Chapter_5_-_Project_Scope_Management_-_Final.pdf

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Chapter 5 - Project Scope Management Refer to pages 105 through 140 in the PMBOK Guide

To work through Scope management effectively, you are going to need to invest some time in the first four chapters of the Guide to the PMBOK Guide. The key is to study the other areas of the PMBOK Guide and relate them back to their impact on scope.

Project scope management, according to the PMBOK Guide, constitutes 'the processes to ensure that the project includes all of the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully.” There are six processes of Project Scope Management:

• Plan Scope Management

• Collect Requirements

• Define Scope

• Create WBS

• Validate Scope

• Control Scope

Exam Notes - In project context, the term scope can refer to:

1. Product Scope - Features and functions that characterize a product, service or result

2. Project Scope - The work that needs to be accomplished to deliver a product, service or result with the specified features and functions

3. Project Scope Management is the ability to get the required work done, and only the required work, to complete the project.

4. Project Scope Management is measured against the Project Management Plan, Scope Statement, the WBS and WBS Dictionary.

5. Product Scope is measured against the product requirements. The customer generally provides this information.



Project Scope Management Focus Areas The following is a list of key concepts that you should understand for the PMP® Exam. Refer back to this list as you highlight key facts, terms and concepts as you read through the PMBOK Guide.

√ Understand the Project Scope Management processes

√ There are two key themes in this chapter you'll encounter on the exam: Scope and the WBS

√ Know the Input, Tools and Techniques, and Output for each phase

√ Know the difference between project and product scope

√ Unless the exam is talking about features and characteristics of the project deliverables, it will be referring to the project scope

√ Know what a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is and how it is used

√ Know what a work package is and how it relates to the WBS

√ The WBS is the one of the most important outputs from this process. The WBS is used as input into seven other processes and is an element of the Scope baseline

√ Know that WBS templates can come from previous projects and/or the project management office if the organization has one

√ There are bound to be questions on Validate Scope. Know that Validate Scope is the process of formalizing acceptance of completed project deliverables. By contrast, Control Quality is interested in making sure the deliverable is correct and that the deliverable meets the quality criteria. Know the difference between these two processes.

√ Know what Control Scope is and how it is used

√ Be familiar with Scope Creep and that it is managed through the Control Scope process

√ Be familiar with the Scope Management process flow and how the deliverables in Project Scope Management flow to Project Time Management to create the full schedule.



Plan Scope Management This process creates the plan that documents the processes that will be used to manage the scope and requirements of the project. The primary purpose of these plans is to reduce the probability of scope creep thereby preventing risk to the project constraints (i.e. time, cost, resources). Scope creep is defined as the “…uncontrolled expansion of product or project scope….” without adjustments to these constraints.

The two outputs from this process are the plans for managing both scope and requirements and are components of the Project Management Plan.

Scope Management Plan This plan contains all of the processes to define, develop, monitor, control, and verify the project and product scope. It is a major input to the Develop Project management Plan and three other scope management processes: Collect Requirements, Define Scope, and Create WBS. and the Scope Management Plan also details the processes used for creating the outputs from these three processes.

Requirements Management Plan The phase to phase relationship in the project life cycle (described in section 2.4.2.1) has a significant influence in the creation of this plan. It takes into account the type of life cycle that will be utilized in the project work (e.g. Iterative, predictive adaptive) and is documented in this plan. It also can include how the requirements will be tracked and reported along with the planning approach, how they will be prioritized, any configuration management activities and how they will be measured to determine progress against the schedule.

Traceability structures may also be described (i.e. requirements traceability matrix) and how they would be utilized to ensure all requirements are included in the project deliverables.



Collect Requirements Be familiar with the description for project requirements (project management concerns, delivery requirements, etc.) and product requirements (technical specifications, security, performance, etc.). Also remember that the PMBOK® Guide is not stating that all requirements should be gathered at once or that they all must be gathered in the early Planning Process Group. The requirements are gathered in enough detail to understand the deliverables and to build the WBS. However, the detailed requirements can be gathered later or iteratively once the project begins execution.

Requirements Gathering Techniques Be aware of the techniques available to gather requirements, including interviews, focus groups, facilitated workshops, group creativity, group decision-making techniques, questionnaires, observations, prototypes, benchmarking, context diagrams, and document analysis. Some of these are highlighted below:

Group Creativity Techniques The section also describes a number of group creativity techniques

• Brainstorming

• Nominal group

• Idea/mind mapping

• Affinity diagram

• Multicriteria decisions analysis

Group Decision-making techniques • Unanimity

• Majority

• Plurality

• Dictatorship

Whenever the PMBOK® describes a list of techniques in this way, it is possible that there could be questions on the exam.

