Ch05

Chapter 5:
Project Scope Management

Information Technology
Project Management,
Fifth Edition

Learning Objectives
 Understand the elements that make good project
scope management important
 Explain the scope planning process and describe
the contents of a scope management plan
 Describe the process for developing a project
scope statement using the project charter and
preliminary scope statement
 Discuss the scope definition process and work
involved in constructing a work breakdown
structure using the analogy, top-down, bottom-up,
and mind-mapping approaches
2
Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

Learning Objectives (continued)
 Explain the importance of scope verification
and how it relates to scope definition and
control
 Understand the importance of scope control
and approaches for preventing scope-related
problems on information technology projects
 Describe how software can assist in project
scope management

3

What is Project Scope Management?
Scope refers to all the work involved in creating
the products of the project and the processes
used to create them
 A deliverable is a product produced as part of a
project, such as hardware or software, planning
documents, or meeting minutes
Project scope management includes the
processes involved in defining and controlling
what is or is not included in a project

4

Project Scope Management
Processes
 Scope planning: deciding how the scope will be
defined, verified, and controlled
 Scope definition: reviewing the project charter and
preliminary scope statement and adding more
information as requirements are developed and change
requests are approved
 Creating the WBS: subdividing the major project
deliverables into smaller, more manageable components
 Scope verification: formalizing acceptance of the
project scope
 Scope control: controlling changes to project scope
5

Figure 5-1: Project Scope
Management Summary

6

Scope Planning and the Scope
Management Plan
The scope management plan is a document that
includes descriptions of how the team will prepare
the project scope statement, create the WBS,
verify completion of the project deliverables, and
control requests for changes to the project scope
Key inputs include the project charter, preliminary
scope statement, and project management plan

7

What Went Right?
 Many financial service companies use customer
relationship management (CRM) systems to improve their
understanding of and responsiveness to customers
 A senior management team at the Canadian money
management company Dynamic Mutual Funds (DMF)
launched an enterprise-wide, national program to build
and manage its customer relationships
 They needed a faster and more organized, highly
participative approach, so they proposed a new seven-
step concept called project scope design
 DMF won an eCustomer World Golden Award for world-
class innovation
8

Table 5-1: Sample Scope Management
Plan

9

Table 5-2: Sample Project Charter

10

Scope Definition and the
Project Scope Statement
The preliminary scope statement, project charter,
organizational process assets, and approved
change requests provide a basis for creating the
project scope statement
As time progresses, the scope of a project should
become more clear and specific

11

Table 5-3: Further Defining
Project Scope

12 Information Technology Project Management, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2007

Media Snapshot
Many people enjoy watching television shows like Changing Rooms
or Trading Spaces, where participants have two days and $1,000 to
update a room in their neighbor’s house. Since the time and cost are set,
it’s the scope that has the most flexibility. Designers on these shows often
have to change initial scope goals due to budget or time constraints.
Although most homeowners are very happy with work done on the
show, some are obviously disappointed. Unlike most projects where the
project team works closely with the customer, homeowners have little say
in what gets done and cannot inspect the work along the way… What
happens when the homeowners don’t like the work that’s been done? The
FAQ section of tlc.com says, “Everyone on our show is told upfront that
there’s a chance they won’t like the final design of the room. Each
applicant signs a release acknowledging that the show is not responsible
for redecorating a room that isn’t to the owner’s taste.”
Too bad you can’t get sponsors for most projects to sign a similar
release form. It would make project scope management much easier!
13

Creating the Work Breakdown
Structure (WBS)
A WBS is a deliverable-oriented grouping of the
work involved in a project that defines the total
scope of the project
WBS is a foundation document that provides the
basis for planning and managing project
schedules, costs, resources, and changes
Decomposition is subdividing project
deliverables into smaller pieces
A work package is a task at the lowest level of
the WBS
14

Figure 5-2: Sample Intranet WBS
Organized by Product

15

Figure 5-3: Sample Intranet WBS
Organized by Phase

16

Table 5-4: Intranet WBS in Tabular
Form
1.0 Concept
1.1 Evaluate current systems
1.2 Define Requirements
1.2.1 Define user requirements
1.2.2 Define content requirements
1.2.3 Define system requirements
1.2.4 Define server owner requirements
1.3 Define specific functionality
1.4 Define risks and risk management approach
1.5 Develop project plan
1.6 Brief Web development team
2.0 Web Site Design
3.0 Web Site Development
4.0 Roll Out
5.0 Support
17

Figure 5-4: Intranet WBS and Gantt
Chart in Microsoft Project

18

Figure 5-5: Intranet Gantt Chart
Organized by Project Management
Process Groups

19

Table 5-5: Executing Tasks for
JWD Consulting’s WBS

20

Approaches to Developing WBSs
Using guidelines: some organizations, like the
DOD, provide guidelines for preparing WBSs
The analogy approach: review WBSs of similar
projects and tailor to your project
The top-down approach: start with the largest
items of the project and break them down
The bottom-up approach: start with the specific
tasks and roll them up
Mind-mapping approach: mind mapping is a
technique that uses branches radiating out from a
core idea to structure thoughts and ideas

