Project Scope Management

What is Project Scope Management?

Let's start with the term "scope" in relation to project management. The "scope" of a project is all the work involved in creating the products of the project, as well as the processes used to create them. In all project undertakings we want everyone to essentially be "on the same page". This is where project scope management comes into play. It will ensure that the project team and stakeholders have the same understanding of each step & the result that will be produced within the project.

There are 5 main processes involved in scope management, they are:

1. Scope Planning - is determining how the scope will be managed. This involves defining, verifying & controlling how the work breakdown system will be created. Basically it is a blueprint for configuring the project itself.
2. Scope Definition - involves reviewing all the information to date, including the charter, the scope statement and adding all the variables & change requests that have been approved. The scope of a project will most likely have several amendments as the project progresses.
3. Creating the WBS - is an essential part of project scope management. The WBS stands for work breakdown system. This will aid you in keeping all the project deliverables decomposed into smaller more manageable components.
4. Scope Verification - is the step where the customer reviews the scope and all the scrutinized data that went into assessing the needs of the client. Once the customer/ sponsor of the project gives the go-ahead, a customer sign-off is recommended before proceeding further with the implementing of the project.
5. Scope Control - is controlling the amount of change within the scope. When on a project it is essential to keep the project on task. Controlling the momentum of the project by limiting changes to only the necessary ones that are of benefit to the project/client. Too much change could end in disaster if not carefully weighed by cost and benefit factors.

Developing a WBS can be done in several ways. Some of the most popular ways are:

• Using Guidelines- many organizations already have guidelines prepared that must be followed when developing a WBS.


• The Analogy Approach- using a similar projects existing WBS as a starting point & altering it to fit the current project.


• The Top-Down Approach - starts with the largest items of the project and breaks them down into categories.


• The Bottom-Up Approach - groups all tasks involved in the project into a larger more manageable level of categories.


• The Mind-mapping Approach - is a form of brainstorming the project from one main core branching out to structure thoughts and ideas.

Example Document:

WBS in Chart Form Developed from Mind-mapping Technique

Reflection

Having learned more about scope I can see where it will benefit me in my woodworking hobby. A lot of what I build starts with an idea and I go into the shop and start to build it. As things start to come together there are more and more ideas and things that come into play. If I was to draw out the plans for my ideas I’m sure the extras would come to mind as I built the item on paper. This would save time and scope creep from being part of almost every project I’ve done.

Having designed my first web page for someone else has been a bit of a disaster. There are 2 people in authority that can’t seem to agree with what it is they want. One wants it one way, and the other wants the opposite and they each want the other to approve it. I should have had them come up with a rough plan for the web site before agreeing to take this on. Changes just keep coming up and if it wasn’t for the fact that they are family I’d suggest they may want to seek someone else to do it for them.