Change Is Good: Redefining Scope Isn't So Creepy

  PM Network  

Scope creep: For project managers these can be two very scary words.

From the beginning, project managers are taught the mantra, “On budget, on schedule, on scope.” But challenges such as too much (or not enough) stakeholder involvement and poor project control can thwart even the bestlaid project plans. That push outside the defined scope often leads to more frightening words, such as over budget, off schedule and, in extreme cases, even project failure.

Is scope creep truly as evil as it’s perceived to be? For project managers working with the agile methodology, the answer, more often than not, turns out to be “No.”

“All projects experience changing requirements,” says Steven Thomas, senior technical manager at the BBC, a public-service broadcasting company in London, England. “Traditional projects view this as bad. Agile projects embrace it.”

The difference is all in the approach.

Taking scope creep by the reins

The agile approach is iterative. Once a particular part of the project has been implemented, the result is reviewed, and the next move—an iteration, or “sprint,” as it’s called in the popular agile methodology known as scrum—is decided. That could mean a revision of what was already completed or something entirely new.

“Agile iterations, therefore,…

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