A project manager recently took over an ongoing project. Within a few weeks on the project, the project manager discovers that there are continuous change requests from different project end users. What is the probable cause for this?
Continuous change requests from multiple end users most often indicate that requirements were not fully elicited, validated, or agreed upon early, leading users to discover missing needs only after seeing progress or deliverables. Incomplete requirements (D) create ambiguity and misalignment about what the solution should do, driving repeated requests as stakeholders attempt to close gaps. While an undefined change control process (A) can allow changes to be submitted and approved too easily, it does not explain why so many users are requesting changes in the first place. Unidentified risks (B) may cause issues, but they are not the typical root cause of widespread user-driven scope changes. An improper WBS (C) can affect planning and control, but it is derived from scope and requirements; if requirements are incomplete, the WBS may be imperfect, yet the initiating cause remains the weak requirements foundation. The best corrective lens is improving requirements practices (elicitation, validation, acceptance criteria, stakeholder sign-off) and then managing subsequent changes through a controlled process.
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