Project Scope

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI, 2013), ‘scope creep’ is the incremental expansion of the project’s scope – e.g. through additional work requests - without the necessary readjustment of the other two elements: schedule and cost.

The project will follow a series of phases during production. Each phase will reflect a goal in achieving a particular task and also the resources needed to

Project scope defines the goals of the project and the budget of both time and money that has been allocated to achieve the objectives. For the best results to be achieved, both the definition and the allocated budget must be precise and detailed. A good process scope document will define specifically the tasks to be completed or the delivered results. The project scope is important because it will define the specific date for which the deliverables

The project scope statement is a key element in any new project. It is used to outline the results that the project will produce and the terms and conditions under which the work will be performed. Upper management, the requestor of the project and the project team need to all agree on the

Scope creep can be avoided if the scope is built correctly with help from the entire team. If I as a project manager not define with clarity what is going to be included, the project scope will change again and again, affecting both, the duration and the cost of the project. The triple constrain concept here is key, given the fact that time and cost will be affected. The best strategy to avoid scope creep is develop and use a correct scope management plan.

They will need to provide objectives for issues that surround the project and an outline of how to ultimately reach the goal of building this system for an operational organization that is attributed by many stages such as:

B) If a project schedule is relaxed or lengthened the impact of quality could add additional costs, a change in schedule as well as a budget increase. If you have additional time in your schedule you might be able to increase scope by adding tasks and duration. With this extra time and scope you can build a higher level of quality into the project and its deliverables. If you need to cut costs to meet your budget, you might have to decrease scope by cutting tasks or reducing task durations.

All projects are defined by the purpose, objectives and deliverables. Properly defining these, as well as the other aspects of the project management plan will

Defining the project scope sets the stage for developing a plan and its primary purpose is to define as clearly as possible the deliverables and to focus project plans (Gray & Larson, 2006). The team has

Project Scope – identifies goals, deliverables, tasks, costs, and deadlines. Project scope is part of project planning.

The nature and scope of a project is determined at the initiation stage. This involves analyzing the business needs, developing goals, budgets, tasks, deliverables, and the stakeholder analysis. The project planning stage determines the planning team, develops the scope, and identifies work breakdown structure and activities that will be needed to complete deliverables. The planning stage also estimates time and cost activities, develop schedule and risk plan, and gain formal approval for work to begin. The executing stage involves all processes used to meet the project requirement and involves managing people and resources. The process that entails the identification of potential problems and

High-level scope definition. What does the scope of the project encompass? All project planning must begin with scope definition. According to Fleming (2003, p. 26), scope definition should include the identification of all make-or-buy choices that need to be made.

Uncontrolled scope changes are known as scope creep, which mostly occurs during project execution, which often result in rework, cost overrun and failure to deliver projects on time (Jordan, 2010).

“Project management is a series of activities embodied in a process of getting things done” (Cleland, 2007, p.51). What stages would be involved on defining the ‘series of activities’ and what needs to be ‘done’? Would a complete definition of the project and its boundaries be directly linked to the project success?

2.  Refer to the Bradley Fighting Vehicle case at the end of the chapter (Case Study 5.3).  When is “Scope creep” useful and when is it dangerous?  Under what circumstances might an organization refuse to freeze design specifications for valid reasons (e.g. Microsoft)?