How to Manage Scope Creep: Keep Deadlines & Budgets In Line
Whether you are a project manager like myself or not, we’ve all experienced the problem of expanded goals and objectives sneaking their way into an otherwise well-planned project time-line. We embark on a new project thinking we have sufficiently outlined all the potential objectives. We’ve spend hours planning and predicting a strategic project with reasonable goals and deadlines. Yet once started, we invariably find that we need more, less, or just something different. The dreaded scope creep…simply defined as the growth or change of project requirements. Project managers and clients, alike, hate scope creep because it almost always delays project schedules and increases project costs.
It might not be possible to completely avoid scope creep, but we can take measures to minimize it. And when it does happen, there are ways to manage it. Here are some suggestions for minimizing and managing scope creep:
- Analyze requirements: All projects should begin with a thorough requirements analysis during which you define the needs that the product must meet and how it will meet them. The more you can define about the end product up front, the less likely you’ll need to make make changes along the way.
- Employ use cases: Use cases describe how people are going to interact with a product, and how the product is going to react. Good use cases should detail very specific situations. When used effectively, use cases are a valuable tool that help define functional requirements.
- Set achievable goals: It is easy to be optimistic and commit to deliverables before the project is started. For this reason, it is necessary to ensure that the project goals are realistic and achievable. Keep in mind that projects never run as smoothly as you hope they will, so it is important that you don’t over commit.
- Plan for it: It might seem strange, but sometimes you just need to plan for scope creep. This is especially true if, for some reason, you aren’t able to fully define the requirements up front. When planning for scope creep, it is usually necessary to build additional time into the schedule, and set aside budget for additional requirements and changes.
- Establish communication: The most effective way to keep a project on schedule and on budget is to establish constant communication that is open and honest from the beginning. Project members and clients should not hesitate to discuss project changes as they arise. The sooner changes are recognized and discussed, the sooner they can be addressed. As with most changes, the longer you wait to address them, the bigger they get.
- Define priorities: If you have completed a thorough requirements analysis, project priorities should already be defined. So when changes arise during development, it should be relatively easy to determine where the change falls in the overall priorities of the project.
- Evaluate impact: If a change is requested during development, both the client and project team should evaluate the impact of that change on the project. It is necessary to weigh the added value of the change with the impact to project cost and timeline. Once impact is determined, it is ultimately the client’s decision whether the change is worth making.
- Investigate alternatives: When it becomes necessary to change project requirements, determine what issue the change is addressing. Keep in mind that there are usually multiple ways to get to the same point. So it might be worth investigating whether there are other ways to address the issue that are more cost effective and/or less time consuming.
- Consider mini-releases: If the schedule and budget cannot be compromised, consider making changes after the initial release. Remember that the initial release does not have to be absolutely perfect. In the history of technology, I don’t think a perfect product has ever been released - think of all the service packs, patches, and upgrades that we have installed.
- Just do it: Finally, it is important to remain flexible and keep an open mind. After all, change happens, and sometimes we just have to go with it. There is nothing wrong with that.
Good luck!
Patricia Drake
Senior Project Manager