Effective Project Scope Management

Anyone who  has ever read any literature on the subject of project management is certainly familiar with the importance of properly defining and controlling project scope. The problem with scope is that it could be more difficult to manage than you think. Sources of scope management difficulties may include a salesperson trying to please a customer by promising more project deliverables; a senior manager, who adds to the project deliverables without consulting the project team; a technical team member who decides to add to the scope without consulting the team; or, a customer who realizes or decides that scope changes are needed.

In the real world, scope changes can be expected during the life cycles of most projects. Scope changes implemented once work has begun will have a greater effect on the project schedule and cost than changes implemented during the project initiation or planning phase; therefore, it is imperative that the project scope be well defined before the project work begins. In the event that scope changes are needed once project work has started, stakeholders (especially the sponsor, customer, and team) need to understand exactly how the additional scope will impact the project deliverable due dates (schedule) and resources (cost).

The purpose of this paper is to help the reader better define project scope, give examples of some of the …