Managing Scope Creep

John D’Entremont, PMP, is a program manager with over 15 years experience in training, managing training teams and designing materials to enhance the skills of managers and executives.

  Change Management   Requirements Management   Stakeholder Management   ProjectsAtWork  

Every project runs the risk of scope creep, but not all scope creep should be prevented if it leads to enhancements that the customer needs. The key is how you document and manage it. Here are some suggestions for keeping your project on track, and adapting to stakeholder needs.

Proper scope management involves defining what the objectives of a project are, and the work that needs to be done to accomplish those objectives. Appropriately detailing what will be included, and what will be excluded, is essential during the initiating phase. It sounds easy enough, but no matter how much initial planning that you do, there is a very good chance that you’ll run into some form of scope creep. Changes might be made to the initial requirements, or additional objectives can be added after the project kick-off. The manner in which you deal with these changes will shape the outcome of your project.

There are a couple of key signs that you can be on the lookout for. If new stakeholders are identified after the project has commenced, you might need to take a step back to discover new requirements. While this will not prevent change from occurring, it will allow you to get ahead of the change and work it into your existing project plan.

An additional challenge is when project team members “go rogue”, and try to enhance the project beyond initial definitions. …

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