What is Scope Creep?

It can be frustrating for a Project Manager when he witnesses a painful and slow receding of the performance of a project that has been healthy so far. Most Project Managers know that this happens to many healthy projects because of a beast called scope creep. Before understanding what scope creep is in Project Management, it is better to understand that it is a fearsome thing that can happen to any project. In turn, it can bring down the level of satisfaction, thereby making the predicted project value unachievable. Many project Managers, team members, and stakeholders feel frustrated about scope creep. So, they keep things as tight as possible to avoid scope creep from damaging their projects. 

Scope Creep – The Meaning:

What is scope creep? According to the Project Management Institute, it is important to understand scope first. Then, a prospective Project Manager will find it easy to comprehend scope creep in Project Management and its effects.

Scope:

According to PMI, the scope of a project is nothing but the extent of what it will produce. The scope also defines the work required to produce it. The former is denoted as product scope, while the latter is called project scope. In other words, the scope is the sum of the products, services and outcomes produced in a project. In general, it is documented with the help of a scope statement and a Work Breakdown Structure or WBS. The project moves forward once the scope statement is approved by the project's sponsors.

Scope Creep:

In most instances, scope creep happens when a project team tries to add new features or functions to meet a new requirement. Scope creep occurs when the team goes beyond the scope that they have agreed upon. In other words, scope creep occurs when functionality or features or added to the scope of the project without addressing the effects of the addition to the resources, costs and time and without approval from customers. However, change in projects cannot be avoided. Therefore, the possibility of scope creep is unavoidable as well. This is why mastering scope creep is not an easy task.

From this statement, there is no need to understand that adding work or functionality to a project is undesirable. Also, it does not denote that scope creep happens when there is a change in the project requirements. The idea here is that it happens when the changes are not authorized. When the scope expansion is approved, it does not mean that the project undergoes scope creep.

Negative Effects of Scope Creep:

In addition to understanding what scope creep is in Project Management, it is equally important to understand the ill effects of scope creep. As a Project Manager when you are aware of its effects, you can take the possible steps to prevent it from creeping into your project.

Naturally, you cannot avoid changes when your project has started. However uncontrolled changes lead to delays in project completion, thereby leading to scope creep. For instance, changes to the project outcome that have been requested by customers and have not been documented and added to the updated scope of the project in management can quickly put the project out of the project manager's control.

You can better understand the effects of scope creep with an example. In 2008, BBC initiated the digital media move. This move aims to modernize the company's media production and archiving methods with the help of media asset management systems and media production. This change let scope creep into the project, costing BBC a huge £100M loss. Apart from financial loss, this move also leads to dissatisfaction among business users.

Scope creep can bring other ill effects like those mentioned below:

• Poor prioritization of features
• Inefficiency among Project Managers
• Unrealistic time frames and deadlines
• Non-existent and inflexible change control process
• Unapproved and undocumented changes and conversations between stakeholders
• Poor communication between team members, Project Managers, customers and stakeholders
• Unclear and vague project initiation document without a properly defined project scope statement.

Other Effects of Scope Creep:

The mathematics behind scope creep is simple. Adding scope increases the amount of work to be completed, increasing the cost and thereby forcing the other scope to be deprioritized. As a result, project timelines were extended, requiring additional staff and reducing the quality of the finished project.

Resource Constraints:

When the project scope goes beyond what was planned, the first reaction of most Project Managers would be to turn additional resources towards the project. In turn, the organization will start experiencing resource constraints. As a result, the other projects in the organization are also affected. So, the overall organizational productivity will decrease and the overhead will increase. So, resource constraints are one of the effects of scope creep.

Turnover:

When projects quickly devolve, they need turnover and burning out. Of course, the Project Manager can look at the well-documented turnover cost of past successful projects to get an idea. However, depending on the project's timing, this cost might not be wholly transparent in the budget. Nevertheless, it comes as a straight outcome.

PR Implications: 

Besides the effects discussed above, scope creep can also lead to PR nightmares for consulting organizations. As a result, there is a chance of a failed client relationship and poor satisfaction for businesses, which can have an ill effect on the overall future of the business.

The effects of scope creep can greatly cost the entire organization. Yes, apart from affecting the specific project, it can also affect the overall healthy functioning of the business. So, it becomes important for a Project Manager to take essential steps to avoid scope creep.

Tips to Avoid Scope Creep:

Many Project Managers feel that it is not possible to avoid or prevent changes to a project. As a result, they believe scope creep is sure to happen. In reality, well-documented changes will not lead the project to scope creep. So, whenever any change is made to the project scope, the same should reflect in the scope statement. Scope creep can be avoided when all team members reflect and agree upon with uniformity. Here are some tips to help with avoiding scope creep in any project. These tips will help Project Managers to take appropriate actions to avoid scope creep:

Split the Project:

You can avoid scope creep when the requested change should be made to smaller work groups. So, splitting the project into smaller groups is better than keeping it as an entire block. Each sub-project should have a particular deadline.

Create a Detailed and Clear Project Scope Statement at the start of the Project:

• It is possible to avoid scope creep when the scope statement that you prepare at the start of the project is clear and detailed with the following inclusions:
• What are the specific goals of the project?
• What are the deliverables and their descriptions?
• Details of the tasks to be completed and their appropriate owners and dependabilities
• Deadline for each deliverable, checkpoints and key project milestones
• The cost associated with each stage of the project and every deliverable.
• Points of contact and who has the right to request a change in the project.

A Solid Change Management Plan:

Change is inevitable in any project as it moves forward. This holds particularly if the project is a long-term project. So, before the project begins, it is better to have a clear plan if at all change happens. A change management plan should be prepared by including the information given below:

• How will your team act on change requests and how will these requests be measured and monitored?
• A process to ascertain the effect of a change on the scope of the existing project, its budget and timeline.
• A procedure to judge each request's priority based on the stakeholder's authority, business impact and urgency.
• A system to act as a place for a consolidated record of all change requests along with the names of people, who made these requests. 
• A system to record the effect expected from the change and the real-time status.
• A procedure to keep an eye on the actions taken on change requests and address delays before they turn out to be bigger issues.
• A plan to communicate the status of the change requests with corresponding stakeholders.
• The process of regular feedback cycles with the stakeholders right from the beginning of the project so that last-minute feedback can be prevented.  

Conclusion:

Understanding the insidious nature of scope creep empowers project managers to take preemptive action. By anticipating potential changes and devising comprehensive plans early in the project lifecycle, teams can effectively mitigate the risks of scope creep. With proactive measures in place, such as detailed project scope statements and robust change management protocols, Simpliaxis enables organizations to navigate project complexities with confidence and precision. By leveraging Simpliaxis's expertise and resources, project teams can proactively address evolving requirements, ensuring project success while avoiding the pitfalls of scope creep.