One of a Project Manager’s many enemies is the infamous Scope Creep. So, how do we keep Mr. Creepy in check? That is just one of the questions that need to be answered when managing scope. Scope management is exceptionally important when trying to manage customer/client expectations. It is one of the first questions a client will ask. “Did you deliver what we asked you to deliver”? (their next question is “how much did it cost me”). Scope is the guts of your project. It is “The Thing” you are trying to accomplish. You must plan well, define accurately, provide means to verify that it has been delivered, and carefully control the size of scope.

For starters, you need to know exactly what it is you are trying to deliver. A full description of the requested product should be included in the Project Charter, along with a description of the project objectives and an explanation of the business need that you are attempting to meet. Remember, if the project does not meet your client’s needs, then your client will not consider it a success. Therefore, it is imperative that you as the Project Manager, along with all of the stakeholders, agree that the successful completion of the project will result in a product that will meet your client’s business needs.

Creation of a Project Charter is actually a very important task that typically gets overlooked during project initiation. We have all seen projects take life without clear objectives or any kind of measurement of the benefits the organization expects to receive from the undertaking of the investment. This is a deliverable that is typically created by upper management, but it’s also an input to the project that I believe a project manager must have in hand before moving forward with the project.

Without such a document, how else does a project manager gain formal approval to move forward with the project? Because the boss says so? If your organization is practicing this style of project management, then you are setting yourself up for headache after headache. As a PMP certified project manager, you should push for reforming your PMO to include the need for this deliverable.

So, let’s assume that you have a somewhat functional PMO and have received the Project Charter with approval to move forward. What do you do next? The next step is to take the charter and product description and start elaborating and documenting the scope of the work defined. This should result in a statement of work (or Scope Statement). This gives you a big picture, “what am I going to do” type of view on the project. The next step is to start defining the scope in smaller, more measurable components. This should result in a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and possibly changes/updates to the statement of work.

A good WBS will be the heart of your project and will be critical in estimating and determining the resources required for the project. A WBS can also be used to identify dependencies between tasks.

The next phase moves into the executing and controlling phases of the project. Scope Management spans multiple phases of a projects life cycle and must be constantly monitored and verified. Completed deliverables should be verified with stakeholders at the end of each phase. A good Project Manager will also be concerned with scope creep. As deliverables are verified, inevitably questions will be asked about things that are “missing”. This is where your statement of work will come in handy. There very well may be something missing from a deliverable. However, a good project manager will not automatically assume this. Part of the scope verification process includes comparing deliverables to the statement of work. If the deliverable meets the work requested, then great! However, that does not mean your customer is happy. They may still want something that is “extra” in your eyes, but required in theirs. This is where Change Control comes into play.

Having a good change control process in place for managing scope will be essential to meeting customer expectations, and for communication additional expenses incurred to all stakeholders. Scope creep can be deadly to your project’s success. You should always verify that you have approval for additional work before taking on any new requests from the client. These additions to a project should be reviewed, verified and approved by all stakeholders to insure that everyone is on the same page. These changes nearly always have a direct impact on the budget of a project and should be carefully monitored.

I would encourage all PMO’s to make a strong effort to put a solid Change Control Board in place for all projects. Doing so will only help your projects success. It will also force your client to performe a detailed analysis on the benefits and costs of any changes they are requesting.