In project management, it is important for a project manager
to make careful decisions when ideas vary on what needs to be done to complete
a project or when there is not enough detail to plan the project. When team
members act on changes outside of the project scope or when tasks are not identified
at the beginning stages of the plan, before you know it, you are buried in
tasks that were not included in the original plan which could cost you your
budget and project timeline. This is what we call scope creep. Scope is the
extent of a what a project will produce (product scope) and the work needed to
produce it (project scope) (Larson & Larson, 2009). Scope creep is adding
additional features or functions of a new product, requirements, or work that
is not authorized (i.e. beyond the agreed-upon scope) (Larson et al, 2009).
I have not been involved in project management plans where I
experienced scope creep besides our kitchen renovation ordeal that I had mentioned
in one of my previous posts. So, in this post, I am sharing an article where
the author stated his experiences of scope creep and how he managed it.
in an article written by Tim Malone, he explains a scope creep
experience when their company built a hangar that will house their bigger
aircraft, Boeing Business Jets, and two smaller aircrafts (2008). From day one,
he offered management his assistance in defining the network and communication
requirements, but he was told that "it was all taken cared of"
(Malone, 2008). Later, as the project was ongoing, the subcontractor calls him
to ask how many network drops were needed and where they were going (Malone,
2008). This information was obviously not included in the plans. Then the
subcontractor informs him that there is no physical wiring from the phone
company in the building yet. To make matters worse, there was no phone selected
for this project and the building is supposed to be occupied in 60 days. When the
phone system was finally being selected, it turned out that the phone system
from the main (older) hangar can't support the new phone system for the new
hangar so now they are looking at an additional $60,000 phone line that was not
included in the budget (Malone, 2008). Everything all worked out in the end,
but it was a lot of "last minute" planning and decision making and of
course, additional money was spent that was not included in the budget in order
to make this new hangar functional.
If I was in the position of being the manager of this
project, I would have done the following:
·
Find information on what is needed to build a hangar
by setting up a meeting with all the department managers in the private charter
management company and asked them for their input on what is needed in building
a functional hangar.
·
Identify all the work that needed to be done by
developing a work breakdown structure (WBS) and the cost for each task.
·
Create a budget and timeline for this project
once the tasks are identified.
·
Follow up with contractors and subcontractors
that they received the correct blueprint and information. I will not assume
that everyone involved in the project has all the details. As Dr. Stolovich
states to keep your project on track by monitoring your projects. Communication
should be continuous to show your team you are on top of your project (Laureate
Education, n.d.)
So why did this preventable scope creep occur? Larson &
Larson (2009) cites a few reasons why scope creep occurs, and the following
applies in this scenario:
·
Beginning design and development of something
before a thorough requirements analysis has been done
·
Poorly designed initial requirements
·
Lack of sponsorship and stakeholder involvement
In order to address scope creep, it is important for the
project manager to always include the stakeholders and the subject matter experts
so that important tasks are identified. I am not saying that following all
these steps will avoid scope creep, but defined details will help control it. As
stated by Ilonkis Lum, the best ways to avoid scope creep are to document
requirements, project goals, deliverables, tasks, costs and deadlines. Without
a well-documented and monitored project plan, a project can suffer scope creep,
and even result in project failure (2004).
References:
Larson, R. & Larson, E. (2009). Top five
causes of scope creep ... and what to do about them. Paper presented at PMI®
Global Congress 2009—North America, Orlando, FL. Newtown Square, PA: Project
Management Institute.
Malone, T. (2008). Real world example of scope creep. Retrieved from https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-of-all-trades/real-world-example-of-scope-creep/
Laureate Education, Inc (Executive Producer). (n.d.). Monitoring
projects [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Lum, I (2004). Scope creep and how to avoid it. Retrieved from http://ssg-llc.com/scope-creep/