21

Figure 5-6: Sample Mind-Mapping
Approach for Creating a WBS

22

Figure 5-7: Resulting WBS in
Chart Form

23

The WBS Dictionary and Scope
Baseline
Many WBS tasks are vague and must be
explained more so people know what to do and
can estimate how long it will take and what it will
cost to do the work
A WBS dictionary is a document that describes
detailed information about each WBS item
The approved project scope statement and its
WBS and WBS dictionary form the scope
baseline, which is used to measure performance
in meeting project scope goals
24

Advice for Creating a WBS and WBS
Dictionary*
A unit of work should appear at only one place in
the WBS
The work content of a WBS item is the sum of the
WBS items below it
A WBS item is the responsibility of only one
individual, even though many people may be
working on it
The WBS must be consistent with the way in
which work is actually going to be performed; it
should serve the project team first, and other
purposes only if practical
*Cleland, David I. Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation, 1994
25

Advice for Creating a WBS and
WBS Dictionary (continued)*
Project team members should be involved in
developing the WBS to ensure consistency and
buy-in
Each WBS item must be documented in a WBS
dictionary to ensure accurate understanding of
the scope of work included and not included in
that item
The WBS must be a flexible tool to accommodate
inevitable changes while properly maintaining
control of the work content in the project
according to the scope statement
*Cleland, David I. Project Management: Strategic Design and Implementation, 1994
26

What Went Wrong?
A project scope that is too broad and grandiose
can cause severe problems
Scope creep and an overemphasis on technology for
technology’s sake resulted in the bankruptcy of a large
pharmaceutical firm, Texas-based FoxMeyer Drug
In 2001, McDonald’s fast-food chain initiated a project
to create an intranet that would connect its
headquarters with all of its restaurants to provide
detailed operational information in real time; after
spending $170 million on consultants and initial
implementation planning, McDonald’s realized that the
project was too much to handle and terminated it
27

Scope Verification
It is very difficult to create a good scope statement
and WBS for a project
It is even more difficult to verify project scope and
minimize scope changes
Scope verification involves formal acceptance of
the completed project scope by the stakeholders
Acceptance is often achieved by a customer
inspection and then sign-off on key deliverables

28

Scope Control
Scope control involves controlling changes to
the project scope
Goals of scope control are to:
Influence the factors that cause scope changes
Assure changes are processed according to
procedures developed as part of integrated change
control
Manage changes when they occur
Variance is the difference between planned and
actual performance

29

Best Practices for Avoiding Scope
Problems
1. Keep the scope realistic: Don’t make projects so large that
they can’t be completed; break large projects down into a
series of smaller ones
2. Involve users in project scope management: Assign key
users to the project team and give them ownership of
requirements definition and scope verification
3. Use off-the-shelf hardware and software whenever
possible: Many IT people enjoy using the latest and greatest
technology, but business needs, not technology trends,
must take priority
4. Follow good project management processes: As described
in this chapter and others, there are well-defined processes
for managing project scope and others aspects of projects
30

Suggestions for Improving User Input
Develop a good project selection process and
insist that sponsors are from the user
organization
Have users on the project team in important roles
Have regular meetings with defined agendas,
and have users sign off on key deliverables
presented at meetings
Deliver something to users and sponsors on a
regular basis
Don’t promise to deliver when you know you can’t
Co-locate users with developers
31

Suggestions for Reducing
Incomplete and Changing
Requirements
Develop and follow a requirements management
process
Use techniques such as prototyping, use case
modeling, and JAD to get more user involvement
Put requirements in writing and keep them current
Create a requirements management database for
documenting and controlling requirements

32

Suggestions for Reducing
Incomplete and Changing
Requirements (continued)
Provide adequate testing and conduct testing
throughout the project life cycle
Review changes from a systems perspective
Emphasize completion dates to help focus on
what’s most important
Allocate resources specifically for handling
change requests/enhancements like NWA did
with ResNet
33

Using Software to Assist in Project
Scope Management
Word-processing software helps create several
scope-related documents
Spreadsheets help to perform financial
calculations and weighed scoring models, and
develop charts and graphs
Communication software like e-mail and the Web
help clarify and communicate scope information
Project management software helps in creating a
WBS, the basis for tasks on a Gantt chart
Specialized software is available to assist in
project scope management
34

Chapter Summary
Project scope management includes the
processes required to ensure that the project
addresses all the work required, and only the
work required, to complete the project
successfully
Main processes include:
Scope planning
Scope definition
Creating the WBS
Scope verification
Scope control

35

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