now, no signup required!
Rudrani works for an architecture firm, where she is currently the project manager in a team that’s building a new home for a client. Among other requirements stated by the client, the house is to have two floors, a terrace and a garage. Rudrani draws up a comprehensive project scope statement. It includes everything from an overview of the project to its specific milestones and the timelines within which they’ll be reached. Once the scope statement has been presented to the CEO, the client and all team members, Rudrani begins the project planning process. Her team’s been given a deadline of 18 months.
Having handled several such projects, Rudrani is well aware of scope creep and its ability to derail projects. She understands the importance of project scope management and ensures that her project scope clearly outlines the conditions to be followed in the event of new deliverables being added. Sure enough, 12 months into the project, the client asks for a balcony and a small lawn to be added to the building plan.
Under-prepared project managers would’ve struggled to accommodate such substantial changes to an existing plan, especially within the allotted resources. Having anticipated the possibility of major change requests while the project was underway, Rudrani had a project scope management plan in place beforehand. She included relevant stipulations in the scope statement, which mentioned that all change orders would be assessed, the required extra costs determined, and changes to deadlines and budgets properly reflected in the project plan.
In this way, Rudrani proved her ability to succeed at project scope management. She ensured new deliverables would get more time and budget allocations. In doing so, she kept scope creep within manageable limits and upheld the importance of project scope management.
What Is Project Scope Management?
It’s important to answer the question “what is project scope management?” before exploring what a project scope management process entails. Simply put, project scope management is a sum total of the processes that need to be followed to ensure that the project only involves the work required for successful completion. Effective project scope management would also include ensuring a watertight change control process is outlined in the scope statement. This would minimize any loopholes that might lead to unmanageable change requests later.
The importance of project scope management can’t be overstated. If the project manager fails to clearly outline what’s part of the project and what isn’t, it can lead to deadline delays, budget overruns and client dissatisfaction. Ensuring none of these things happen is a key part of the project scope management process.
Now that we’ve gone over what project scope management is and its importance, let’s look at some project scope management examples.
Project Scope Management Examples
Rudrani’s handling of her construction project is a case study in efficient project scope management. Several steps need to be taken to ensure a project stays on track and meets clients’ expectations. If effectively executed, each of these steps counts as a successful project scope management example. Let’s examine what they are.
-
Recording Every Project Requirement
Understanding and carefully documenting the clients’ needs is a key part of the project scope management process. These requirements must be approved by both the stakeholders and the project manager. This mandatory step ensures everyone knows what the project entails and gives team members a realistic roadmap to work with.
-
Making A Priority List
It’s impossible to deliver on several project requirements at the same time. Trying to do so will negatively impact efficiency and work quality. The project manager must sit down with their team members and figure out which deliverables to prioritize before others. Clients can often expect all the work to be done at once. The project manager’s job is to manage their expectations, understand which deliverables are the most important to them, and set the team to work accordingly.
-
Outlining Milestones
This is an essential component of the project scope management process as it gives team members a clear sense of achievement every time a target is reached. It’s advisable to set smaller milestones in addition to bigger goals; group members can be appreciated and rewarded for fulfilling each objective, thereby increasing their job satisfaction and motivating them to do even better. A step that would enhance this project scope management example is factoring in significant changes to deliverables while deciding on the work breakdown structure. In this way, not only will targets be achieved more easily, but scope creep will also be managed.
-
Preparing For Scope Creep
This is perhaps the most important example of project scope management. The best project managers acknowledge the inevitability of scope creep and prepare for it in advance. This involves creating an efficient system right at the outset for managing change requests, bringing all team members up to speed and carrying out a cost-benefit analysis of every new deliverable before approving it.
Managing tight deadlines, multiple tasks and several variables with panache is the hallmark of the best project managers. Harappa’s Manage Projects Expertly program is designed to help ambitious professionals handle all of this with ease. Under the guidance of a stellar faculty and six in-depth interactive lessons, you’ll be taught how to take charge of project management, make the right decisions and meet business goals with agility. With the help of techniques like The Good-Cheap-Fast Rule and the SWOT And Cost-Benefit Analysis, you’ll be equipped with skills to build commercial acumen and cultivate critical thinking.
Sign up for the Manage Projects Expertly pathway to get action-ready, adapt quickly, become focused and deliver!
