Analyzing Scope Creep

Most people have committed their time and energy to a project simply to discover that their responsibilities develop far beyond the initial requirements. They often think to themselves “this isn’t what I signed up for” or “if only I’d known what I was getting into.” This brings about the experience of scope creep, whether we run into it in our personal or professional life; all the same, we all become a victim of it at one time or another. Scope creep is identified as a project management term appropriate to merely about any task in work or life. It results occurs when the degree of a project transcends or creeps beyond the boundaries of its unique goals and objectives. According to Lynch & Roecker (2007) scope creep afflicts most projects and is the main motive for time and cost overrun. This is a something that I have been familiar with in my life time but was not up to date with the name and unaware that it could be controlled. Scope creep takes on many diverse appearances depending on the character of your projects. As it is indicated in our text, scope creep is a natural tendency of both client and team members to append to the project as a means of improving the ultimate outcome (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, and Kramer, 2008).

This week’s assignment requests me to analyze a project, either personal or professional, that I experienced concerning issues related to scope creep. As I reflect on this matter, I looked back on the experience of organizing a Christmas holiday for my family. Each year we face a dilemma during the holidays based on who will host what dinner. Last Christmas I hosted the Christmas dinner. I feel that I took on the role as a project manager to plan and organize this dinner. I had to take into consideration the space, cost in dollars, as well as time in preparing this dinner. I had to use a form of communication in order to get suggestions on how to invite people and what they should bring so that everyone would not bring the same thing. I find insufficient planning and communication to be two of the key causes for scope creep. My goal was to do this dinner with a minimal cost as to say on a budget.  However, sometimes we find out that the optimum orchestrated plans can give way to surprises. According to our text “great project plans often fail by the wayside when well-intentioned people start to do what they feel is necessary to achieve the best possible results” (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, and Kramer, 2008, p. 321).

My goal was to prepare well before this day arrived. As Dr. Stolovich points out in this week’s resource “you are not God” therefore planning takes time and patience (Laureate Education, Inc). In managing projects you want to begin with top priority as well as avoiding the desire to be perfect (Laureate Education, Inc.).  Therefore, a few weeks ahead, I went through my house in order to prepare a to-do list of things that needed to be cleaned, repaired, or replaced. I cleaned, organized, and repaired, all those minor chores I've been procrastinating. Then I prepared my grocery list a couple of weeks in advance in order to try not to leave out anything. I planned to shop for bargains because I had a budget allotted for this dinner. I also had other items to take into consideration such as paper plates, napkins, and other household items. I then begin calling my relatives to invite them to my holiday dinner. As a means of decreasing time and cutting down on cost, I passed along duties to other members of the family so that I wouldn't have to do it all myself. I made plans to do the ham, turkey, and dressing. I allowed other family members to bring side dishes and desserts. I feel that it is necessary that others become involve making this a successful family gathering.

In spite of  planning in advanced in order to avoid issues, upon the activation of the project, a number of issues still emerged during the perform phase. I discovered during the perform phase of the project that there were changes that needed to be made in order to improve the success of the project goal but were not acknowledge during the planning. Due to the fact these issues were encountered late, the project had to endure some changes. “To keep course development within the original cost and time estimates, the additional features or new courses must be developed within the original cost and time estimates” (Lynch & Rocker, 2007, p. 96). On the other hand as Lynch & Rocker (2007) point out “sometimes changes must occur due to a change in vision, a change in the needs of customer, even a sudden change in budget” (p. 96). However, “project managers must expect change and be prepared to deal with it” (Portny et al., 2008, p. 346).

I was faced with the scope creep issues of omitting the invitation of relatives, over spending my set budget, as well as a relative misunderstanding in relation of bringing the appointed dish. According to Portny et al. (2008) “risk management is the process of identifying possible risks, assessing their potential impact on a project, and developing and implementing plans for minimizing their negative effects” (p. 378). As a solution for this problem, I had to organize a checklist to make sure that I had informed all of my relatives about the holiday dinner. I also had to call and check off making sure they were aware of the dish that they agreed upon. As Dr. Stolovich points out in monitoring projects you have to communicate with the client because as you get involve new things come up (Laureate Education, Inc.). As for the budget I made other adjustments. As a project manager you are going to have to make adjustments due to the unexpected changes (Laureate Education, Inc.). As stated by Dr. Petti Van Rekom (Laureate Education, Inc.) always take the right precautions to prevent failure in a project.

