Scope Management | A summary based on the lessons in Wrangling Squirrels
Project managers have a responsibility to ensure this
because projects are at high risk of failure. Why? A quick search on the
reasons projects fail will give you thousands of pieces of literature such as
journals, books, blogs and other articles on the many possible reasons.
Projects are filled with risk hazards such as incomplete requirements, changing
requirements, unclear objectives, inconsistent expectations, and poor
management practices.
Looking at all these can seem
overwhelming. But the best project managers know the secret on how to keep all
these at a minimum to be successful in the pursuit of the project goal: the
best way to do this is effective management of the project scope.
What is Project Scope? Project Scope is the output of the initial phase of the
development of your project plan. Project scope is the sum of all the elements
required in drafting the framework of your project. This includes goals, tasks,
features, functions, deadlines, budget, other requirements, and the expected
outcome. The scope is the skeleton of your project and the bones of the
skeleton are the elements mentioned. When changes on the requirements of the
project such as tasks, features, and other requests are created after the
planning phase, they are identified as “out of scope” or cause scope change.
As a project manager, it is your responsibility to make
sure that changes are aligned with objectives originally agreed upon in the
planning phase and is on par with the expected overall outcome agreed on by the
stakeholders. Should the change requests
be accepted and approved, document how resources and other critical elements
will be affected. Communicate immediately to stakeholders and clearly define
how the changes will be done and who will be doing them. Check if adjustments
need to be made on the schedules and work tasks for your project team members.
Update the project plan if needed. Be mindful to evaluate how any change in
scope will affect the budget and costing aspects of your projects. Address the
process for getting an additional payment for scope changes. Remember that
scope change can affect almost every aspect of the project, leading to
additional work or rework, thus costing additional time and money. Make sure
that stakeholders are aware of this and ensure their accountability for
additional costs that the change requests entail.
Ensure that communication is a two-way street
In managing scope change, timely and open communication is critical. Timely meaning
quick and efficient, and open meaning transparent, accessible, and engaging.
This does not involve only your team, but all stakeholders. Everyone involved,
from top to bottom, should be informed of the project.
Having a working knowledge of the scope of the project enables everyone to
perform his or her tasks with a clear understanding of what’s expected of them
and why. However, communication does not stop at delivering and receiving the
messages. Communication is most effective when it’s a two-way street. The
engagement follows effectivity. Encourage your stakeholders to be as open to
you. Give them the same respect you wish to be given when communicating the
critical elements of the project.