3.6. Managing the Scope

Creating a Clear Scope Statement

Time, cost, and scope are the triple constraints of project management. Changing one affects the others. For example, if a project takes longer, costs will likely increase. If costs are cut, it might slow down work and affect the project’s scope and quality.

In the early stages, it’s important to think about the project’s scope, which is all the work needed to deliver the product or service. As the project progresses, the scope may evolve based on new information and stakeholder needs. This is called scope evolution and involves agreed changes to the project scope, budget, and schedule.

Scope creep, on the other hand, is unmanaged change. It happens when uncontrolled changes are made to the project scope, leading to overruns in time, money, and resources.

Creating a Clear Scope Statement

A clear scope statement, the document that defines the project’s scope, is key to managing scope. It should be precise about what the project aims to achieve. A vague scope can lead to changes that alter the original project. The scope statement should include:

• Justification of the project’s purpose and business needs
• Explanation of the project’s goals, deliverables, budget, and constraints
• Acceptance criteria for the deliverables
• Explanation of what is excluded from the project
• Assumptions about the project
• Any new or unusual technology to be used

“4.6. Managing the Scope” from Essentials of Project Management by Adam Farag is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.