SCOPE MANAGEMENT PROCESS

A project manager’s job is never an easy one they have so many areas that they must consider which can be like a manic juggling act at times. In this article, we are going to look at the project manager’s responsibility in terms of scope of the project, but first let’s take a look at what else the project manager is responsible for.

- Time
- Resources
- Money

All of these are very important areas of project management, however scope is also important. Scope is defining exactly what the project will do, how big it will be, what its goals are, and what requirements are needed.

Although most of the other literature available on project management does not spend a lot of time talking about project scope, it is very important. Scope should be the first and last thing that you need to do.

The project scope clearly defines what this project should achieve, and how much it will cost (both in terms of time and money). If the project has changed in any way then the budget should also change to reflect this.

The project scope may be to build a bungalow and your budget may be $150,000, however if the scope changes and you need to build a two story house then the budget must change in order to accommodate this. In other words, the scope and budget should be linked together. Unless the budget is adjusted the project manager doesn’t really have the resources required to complete the project to the new scope.

You might not see why the scope would ever need to change, however it can and does happen on a regular basis. Such changes normally occur slowly over time, small seemingly insignificant scope changes can quite easily pile up over time. Although these are minor changes, which are not, in themselves, very difficult to manage, the accumulation of these changes can make it much more of a problem.

As a project manager you must make sure that any changes in the project scope, no matter how small they are also affect the size of the budget. For example, if you are project managing the building of a home, then the addition of an awning may be very minor, however your client may want to continue adding extra changes until you are left with a completely different project.

Unless you are on top of the project scope and managing it properly then it’s not possible for you to manage the resources, money or time effectively. It is vital that the project scope is respected and updated on a regular basis. If anything changes, then be sure to re-evaluate the budget. Failure to do this could place your project is serious risk.
Once the project scope has been detailed and linked to the budget and timeline for the project, then you can begin planning the resources.

Many people do not think that project scope is very important, however without managing the scope the size and complexity of your project could very quickly get out of hand. The project scope should be used in a way to protect your business from extra work at no cost.

At Picaso Consulting we understand that importance of scope and we support our clients with proven techniques to ensure the scope is managed and controlled.

The Year the Media Died

I came across this video on Geek.com and thought you might enjoy it.