Scope Management (High Level Overview)

This is all the work and only the work that is needed to complete a project successfully. The Project Manager needs to check constantly that all agreed upon work is completed on time. Scope Management also means that no additional work is added to the project. Yes, that's right. The objective is to give the customer what they ask for. Make sure you really understand this point in order to become or stay a successful project manager.

Projects can be selected in a number of ways and the selection process varies widely depending on Company size, Industry and some other factors

 

Example: Small Company

• Business Owner decides that a certain functionality is needed and puts a project team together

Example: Mid- + Large Companies

• Return on Investment (ROI) calculations are put together by dedicated resources to make a case for starting a project
• Management decides to fund a project based on policy guidelines from senior Management

See this link for a short, graphical overview of the different Project Selection Methods.

One key part at the beginning of a project is to define what the objective of the project is. For this purpose a Project Charter is used. Here is an example of a Project Charter .

The Project Charter should at least

• Define what the project is
• State authority levels for the project (e.g. determine budget, schedule, resources)
• Define the Objective of the project
• Explain why the project is being done
• Describe the deliverables of the project

The Project Charter should be signed by senior level management to ensure appropriate cooperation from all project team members on a project. This is necessary because the project team, in most cases, does not report directly to the project manager in a corporate structure.

Over time the project scope will invariably change. To deal with this expected change in an organized fashion a change management process needs to be setup. Select this link to learn more about basic Change Management processes.

We already discussed the requirements part that is related to scope management (see blog post from November 9, 2009).

As part of Scope Management you should also

• identify project success criteria
• Get buy-off from the stakeholders on your project charter
• Determine constraints – resources, budget, schedule, scope
• Establish unambiguous and achievable goals
• Setup the project in a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Note: The potential for scope creep exists for every project. Therefore be very clear at the beginning of every project with the project charter and with your change management processes.

This requires some effort upfront but will pay off quickly through clear communication and less confusion.