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Vishal leads the project team of an organization that’s set to launch a new mobile phone case in four months. After a month of project planning, the CEO’s team tells Vishal they want to add a series of new features to the product, including a camera lens guard and a card-holding slot. Vishal realizes he’s dealing with a case of scope creep in project management, but he incorporates the new additions in the scope of the project.
Two months in, Vishal is told he’ll have to add more changes, including a significant alteration of the design. Vishal says he can handle the rapidly growing project scope if his team’s granted additional resources and time for the extra work. When the four-month deadline is almost up, the CEO pulls up Vishal for the delay. Vishal tries to explain that the series of unplanned additions and the lack of adequate resources made it impossible for his team to meet the unchanged deadline.
Vishal’s told he’s an inefficient manager and will be taken off the project. What happened to him is a classic scope creep example. Even though he worked hard to add all the new product changes, his team didn’t have enough resources to perfect the product. Nor did they get an extended deadline.
Because Vishal wasn’t able to adhere to the initially scheduled baseline for the project, he’s considered a failure. In reality, he falls prey to scope creep. Let’s look at the meaning of scope creep.
What’s Scope Creep In Project Management?
Scope creep is an unwelcome development in an ongoing project. It occurs when the initial project scope increases without the necessary extensions being made to budgets, deadlines or other project-related resources.
Change isn’t unexpected or always undesirable. It’s a given for most projects, and managers should be prepared to handle changes. (Klonopin) However, from the scope creep definition, it’s clear that arbitrary changes to the scope of a project are unwelcome. Change requests can be deemed arbitrary or unfair if they’re made without adequate warning, examination, discussion or approval.
Understanding the scope creep meaning is helpful for team leaders and project managers who want to learn how to better manage a project. Let’s explore how they can do this.
Managing Project Scope
Scope creep happens when a project’s scope is vaguely defined. In these situations, the changes get out of control. But controlled scope creep in project management is also possible, especially when the changing needs are carefully documented and approved. Handling scope creep involves staying in control of such scope changes. A good way to tackle scope creep in project management is to take stock of how much the ongoing project differs from the initial plan. This helps project managers establish the degree to which the plan has changed, and handle all requests for change efficiently.
Now that we’ve outlined how project managers can prevent scope creep from getting out of hand, let’s examine a scope creep example or two.
Scope Creep Examples
Every scope creep example can help project managers sharpen their skills. Take the now-infamous case of the Denver International Airport (DIA), which epitomizes the meaning of scope creep and is often used as a warning about what not to do if scope creep is to be avoided. The DIA had ambitious plans of fully automating its luggage handling system. But the project witnessed more than 2,000 changes in design, went grossly over-budget and missed its deadline by 16 months. This was partially the result of an ill-defined project scope and the exclusion of important stakeholders during the planning process. Worse, scant heed was paid to basic apprehensions about the project. It was a massive failure and holds important lessons about scope creep in project management.
Keeping in mind this real-life example and the scope creep definition, let’s look at some examples of scope creep and why scope creep plagues project managers.
1. Ill-Defined Project Scope
Lacking a clear idea about project scope will cause uncontrolled scope creep. If the project manager fails to define the project clearly, they can be sure the project scope will change and grow dramatically. If a project manager doesn’t know their subject matter well, it’s likely they’re also unclear about the meaning of scope creep. It’s not uncommon for stakeholders to make more demands if they feel the project manager doesn’t have a clear vision.
2. Multiple Stakeholders
Any project manager who’s dealt with several stakeholders will be clear on the scope creep definition. With many voices come many opinions. These translate into too many changes for a project manager to accommodate. This creates unnecessary pressure on managers with regard to priorities and timelines. If multiple stakeholders can’t be avoided, project managers should try to engage with them all to find some consensus.
3. Last-Minute Customer Feedback
Project managers familiar with the scope creep meaning will know that keeping clients involved in project planning is crucial. It eliminates the possibility of negative feedback halfway through project completion and gives the project manager time to incorporate customers’ needs and give them only what they want.
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