Project scope management
- 2. Project Scope Management One of the most important and most difficult aspects of project management is defining the scope of a project. The term scope can refer to: Product scope: the features & functions that characterize a product, service, or result . Project scope: the work performed to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features & functions. Project scope usually includes product scope. Requirement: a condition or capability that is required to be present in a product, service, or result
- 3. Project Scope Management Project scope management includes the processes involved in defining and controlling what work is or is not included in a project. It ensures that the project team and stakeholders have the same understanding of what products the project will produce and what processes the project team will use to produce them.
- 4. Processes involved in scope management There are five main processes involved in project scope management: Collecting requirements Defining scope Creating the WBS Verifying scope Controlling scope
- 5. Collecting Requirements Collecting requirements involves defining and documenting the features and functions of the products produced during the project as well as the processes used for creating them. The project team creates stakeholder requirements documentation, a requirements management plan, and a requirements traceability matrix as outputs of the requirements collection process.
- 6. Defining Scope Defining scope involves reviewing the project charter, requirements documents, and organizational process assets to create a scope statement, adding more information as requirements are developed and change requests are approved. The main outputs of scope definition are the project scope statement and updates to project documents.
- 7. Creating the WBS Creating the WBS involves subdividing the major project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components. The main outputs include a work breakdown structure, a WBS dictionary, a scope baseline, and updates to project documents. WBS a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the project objectives and create the required deliverables. It organizes and defines the total scope of the project.
- 8. Verifying Scope Verifying scope involves formalizing acceptance of the project deliverables. Key project stakeholders, such as the customer and sponsor for the project, inspect and then formally accept the deliverables during this process. If the deliverables are not acceptable, the customer or sponsor usually requests changes. The main outputs of this process, therefore, are accepted deliverables and change requests. Scope verification involves formal acceptance of the completed project scope by the stakeholders.
- 9. Controlling Scope Controlling scope involves controlling changes to project scope throughout the life of the project a challenge on many information technology projects. Scope changes often influence the teams ability to meet project time and cost goals, so project managers must carefully weigh the costs and benefits of scope changes. The main outputs of this process are change requests, work performance measurements, and updates to organizational process assets, the project management plan, and project documents.
- 11. Key Terms Requirements traceability matrix: a grid that links product requirements from their origin to the deliverables that satisfy them. Work breakdown structure (WBS): a hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work. WBS dictionary: a document that provides detailed deliverable, activity, & scheduling information about each component in the WBS. Scope baseline: the approved version of scope statement, WBS, and its associated WBS dictionary. Scope creep: the uncontrolled expansion to product or project scope without adjustment to time, cost, and resources
- 12. Decomposition: a technique used for dividing & subdividing the project scope & deliverables into smaller, more manageable parts. 100% rule: the total of the work at the lowest levels should roll up to the higher level so that nothing is left out and no extra work is performed. Control account: management control point where scope, budget, & schedule are integrated and compared to earned value for performance comparison. Work package: the lowest level of WBS structure component. Planning package: a WBS component below the control account and above the work package.
- 13. Approaches to Developing WBS The top-down approach The bottom-up approach
- 14. The top-down Approach The top-down approach, start with the largest items of the project and break them into their subordinate items. This process involves refining the work into greater and greater levels of detail. Top-down Approach: Top-down approach states that you need to take the biggest task or module in the project and break them down. It requires more logic and structure and generally it is a preferred method for creating WBS.
- 15. The Buttom-up Approach The bottom-up approach, team members first identify as many specific tasks related to the project as possible. They then aggregate the specific tasks and organize them into summary activities, or higher levels in the WBS. bottom-up approach on the other hand is more akin to a brain-storming exercise where team members are asked to make a list of low-level tasks needed to complete the project.
- 18. WBS dictionary A WBS dictionary is a document that describes detailed information about each WBS item. The format of the WBS dictionary can vary based on project needs. It might be appropriate to have just a short paragraph describing each work package. For a more complex project, an entire page or more might be needed for the work package descriptions.
- 19. Scope Baseline The Scope Baseline is the approved version of a scope statement, work breakdown structure (WBS), and its associated WBS dictionary. Scope baseline can be changed only through formal control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison. Scope baseline is a component of the project management plan.
- 20. Scope Creep the tendency for project scope to keep getting bigger and bigger. There are many horror stories about information technology projects failing due to scope problems such as scope creep. Scope creep is typically caused by key project stakeholders changing requirements or sometimes by internal miscommunication