© Elizabeth Harrin May 2006 1 Scope Management Elizabeth Harrin PROMS-G London, 11 May 2006.

© Elizabeth Harrin May 2006 1

Scope Management

Elizabeth Harrin

PROMS-G

London, 11 May 2006


Agenda

What is scope?

Why is it difficult to manage?

Improving scope management

Two items that have to be in scope


A definition ...

Scope is the ‘what’ of your project:

a high-level statement of what you are going to do


Scope stats

The average project:

goes through four formal versions of scope only achieves 93% of what it set out to deliver

(falling to 67% on projects that are delayed or over budget)

will evolve more through in-house changes than through the customer’s changes

Yet scope is the number one way to judge a project’s success


Some difficulties

Assumptions

Mental model mismatch

Scope creep


Assumptions

Statements made during a project that are not based on known or certain facts


Assumptions

Things you have to assume because you don’t yet know

Things you are taking for granted will stay the same


Assumptions

It lay on its side in such a way that the solid parts of the block formed a roof and a floor, both waterproof, and the hollows made two spacious rooms. Lined with bits of leaves, grass, cloth, cotton fluff, feathers and other soft things Mrs Frisby and her children had collected, the house stayed dry, warm and comfortable all winter. A tunnel to the surface-earth of the garden, dug so that it was slightly larger than a mouse and slightly smaller than a cat’s foreleg, provided access, air, and even a fair amount of light to the living room. The bedroom, formed by the second oval, was warm but dark, even at midday. A short tunnel through the earth behind the block connected the two rooms.

“

”Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Robert C O’Brien (1971)


Mental model


Exercise

Pair up

Person 1 draws a house on a piece of paper

Person 1 describes their house to Person 2

Person 2 draws a house based on Person 1’s description

Compare drawings!


Scope creep

Scope creep happens because:

it is difficult to say no

it is easier to say yes

all those little changes can’t hurt

it will be a better project if we include those changes

and so on...


The triangle

Scope

Resources TimeScope

Resources Time

Scope

Resources Time


Beat the issues

Involve users in scope definition

Manage risks and issues

Manage changes

Keep it small


Using users

Be clear

Document what is not included in the project

Clarify your understanding

If we did this, what would be left out?

What would we do that is really unnecessary?


Risks and issues

Changes result in risks/issues

Risks/issues result in changes


Changes

Any change will:

need to be analysed for its impact on project objectives

need to be analysed for its impact on project scope

modify your existing plans

need to be recorded properly for a complete audit trail

Remember: changes are good!


Keep it small

PilotProof of concept

PhasesShort tasks

Phased implementation approach

Extended pilot


Two essentials

Don’t forget to include these in your scope:

Benefits plan Post-project review


Benefits

How do you know if you have done a good job?

By tracking benefits:

Define success criteria

Establish the current baseline

Monitor ongoing achievement against targets


PPR

analyse what went well

to review the key challenges

to bring everyone together at the end of the project to formally close it

to formalise the key lessons learnt during the project

to record this knowledge for other projects

A post-project review is a debrief at the end of the project to:


Questions?

© Elizabeth Harrin May 2006 1 Scope Management Elizabeth Harrin PROMS-G London, 11 May 2006.

Documents

scope slide

changes slide

project scope

small slide

scope creep scope creep

scope definition

postproject review slide

scope stats