Project Scope Defined

What does “project scope” mean? Simply put, it is a project’s parameters. The project
scope should be identified in a detailed description identifying and describing all
major deliverables and any project boundaries.

It needs to include sufficient information for the project team to produce the desired
product on time and within budget. In general, the project scope is determined early in
the project management processes, documented and agreed upon by all project
stakeholders.

How Does Scope Creep Happen?

Even when there’s a clearly defined project scope, you still have to beware of scope
creep. This phenomenon generally tends to occur when new features are added to
product designs that have already been approved, without providing equivalent
increases in budget, time and/or resources. Project Smart, based in the United
Kingdom, finds the main causes of scope creep are:

 Poor Requirements Analysis: Customers don’t always know what they want
and can only provide a vague idea. The “I’ll know it when I see it” syndrome.
 Not Involving the Users Early Enough: Thinking you know what the users
want or need is a serious mistake. It is important to involve them in both the
requirements analysis and design phases.
 Underestimating the Complexity of the Project: Many projects run into
problems because they are new in an industry and have never been done before.
Nobody knows what to expect, there are no lessons learned and no one to ask.
 Lack of Change Control: You can expect there to be a degree of scope creep
in most projects, therefore it is important to design a process to manage these
changes. A simple process of document, consider, approve and resource can be
implemented.
 Gold Plating: This term is given to the practice of exceeding the scope of a
project in the belief that a value is being added. These changes inevitably
consume time and budget and are not guaranteed to increase customer
satisfaction.
 More Reasons for Scope Creep
It’s no secret that managing scope creep in project management can be a daunting
challenge. Since the project scope is often fluid in nature, it tends to morph as the
project progresses. However, it can easily become disastrous if it’s allowed to get out
of control. For example, Wikipedia lists the following causes of scope creep:

 Disingenuous customer with a determined “value for free” policy

 Poor communication between parties
 Lack of proper initial identification of what is required to bring about the
project objectives
 Poor change control
 Weak project manager or executive sponsor
 Agile software development based on subjective quantificatio

Recommendations

1. Clear, well-managed scope is a key element to successful projects. Sponsors can

contribute to clear scope by developing their own charters. Our idea of the charter is
a short document that contains mainly the business need, the project vision, and
high-level features in and out of scope. These are all items that executives should be
able to articulate on their own.

2. Scope statements should include both features in and out of scope. A robust WBS
that decomposes deliverables into work packages is a must. The decomposed
deliverables form the basis for beginning detailed requirements analysis.

3. Business analysts can contribute to clear scope with effective requirements

elicitation and by analyzing and documenting clear, complete, and concise
requirements. This takes time, of course, and the project team needs to plan for the
time and be firm about it in the project schedule.

4. The project manager needs to work with the sponsor to either negotiate a later
delivery date for the project or reduce its scope when the date is fixed.
5. To help clarify the scope early in the project, the systems analyst could have used
scope models and diagrams, such as Business Process Models and Use Case
Diagrams. They provide a visual aid to clarify scope, leading to a more effective
sharing of “mental models” with stakeholders.
Summary: Whether scope is initially unclear or it stays vague as a project unfolds, if
the product scope and its underlying requirements are not clear and precise, it is a
“breeding ground” for scope creep.