Reflecting back on this experience and with the gain of new knowledge of project management,

numerous things could have been done to control the scope of the project. According to Bellanca (2010) “scope creep is the weed that grows from seeds of unclear planning.”  First the planning should have been more systematic and fully documented. There also should have been better organization during the project completions as well as a detailed agreement. “Plans should always be in writing as a means of helping the project manger clarify details and reduce the chances of forgetting something” (Portny, et al., 2008, p. 79). A lesson from Dr. Budrovich indicating that that it is vital to “get decisions from stakeholders formalized and in writing so that you always have proof that you didn't make a controversial decision on your own” (Laureate Education, Inc.). An organized list with detailed information would have clearly helped avoid the issues that caused the project to creep. As indicated in our text “the success of a project depends on how clear and accurate the plan is and whether people believe they can achieve it” (Portny et al., 2008, p. 79).

References

Bellanca, R. (2010). Beat the omnipresent scope creep with communications. Retrieved May11, 2013 from http://www.isixsigma.com/implementation/project-selection-tracking/beat-omnipresent-scope-creep-communications/

Lynch, M. M., & Roecker, J. (2007). Project managing e-learning: A handbook for successful design, delivery, and management. London: Routledge.

Portney, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B.E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). Monitoring Projects [Video]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_549170_1%26url%3D

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). Practitioner voices: You Can’t Win Them All [Video]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_549170_1%26url%3D

Laureate Education, Inc. (n.d.). Creating a Resource Allocation Plan [Video podcast]. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5693702&Survey=1&47=7253860&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Laureate Education, Inc. (n.d.). Practioner Voices: Planning for Contingencies [Video podcast]. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5693702&Survey=1&47=7253860&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Blog Assignment: Communicating Effectively

This week’s assignment required that I view the multimedia program entitle “The Art of Effective Communication” in which I observed the same identical message in three modalities: email, voice mail, and face-to-face.  

 

Upon observing the identical message through the three modalities, it was astonishing to perceive the differences in the methods of communication. The content of this message is presented with a sociable tone which is detected by the courteous words utilize in the message. I found the email message to be formal, courteous, and very much to the point. When reading the email I could see that Jane needed the information from Mark as soon as possible by her choice of words. I also perceive some impatience as she indicated that she might miss her deadline if she didn’t receive the report at a timely manner. Jane showed politeness in her email by being considerate of Mark’s time and his busy schedule.

Jane’s voice mail came across as a tone of friendliness. According to Dr. Stolovich (Laureate Education, Inc.) in written communication you should keep the tone of all communications business friendly and respectful. She also was clear and concise which Stolovich (Laureate Education, Inc.) acknowledge as being vital in communication even though I detected urgency in her voice tone without any impoliteness or impetuosity, only a concern of not being able to meet her deadline if she did not receive the missing report or data from Mark. In comparing the three modalities, I found Jane’s voice in the voice mail to be the most compelling form of communication due to tone of business friendly and respectful. The tone she utilized was optimistic and showed an impression of professionalism.

The face-to-face conversation bought the message to life. She was able to demonstrate the significant of the message through body language, facial expressions, and vocal tone. In this week’s resource Dr. Stolovich indicated in his video that in communicating with stakeholders the “spirit of attitude” is communicated not only orally but through body language, timing, and the personality of the recipient (Laureate Education, Inc.). Not only could Mark hear her sincerity he could also see her gesticulation which is important in any business.

The key factors that affected my perspective of the distribution of the message comprised the words being expressed, facial expression, body language, as well as the tone of voice. According to Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer (2008) “in today’s workplace, communication takes numerous forms” (p. 357).  I find all three approaches to be an effective means of communication; however, they all have their use. However, I feel that utilizing a combination of all three can sometime be effective in ensuring all persona type is attained. Once you identify the personalities within the project team, you are probable to select the key communication modality that is best for them. In one of this week’s videos Dr. Budrovich suggests tailoring your communication strategy to fit the specific needs of each stakeholders (Laureate Education, Inc.).

 In my opinion, face-to-face is more convenient due to the fact of promoting a question and answer section. This method of communication also allows me to detect visual cues. Nevertheless, with the enhancement of technology, email has become more ideal, professional, as well as a more convenient way to communicate.

In deliberating on my previous projects, I find that the project manger must maintain a record tracking system to ascertain how they will communicate information, to what team members, in what method, and within what time frame. A word of advice from Dr. Stolovich is to document everything. The suggestion for communicating effective with members of a project team is crucial for its success. “The ability to communicate well, both orally and in writing, is a critical skill for project managers (Portny et al., 2008, p. 357). 

