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