stakeholder requests an extra reporting feature that affects scope, budget and completion. No emergency or delegated approval applies. The change has not been analyzed or approved.

Study calculator, scratch notepad and whiteboard

Expression Trigonometry in degrees

Supports +, −, *, /, ^, parentheses, sqrt, abs, log (base 10), ln, sin, cos, tan, pi and e. Confirm units independently.

Scratch notepad

Scratch text and drawings stay in this tab and clear when you leave or reload. Save important reasoning in a response or reflection below before leaving.

Scratch whiteboard

Sketch a control volume or air path with a mouse, pen or touch. Ink stays in this page session and clears on reload. Use the response and reflection fields as a keyboard alternative. Sign in before starting and save a reflection to retain your reasoning.

1 · Choose the method

Under these supplied predictive-project facts, what should the project manager do next?

Choose one responseStart the work as a favor and document it afterward.Reject every stakeholder request because a baseline exists.Analyze impacts and seek approval before committing work.Treat the email as an approved change without checking authority.

ConfidenceWhy did you choose this method? Optional personal reasoning, up to 1,000 characters.

2 · Change the condition

Predict before you inspect the calculation.

The authorized board now approves the change after impact analysis and provides revised funding and dates.

Predictive project; the authorized change board has approved the analyzed reporting-feature change, revised funding and completion dates. The project process requires approved changes to be reflected in the baseline and communicated before execution.

Check the first decision to open the changed-condition response.

Personal notes are not automatically graded. Workshops are linked learning experiments, separate from timed diagnostics and mocks. They do not predict a pass or award instructional hours.

Reference navigation drill

Search concept: change control, approved change requests

Identify what is known, which gate has passed and what the authorized process requires next.

Use an authorized reference. A search term does not guarantee that a current examination reference contains every relationship used in this teaching case.

Where this model stops

Original stated predictive-process scenario. Emergency authority, adaptive practices and organization-specific processes can change the appropriate action. This free practice does not award PMP training hours or certificate completion.

PMI · PMP certification ↗

Found an unclear condition or calculation? Include workshop approval-changes-next-action and the step in your comment.

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