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Winds of Change: Scope Management
By Blair Witzel
March 7, 2005

Introduction
Lola began her project to develop a donor database about eight months ago. When she started the project, the database was to include only people who had donated to the agency. However, the programmer recently put in functionalities related to potential donors to the agency. This is "scope creep" - the original scope of the project has drifted from its original focus.

It is time for some scope management.
Reasons for Scope Change
Defining scope management is most easily accomplished by looking at what causes scope change. There are three general reasons that project scope changes:

1. Scope Creep

The project team increases or decreases project activities or deliverables, or the size of one particular deliverable. This naturally occurs in projects, but needs to be monitored so that it does not throw the whole project off.

Lola's programmer adding extra functionality to the database application is an example of scope creep.
2. Budget or Schedule Changes

Scope, budget, and schedule all exist in equilibrium. It takes a certain amount of money and work to create the product. The project team would need to revisit the scope were the project schedule or budget to change because they would be unable to accomplish the same scope.

If the executive director were to ask Lola to deliver the project earlier, she would have to investigate whether the scope needed to be reduced to achieve the new target date.
3. Project Change Request

Scope can also change simply because someone requests it. A project team member or another stakeholder may request that a change be made to meet other priorities or because the project will not accomplish the original objectives.

An example of a project change request might be if the funder requested that the database application link up with their financial package. It is a request to expand the scope.

What is Scope Management?
Scope management means monitoring the project to identify changes to the scope or constraints, or receiving change requests. It also includes investigating the impact that changes will have on the project and making informed decisions about how to address them.
Reading the Winds of Change
The scope creep was a surprise for Lola. She was surprised to find that the scope had changed. I let her, and now you, in on a little secret of project management. There are a few signs that will let you know when change is about to happen. It does not have to come as a complete surprise.

Unclear scope
The project overview statement should outline what the project is to deliver, and should be clear and accurate. It is similar to the blueprint for a house. If it is vague, the carpenters might show up and put the kitchen in the basement. Oops. That might not be what you had intended, but it was not communicated clearly enough. The project manager needs to define the scope clearly so that everyone knows precisely what the project is about.

The what is not aligned with the why
Every project is delivered for a reason. Lola's project intends to facilitate tracking donations to the agency. Therefore, she needs to deliver a project that will achieve that objective. Delivering a database that tracks people who might donate will not achieve that objective. This is often the case with projects. The "what" is not aligned with the "why."

Something does not quite fit
The project scope will probably include a number of key deliverables. Lola is delivering a database, a training manual, and sessions for the users. These are all related to one another and make sense to deliver as one project. If the project scope were also to include analysing the type of programs offered by the agency, one would have to wonder whether it really fits. It doesn't, and should probably be delivered as another project. Look for activities or deliverables in your project that do not quite fit with the rest.

Deliverables have not been approved by the appropriate body
This is a common reason that scope changes. It is very important that deliverables be approved by anyone who has the authority to later disagree. This is especially true when work builds upon previous deliverables.

One of the first things that Lola did was develop a document stating what the database would do and the information it would collect. She then had the executive director approve this document and agree to what she was doing. The project team created the database based on this document. As long as she delivers a database that accomplishes what she agreed upon with the executive director, the executive director cannot claim that she did not know what to expect. If Lola did not have the executive director approve the project scope, she could have claimed that Lola delivered a database that she did not request.
Keep these signs in mind as you work through your project. If they appear on the horizon, you can expect that you will be making a change to the scope.
Summary
This article has given you a brief introduction to why scope changes and the signs for which you can look. Scope change occurs because the scope creeps, the project budget or schedule changes, or a request is made to change the nature of the project. Managing scope is critical to delivering a successful project.

Lola's project was changing because of scope creep. She needs to adjust either the scope or budget and schedule to ensure that they remain balanced. Had she been aware of some of the signs of scope change, she could have seen changes on the horizon and taken appropriate action.

In the next article, we will revisit this topic. However, instead of looking at the why of scope management, we will look at the what - what to do about it.

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Blair Witzel (blair@mcdoane.com) is a member of the Project Management Institute and a consultant with McDonnell Doane + Associates, an information management and technology firm focusing on the not-for-profit and public sectors. His work centres on managing multi-project portfolios and working with organizations to develop project management methodologies to more effectively deliver projects.