References 

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Communicating with stakeholders. [Video webcast].

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Practitioner voices: Strategies for working with stakeholders. [Video webcast].

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Learning from a Project "Post-motem"

This week’s assignment requested that we look back at a project we were involved in whether it was personal or professional that we believe that was not successful or did not conclude in the coveted end result. I found convolution in coming up with a project. I consider myself a systematic person, when I plan to do something I usually go for the best even if it requires pushing buttons in progress to get it done. However, I am not perfect and sometimes everything does not occur the way you want it to. After a great deal of thought I selected the project that I was involved in last summer.

This was a project that was sponsored by our church. It was a “feeding program” a project to help feed children all over the community a nutrition meal during the summer break. One of the other church member and I was in charge of this project. It’s a charity event where children in the community are fed breakfast and lunch free of charge. I feel it was a great project that was very constructive for the community children.

In May of 2012 we began planning for the project. We began by advertising the project by means of presenting flyers around the community and sending announcements to different churches. Parents were provided registration forms to register their children.  Although, I was not solely the head of this project I took on the responsibility of making sure the project took off successful. As it is indicated in the text “successful project managers must take the initiative for planning and controlling projects, whether or not they’re asked to do this” (Portny,, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer, 2008, p. 14). I considered the stakeholders to be the pastor of the church and the stewards because they handle the finance.

This project also benefited the church in some ways as well. It provided the church $1200 which they utilized to purchase a stove, refrigerator, and freezer that was needed for the project. It also provided the church some supplies utilized in the kitchen. However, it caused the church also due to the money being spent on appliances instead of placed in the bank to help pay for the resources that were utilized during the project. Then there was the transportation problem due to the church being located in a rural area. The project was supposed to be design so that the children come and eat breakfast and leave and come back to eat lunch. The parents were supposed to be responsible for getting the children back and forth from the church but that were not the case. Due to working parents we had to provide transportation; therefore, we ran the church van to pick the children up every morning. Because the children had to stay the complete time, we had to provide activities for them to do. There were two sponsors that headed this project and volunteers were required to help promote this program. I provided the volunteers their responsibilities, which they all agreed that they would take on. We receive numerous registration forms back from parents that register their children. Upon initiation of this project volunteers agreed that they will provide help throughout this project. However, the first week of this project the volunteers were very supportive. After that the volunteers began to fade away.

There are some things that went well during the implementation of the project. There were some church members that were very supportive of the project. The project was proven to be effective for some children because they stayed from the beginning to the end of the program. They were provided a nutrition breakfast and lunch that was helpful for the parents. It provided the church with items that were needed. 

Lin (2006) informs that project management occurs in four phases: planning, scheduling, controlling, and terminating. Even though I did not pursue all these phases precisely, however my church member and I knew that basic things had to be done. We had to proceed with little time to carry out details of the project. The mistake I made was having the faith that this would be an uncomplicated task and did not bother to go over the plans in detailed with the stakeholders on how it would benefit or affect the church.

In the conclusion of the project, I reflected back on many areas that could easily been improved upon. First of all the biggest lesson I learned was that a project manager should always have a “kick off meeting” Greer (2010) with the stakeholders to discuss the criteria and expectations. We should have had a meeting with the pastor and stewards to discuss this project. As Portny et al. (2008) point out “detailed planning is critically important” (p. 8).  Although, it was a wonderful project, I do not feel that it provided a desirable outcome. First of all it caused the church money due to the fact of the light and gas utilize during the program. Then there were children that did not complete the project. I feel that if the church would have been in the city so that the children could come and leave as they please it would have been more successful. We must remember that there is always some uncertainty in a project to make sure that they travel a rough road. If the world we live in were predictable, no project would ever go wrong; however, this is a vague world, filled with chance events and uncertainly (Portny et al., 2008, p. 6).

As it is acknowledge in our text “a project is unique; therefore, project managers must be creative and flexible, and have the ability to adjust rapidly to changes” (Portny et al., 2008). My lesson learned from this project is to always be prepared to adapt to the changes quickly and be ready to do other things when things do not happen as planned. This experience taught me to always do detailed planning in order to promote success. Always talk communicate the negative and positive aspect of a project to the stakeholders.

 

References

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects!

(Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

Lin, H. (2006). Instructional project management: An emerging professional practice for design and training programs. Workforce Education Forum , 33 (2).

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc