Scope Creep Project Management
Guilherme Schoenberger Project Management Harvard Extension School
ASSIGNMENT 2
SCOPE CREEP IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
1 1. INTRODUCTION
2
The concept of project scope may be one of the most ample in project management. It involves objectives, limits and intentions. Every requirement in a project as well as its characteristics must be dealt with when planning the scope. Even though it 's reasonable to say that every project is unique, the causes for which it fails are generally the same. And if you already know what these causes are, you can minimize the likelihood of problems being repeated and thus increase the chance of success.
It has been said that you can often detect if a project is going to fail in its first two months. Projects are normally approved and initiated with unrealistic expectations and with an excess of optimism. These expectations can inflate beyond reasonability during the execution of a project, often resulting in what is called 都cope creep It 's important to manage expectations, particularly to those stakeholders that are not heavily involved in the project. This issue is going to be addressed in this assignment and some practical solutions will be proposed as a way to manage and control this problem.
2
3 2. DEFINITION
Scope Creep is a term used by project managers to describe the extra deliverables or additional requirements that were not planned in the project 's initial phase.
According to the HBR Guide to Project Management (2012) 'scope creep ' is the tendency (often as a result of pressure from stakeholders) to permit changes that exceed a project 's scope and may wreak havoc on the schedule, the quality of the work, or the budget.
As it was often cited in class, no project can achieve success without proper coordination between three essentials: scope, schedule and cost. Change one, and the other two will be impacted. On the other hand, trying to prohibit all changes to a project is often fruitless and can have
ASSIGNMENT 2
SCOPE CREEP IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
1 1. INTRODUCTION
2
The concept of project scope may be one of the most ample in project management. It involves objectives, limits and intentions. Every requirement in a project as well as its characteristics must be dealt with when planning the scope. Even though it 's reasonable to say that every project is unique, the causes for which it fails are generally the same. And if you already know what these causes are, you can minimize the likelihood of problems being repeated and thus increase the chance of success.
It has been said that you can often detect if a project is going to fail in its first two months. Projects are normally approved and initiated with unrealistic expectations and with an excess of optimism. These expectations can inflate beyond reasonability during the execution of a project, often resulting in what is called 都cope creep It 's important to manage expectations, particularly to those stakeholders that are not heavily involved in the project. This issue is going to be addressed in this assignment and some practical solutions will be proposed as a way to manage and control this problem.
2
3 2. DEFINITION
Scope Creep is a term used by project managers to describe the extra deliverables or additional requirements that were not planned in the project 's initial phase.
According to the HBR Guide to Project Management (2012) 'scope creep ' is the tendency (often as a result of pressure from stakeholders) to permit changes that exceed a project 's scope and may wreak havoc on the schedule, the quality of the work, or the budget.
As it was often cited in class, no project can achieve success without proper coordination between three essentials: scope, schedule and cost. Change one, and the other two will be impacted. On the other hand, trying to prohibit all changes to a project is often fruitless and can have
References: HBR (2012). Guide to Project Management. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press. Shore, David A. (2014). Launching and Leading Change Initiatives in HealthCare Organizations. Boston: Jossey-Bass. PMI. 2013. Project Management Institute. (ONLINE) Available at: http://www.pmi.org/Learning/requirements-management/resource-library/scope-management.aspx. (Accessed 13 January 15). University Alliance (2014) Managing Scope Creep in Project Management. (ONLINE) Available at: http://www.villanovau.com/resources/project-management/project-management-scope-creep/#.VLcId2TF8rM. (Accessed 13 January 15) PM Docs Bob McGannon. 2013. Insights from a Project Manager. (ONLINE) Available at: http://www.lynda.com/Business-Business-Skills-tutorials/preventing-scope-creep/137907/149278-4.html. (Accessed 13 January 15). YFS Magazine. 2012. How to Avoid Project Management 全cope CreepAt All Costs. (ONLINE) Available at: http://yfsmagazine.com/2013/10/17/project-management-scope-creep/. (Accessed 13 January 15). Richard Bellanca. 2008. Beat the Omnipresent Scope Creep With Communications. (ONLINE) Available at: http://www.isixsigma.com/implementation/project-selection-tracking/beat-omnipresent-scope-creep-communications/. (Accessed 13 January 15). Daily Record. 2012. Combating scope creep for Project Managers. (ONLINE) Available at: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/special-features/combating-scope-creep-project-managers-3670327. (Accessed 12 January 15). Win(win) Software (2015) Large Hotel Chain Manages Scope Creep Using WIN(win). (ONLINE) Available at: http://www.winwinit.com/case-studies/large-hotel-chain-manages-scope-creep-using-winwin. (Accessed 13 January 15). Kareem Shaker. 2010. Scope Creep and Gold Plating are two sides of the same coin. (ONLINE) Available at: http://kareemshaker.com/project-management/scope-creep-and-gold-plating-are-two-sides-of-the-same-coin/. (Accessed 12 January 15).