Defeating Scope Creep

 Defeating Scope Creep

Photo by Ilona Panych on Unsplash

And So It Begins...

My husband and I decided to go for the open concept kitchen living room combo. I mean, how hard could it be to just knock down a non-load-bearing wall, add some cabinets, and paint?

...And, did I mention, my husband is a contractor?!

We created a plan, set the budget, and got to work. And that's when it hit...

Scope Creep reared its ugly head. 

Once the wall came down, the decision was made to build an island rather than just install cabinets. Of course, we needed a new paint color rather than touching up the old one, but this would mean painting the kitchen and living room since they were now one large room. Wait, that means the hallway and entry hall need painting now and if we are doing them, we should paint the ceilings too! 

If we are painting then we should probably get new flooring. And, the furniture, we can't really have old furniture in a new room? 

Wait! The Scope Creep is now out of control and we have to stop and take control of this runaway project. 

How Did This Happen?

Lack of Clarity and Depth- In the case of our open concept, as the wall came down, the project began to take on a life of its own. This happens in business too where projects begin it is not clearly defined. 

Getting extra work for cheap or free- As I mentioned before, my husband is a contractor which equals free labor! However, time is not free and time on our project takes away time for paid projects. In business, this can happen when full-time employees are completing the work and extra money is not being spent on outside contractors or extra staffing. 

Starting the design and development without a clear cost analysis- With an open concept kitchen, we did not keep track of the extra costs such as more paint, flooring, and furniture. We literally stood in the kitchen, looked around and my husband stated price ranges for items he remembered from a previous job he has completed. This can also happen in business, especially during meetings where ideas are being shared and everyone jumps on the bandwagon to support the great ideas and designs. 

Do it yourself- Yes, I have mentioned it several times, my husband is a contractor. He has the skills to DIY any project in our house. Just like in business, doing it yourself might be "free" on paper, but DIY takes away from other projects and paid work. DIY can also lead to a never-ending punch list with no clear boundaries. 

Wanting everything under the sun rather than focusing on the highest priority items- Who doesn't want everything under the sun? Everyone wants a remodel to have that HGTV remodel program reveal feeling. This can also happen when developing a project. Sometimes items will be promised to a client and the person promising does not have a full concept of what it means to the design or development department (Larson & Larson, 2009). 


Defeat the (Scope) Creep

  • A clear, well-defined scope is a crucial factor in successful projects.
  • Scope statements should include both features in and out of scope.
  • Business analysts can contribute to clear scope with effective requirements elicitation and by analyzing and documenting clear, complete, and concise requirements.
  • The project manager needs to work with the sponsor to either negotiate a later delivery date for the project or reduce its scope when the date is fixed.
  • To help clarify the scope early in the project, the systems analyst should use scope models and diagrams (Larson & Larson, 2009).


Reference

Larson, R., & Larson, E. (2009, October 13). Top Five Causes of Scope Creep. Pmi.org. https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/top-five-causes-scope-creep-6675

Comments

  1. Lori WrightApril 14, 2022 at 8:48 PM

    Leanne,

    My example of scope creep also involved a DIY project. I whole-heartedly agree with your statement, "DIY can also lead to a never-ending punch list with no clear boundaries".

    As we are aware, scope creep can also occur with professional projects. From the Larson & Larson article you shared, one cause struck me, "allowing direct [unmanaged] contact between client and team participants" (Larson & Larson, 2009). I can also quickly see how this could also easily lead to a never-ending punch list without boundaries.

    The good news is that when project managers are aware of these pitfalls, they can preemptively plan for them.

    Reference
    Larson, R., & Larson, E. (2009, October 13). Top Five Causes of Scope Creep. Pmi.org. https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/top-five-causes-scope-creep-6675

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amanda ValenteApril 15, 2022 at 2:09 PM

    Leanne,
    Thank you for this fun blog post. Well… it was fun for me! I know exactly the project you are describing here and how all of the sudden it begins to snowball into, “What about this?” “What about that?”
    Sometimes with home construction or design projects, you do need to paint or work on other features of the house all because you upgraded one room. Sometimes, the upgraded room no longer flows with the older parts of the home. Or, your newly renovated room makes the other rooms stand out like a sore thumb. I can easily see how scope creep can happen here. It seems natural.
    I like how you translated this scope creep to not only your personal project, but how your husband (is he a contractor?... just kidding) has to deal with repercussions of scope creep with his business. According to Roy and Searle (2020), at times there are purposeful pivots in a project. However, scope creep and the changes it brings to the original project can rear its head and is sometimes generated from stakeholders. Some changes may absolutely be necessary on a project, however, even though it may be tempting to cater to every change or whim of the stakeholder, too many changes without formal analysis can lead to delays, gross overestimation, and unintended consequences (Roy & Searle, 2020). Megia (2017) shared that it is hard to say no sometimes, but giving in to every whim of the stakeholders is a slippery slope. You may overpromise and underdeliver, and the opposite should be true.
    Thanks again for sharing your story and relating to the business world.
    Amanda
    References

    Stop scope creep before it starts. (2017, September 1). Accounting Today, 31(9), 60.


    Roy, S., & Searle, M. (2020). Scope Creep and Purposeful Pivots in Developmental Evaluation. Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 35(1), 92–103. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjpe.56898

    ReplyDelete
  3. FordApril 15, 2022 at 4:23 PM

    Greetings Leanne,

    The way you broke down each section is splendid. Scope creep can definitely rear it head if you make changes from one thing to another. As in your case you all opted for an island, which was not the initial plan. The changing of the island brought forth other things that needed adjusting. Home projects are the worse, especially when you do them your self.

    References
    Larson, R., & Larson, E. (2009, October 13). Top Five Causes of Scope Creep. Pmi.org. https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/top-five-causes-scope-creep-6675

    ReplyDelete
  4. P.J. MolinarioApril 17, 2022 at 3:21 PM

    Hi Leanne,

    I enjoyed your breakdown of scope creep and your DIY project story really hit home with me! I also picked a personal project for my example this week.

    The point you made about "wanting everything under the sun rather than focusing on the highest priority items" really stood out to me. I struggle with this myself when I am doing home projects. I was in the process of redoing the patio and felt like the whole backyard needed help. After all, I can't have a new patio with no pretty flowerbeds and yard decor to look at while I'm out there, right? :)

    This rings true when managing business projects too. I think an important yet challenging responsibility a project manager must assume is to help reign in stakeholders and the project team when they get enthusiastic about the progress and come up with more things to add. It sometimes needs to be said that while the suggestions are great, they may need to wait to be realized in a future project in order to remain on target with the scope of the project (Larson & Larson, 2009).

    Penny Jordan

    Reference:
    Larson, R., & Larson, E. (2009, October 13). Top Five Causes of Scope Creep. Pmi.org. https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/top-five-causes-scope-creep-6675

    ReplyDelete
  5. CaldwellApril 17, 2022 at 7:15 PM

    Hey Leanne,

    Reading your experience with scope creep was informative and enjoyable.

    I went through the same thing with my scope creep. I thought by handling some parts in a D.I.Y manner it would help alleviate other aspects of the project but instead took away my time.

    I also came to the same conclusion that tackling on most of the project might not have been the best idea. Instead, focusing on the high-priority items and delegate lower-priory items out to others who could help (Walden University, n.d.).

    Reference
    Walden University, LLC. (Executive Producer). (n.d.). Monitoring projects [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

    ReplyDelete

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