Project managers have been plagued by scope creep since the dawn of project
management. Managing scope creep in project management is a challenging job
that needs clearly defined, documented and controlled specifications.
Scope creep – also known as feature creep, focus creep, creeping functionality
and kitchen-sink syndrome – can sneak up, morph and destroy a project.
Project Scope Defined
What does “project scope” mean? Simply put, it is a project’s parameters. The
project scope should be identified in a detailed description identifying and
describing all major deliverables and any project boundaries.
It needs to include sufficient information for the project team to produce the
desired product on time and within budget. In general, the project scope is
determined early in the project management processes, documented and agreed
upon by all project stakeholders.
How Does Scope Creep Happen?
Even when there’s a clearly defined project scope, you still have to beware of
scope creep. This phenomenon generally tends to occur when new features are
added to product designs that have already been approved, without providing
equivalent increases in budget, time and/or resources. Project Smart, based in the
United Kingdom, finds the main causes of scope creep are:
Poor Requirements Analysis: Customers don’t always know what they want and
can only provide a vague idea. The “I’ll know it when I see it” syndrome.
Not Involving the Users Early Enough: Thinking you know what the users want or
need is a serious mistake. It is important to involve them in both the
requirements analysis and design phases.
Underestimating the Complexity of the Project: Many projects run into problems
because they are new in an industry and have never been done before. Nobody
knows what to expect, there are no lessons learned and no one to ask.
Lack of Change Control: You can expect there to be a degree of scope creep in
most projects, therefore it is important to design a process to manage these
changes. A simple process of document, consider, approve and resource can be
implemented.
Gold Plating: This term is given to the practice of exceeding the scope of a project
in the belief that a value is being added. These changes inevitably consume time
and budget and are not guaranteed to increase customer satisfaction.
More Reasons for Scope Creep
It’s no secret that managing scope creep in project management can be a
daunting challenge. Since the project scope is often fluid in nature, it tends to
morph as the project progresses. However, it can easily become disastrous if it’s
allowed to get out of control. For example, Wikipedia lists the following causes of
scope creep:
Disingenuous customer with a determined “value for free” policy
Poor communication between parties
Lack of proper initial identification of what is required to bring about the project
objectives
Poor change control
Weak project manager or executive sponsor
Agile software development based on subjective quantifications
Startling Project Statistics
Although scope creep is not the only nemesis a project can have, it does tend to
have the farthest reach. Without a properly defined project and/or allowing
numerous changes along the way, a project can easily go over budget, miss the
deadline and wreak havoc on project success. Not surprisingly, less than a third of
projects are completed on time and within budget. The Standish Group’s CHAOS
Summary 2009 found that:
32% of all projects were successful, meaning delivered on time, on budget, with
required features and functions
44% were challenged; these projects were late, over budget, and/or with less
than the required features and functions
24% failed which was denoted by those projects that were canceled prior to
completion or delivered and never used
“These numbers represent a downtick in the success rates of the previous study,
as well as a significant increase in the number of failures,” says Jim Crear, Standish
Group CIO. “They are the low point in the last five study periods. This year’s
results represent the highest failure rate in over a decade.”
How to Control Scope Creep
Managing scope creep in project management is achievable. A recent article on
Tech Republic, a CBS Interactive website, provides the following guidelines to set
yourself up to successfully control the scope of your project:
Be sure you thoroughly understand the project vision. Meet with the project
drivers and deliver an overview of the project as a whole for their review and
comments.
Understand your priorities and the priorities of the project drivers. Make an
ordered list that you can refer to throughout the project duration. Items should
include budget, deadline, feature delivery, customer satisfaction and employee
satisfaction. You’ll use this list to justify your scheduling decisions once the
project has commenced.
Define your deliverables and have them approved by the project drivers.
Deliverables should be general descriptions of functionality to be outlined during
the project.
Break the approved deliverables into actual work requirements. The
requirements should be as detailed as necessary and can be completed using a
simple spreadsheet. The larger your project, the more detail you should include. If
your project spans more than a month or two, don’t forget to include time for
software upgrades during development and always include time for ample
documentation.
Break the project down into major and minor milestones and complete a
generous project schedule to be approved by the project drivers. Minor
milestones should not span more than a month. Whatever your method for
determining task duration, leave room for error. When working with an unknown
staff, I generally schedule 140% to 160% of the duration as expected to be
delivered. If your schedule is tight, reevaluate your deliverables. Coming in under
budget and ahead of schedule leaves room for additional enhancements.
Once a schedule has been created, assign resources and determine your critical
path using a project evaluation and review technique (PERT) chart or work
breakdown structure. Your critical path will change over the course of your
project, so it’s important to evaluate it before development begins. Follow this
map to determine which deliverables must be completed on time. In very large
projects, try not to define phase specifics too early, but even a general plan will
give you the backbone you need for successful delivery.
Expect that there will be scope creep. Implement change order forms early and
educate the project drivers on your processes. A change order form will allow you
to perform a cost-benefit analysis before scheduling changes requested by the
project drivers.
If you can perform all of these steps immediately, you’ll be better positioned for
project success. However, any steps you’re able to implement will bring you that
much closer to avoiding and controlling scope creep. That way, you are in a better
position to control your project, instead of your project controlling you.
From learning effective methods for managing scope creep in project
management to preparing for industry-recognized certification, find out how you
can benefit from Villanova University’s 100% online project management
certificate program!
Take the next step in your career with our program guide!

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