A Project Scope Management

A Project Scope Management Scope is the description of the boundaries of the project. It defines what the project will deliver and what it will not deliver. Scope is the view all stakeholders have from the project; it is a definition of the limits of the project. Project Scope Management includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required to complete the project successfully. Project scope management’s primary concern is with defining and controlling what is and is not included in the project. One of the leading causes for project failures is poor management of the project scope, either because the project manager did not spend enough time defining the work, there was not an agreement on the scope by stakeholders, or there was a lack of scope management which leads to adding work not authorized or budgeted to the project, this is known as scope creep. Scope creep, or the uncontrolled changes in a project’s scope, is the tendency o f a project to include more tasks than originally specified, which often leads to higher than planned project costs and an extension of the project end date (Cook-Davies, T. 2002) The purpose of scope change management is to protect the viability of the approved Project Contract (or agreement) and the approved Project Logical Framework (Logframe). In other words, the Project Contract defines the overall scope of the project, and the Logframe which establish a causal link between inputs, processes, outputs, outcomes and objectives of the project. It is not possible to assume there will be no changes during the life of the project. For example, changes may come from the beneficiaries who want additional deliverables, then the initial estimates for budget, and schedule may no longer be valid. If the donor agrees to include the new work into the project scope, the project manager has the right to expect that the current budget and deadline will be modified (usually increased) to reflect this additional work. This new estimated cost, effort and duration now become the approved target (Cook-Davies, T. 2002) All changes to the project scope must be approved by management and the donor; this is one of the principal requirements for scope management. This is not to say the objective of scope management is to avoid any changes to the initial agreement; development projects, due to their nature are initiated mostly on general assumptions. It is expected that as the project makes progress, additional information will lead to new insights that require the project to change its approach and its plans. The purpose of scope management is to establish a process that will allow the incorporation of changes by ensuring the changes contribute to the ultimate goal of the project, changes are agreed by stakeholders and approved by management and the donor. Scope management consists of a series of tasks and steps designed to help the project manager manage the project deliverables, the steps are: (Cook-Davies, T. 2002) Defining the Scope Assigning Scope Work Verifying the Scope Adapting the Scope DEFINING PROJECT SCOPE