Riad, To validate is to make sure you have the correct target, as opposed to verify which is to determine if you hit the target.
For project scope: Validate scope means that the scope is clearly defined and correctly describes the boundaries of the project. Control scope is keeping the project aligned within the boundaries as time goes on and changes occur influencing the project. Saving Changes...
Eric IsomOwner| learn.pmguaranteed.comUt, United States
"Validate Scope is the process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables."
"Control Scope is the process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline."
PMBOK® Guide, pp. 163, 167
Validate Scope is meeting with the customer and getting sign off on the project deliverables.
Control Scope is the work you do throughout the project to keep an eye on scope, including managing any changes to the scope.
Closely related is the Control Quality process, which measures whether the project deliverables meet the quality requirements. This should be done before you Validate Scope with the customer, and is an important input to the Validate Scope process.
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3 replies by Ahmed Abdelnaeim, Ilyana Yasko, and Odion Ikhide
May 31, 2020 6:25 PM
Odion Ikhide
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Eric,
Your explanation puts an end to an age-long quest between these two concepts. This came at the niche of time as my exam is few weeks away. Thank you
Jul 22, 2020 6:22 AM
Ahmed Abdelnaeim
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Thanks
Sep 20, 2020 3:48 PM
Ilyana Yasko
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Could you please elaborate for this one a bit more, sorry. So if "Validate scope" is "the process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables" and "Control Scope" - is "the process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline", then is it correct to put it this way: - you control scope in M&C process group to see if it meets the defined criteria for scope and if not you make corrections of the basiles - Validate scope - you do in the end, to receive final approval of deliverable by customer after you performed "Controll scope" and "Control Quality". - What si the difference between "Control Scope" and "Control Qulaity"? thanks in advance
Saving Changes...
Drew CraigSr. Agile & Product Coach| VanguardPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Agree with Keith and Eric. Nice clear, concise explanation. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Just to comment, the explanation inside the PMBOK is clear. The problem perhaps is when you try to map it into a process because the PMBOK has no process defined. Validate scope is defined as "The process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables". Control Scope is defined as "The process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline". In Validate Scope "The verified deliverables obtained from the Control Quality process are an input to the Validate Scope process. One of the outputs of Validate Scope is accepted deliverables that are formally signed off and approved by the authorized stakeholders". Control Scope is performed to update all the scope related information and deliverables getting the input from work performance data. For example, if a deliverable was accepted then you will change the state of the deliverable inside all your scope information. Saving Changes...
Harish RanganathaPgMP coach and Program Manager Consultant| ACEPROBangalore, Kar., India
In addition to the above superb explanations, here is what I can say:
1. Validate Scope process is executed by project manager after you test the deliverable internally and ready to take it to customer acceptance. Once you get acceptance, you received the certificate from customer/sponsor and you can go to project close.
2. Control scope refers to how you make decision to change the project scope. Eg: If you find a functionality is not fully implemented or there are enhancements, project manager execute this process to derive what change requests are required Saving Changes...
DORA LUZ MejiaCEO| IT ExploreEnvigado, Antioquia, Colombia
Agree with most of the explanations given. Althought the theory is clear about the difference in the practical execution of the project you mix both things. in my oppinion It is not neccesary to have a different process for control scope, all control process need to be integrated to consider time, cost, scope and not having independent control process for each area.
If you are in a product you need to consintue review the product, review the features and the alignment with the OKRs to ensure the product. it is a continuos validation scope process . Control scope is addijng more items to your features and reviewing continuosly.
in my oppinion this processes are repetitive and you do not need to separate the concepts. Saving Changes...
Very interesting topic. I was going to disagree with some of the comments made above regarding what "validate" means vs. "verify", but then I did a keyword search for validate in the PMBoK itself and found that although they explicitly contrast validation vs. verification in the glossary, the authors don't use appear to use the terms consistently throughout the document.
I don't wish to be pedantic in pointing out the difference. It's actually fundamental to Systems Engineering, which is my career and educational background. The PMBoK heavily leverages SE methods and terminology even when they get it wrong.
The classic "Systems Engineering Vee" model, is the predictive model we all know and love, which relies on top-down decomposition of the problem/project (see also WBS), and validation that as we have the problem and solution approach correct at each layer of decomposition. Verification by contrast is the bottom-up process group of ensuring that the solution meets the already validated requirements at each layer. In short, validation is ensuring the plan is correct, while verification is ensuring the deliverables are correct
It's like how quality assurance is to make sure we designed quality in, while quality control is to ensure we filtered the errors out. They sound very similar, but have entirely different meanings to those who's job functions are involved.
I am debating offering to volunteer my time to help edit the document for reasons such as this. Some of the information is sufficiently vague where it can be interpreted correctly by an expert, but clarity would serve us better as a professional body. Saving Changes...
Raj Shekhar BidikaMaintenance Engineer| Reliance Industries LimitedJamnagar, Gujarat, India
Validate Scope is about getting formal acceptance of Verified project deliverable from Customer/End user/client. Verified project deliverable is obtained from Control quality.
Control scope is all about comparing the status of project/product scope against the scope baseline and managing changes to the scope baseline in case of any variations. Saving Changes...
Odion IkhideDirector| OD Project Solutions LtdAberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom
Jun 30, 2019 12:00 AM
Replying to Eric Isom
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"Validate Scope is the process of formalizing acceptance of the completed project deliverables."
"Control Scope is the process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline."
PMBOK® Guide, pp. 163, 167
Validate Scope is meeting with the customer and getting sign off on the project deliverables.
Control Scope is the work you do throughout the project to keep an eye on scope, including managing any changes to the scope.
Closely related is the Control Quality process, which measures whether the project deliverables meet the quality requirements. This should be done before you Validate Scope with the customer, and is an important input to the Validate Scope process.
Eric,
Your explanation puts an end to an age-long quest between these two concepts. This came at the niche of time as my exam is few weeks away. Thank you Saving Changes...