Context Diagrams This is a visual representation of the scope in a model that can show a business system and how people and systems interact with it. It can show the inputs and how the actors (system or people) can provide input, how the outputs are produced and the actors actually receiving the output. This technique can provide a means to present the proposed solution in a more graphical way to visualize how the scope will be developed.

Requirements Documentation This can be a very simple list of all the requirements or more sophisticated containing detailed descriptions of the requirements, an executive summary and attachments. Some of these components can include a number of sections:

• Business requirements:



o Business/project objectives for traceability

o Business rules (performing organization)

o Guiding principles

• Stakeholder requirements:

o Impacts to other organizational areas/ entities (internal and external)

o Stakeholder communication/reporting requirements

• Solution requirements

o Functional/non-functional requirements

o Compliance requirements (Technology/Standards)

o Support/Training requirements

o Quality requirements

o Reporting requirements

• Project requirements

o Service level (i.e. performance, safety, compliance)

o Acceptance criteria

• Transition requirements

• Requirements assumptions, dependencies, and constraints

Requirements Traceability Matrix It is important that you are able to track your requirements through the project. This ensures all of the approved requirements are in the final solution, and it also ensures that no requirements are added that are not a part of the approved requirements. This helps with the main purpose of scope management which is to ensure all of the approved work gets done, but only the approved work.

The Requirements Management Plan and Requirements Traceability Matrix are key outputs of this process and both will help ensure that only the approved requirements are in the final solution.



Define Scope Define scope takes the Project Charter and develops a more detailed description of the project and the product.

Project Scope Statement The major deliverable of this process, the Project Scope Statement, is used as input into the next process of Create WBS, but it is used as input into four other processes as well in this Knowledge Area and in the Project Time Management Knowledge Area. This document contains items such as

• Product scope description

• Acceptance criteria

• Deliverable

• Project exclusions

• Project constraints

• Assumptions

It is extremely important for the PM to identify the influence and interests of the various stakeholders and document their needs, wants, and expectations.

The project scope statement goes into more detail about the project than the project charter. Here is a short comparison of the two documents.



Exam Notes:

• The project scope statement contains detailed description of both project and product scope elements. The project charter contains high level information that is used in the Define Scope process to develop this detail.

• The project scope statement contains both project and product scope and the work to be performed to create the major deliverables to fulfill this scope.

• Be sure to thoroughly review the different sections of the Project Scope Statements. This is one of the most important deliverables coming out of the Planning Process Group.



Create WBS The WBS is a hierarchical decomposition of the work required to complete the project. WBS elements are usually numbered, and the numbering system may be arranged in various ways. Creation of the WBS also generates a companion document called the WBS Dictionary that has additional details to further explain and describe each component. (See WBS Dictionary below.) The primary purpose of the WBS is to develop or create small manageable chunks of work called work packages.

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a central point of the project planning effort. No realistic overall project plan is possible without first developing a WBS that is detailed enough to provide meaningful identification of all project tasks that must be accomplished. The process of creating the WBS is very important, because during the process of breaking down the project, the project manager, the staff, and all involved functional managers are forced to think through all aspects of the project.

In Create WBS, the focus of the WBS is to identify all of the deliverables and work packages. Work packages are groupings of activities, which are distinct, assignable work that is performed that result in work products or deliverables.

The Project Scope Statement, WBS and WBS Dictionary are elements of the Scope Baseline. This Scope Baseline is an input to seven other processes in the Project Scope Management, Project Time Management, Project Cost Management and Project Quality Management Knowledge Areas.

The WBS: • Identifies the deliverables and the smaller work packages that make up each deliverable.

When the deliverable and work packages are identified, the WBS is completed.

• Is one of the most important project management tools

• Serves as the foundation for planning, estimating, and project control

• Visualizes the entire project

• Notes that work NOT included in the WBS is NOT part of the project

• Builds team buy-in to the project

• The project manager’s ability to plan, manage, and control the project is enhanced when the work is decomposed at a greater level of detail

• Although greater detail is optimal, excessive decomposition can actually be non-productive since this may prohibit efficient use of resources and the ability to aggregate over different levels of the WBS

• Allows for more accurate cost and time estimates

• Serves as deterrent to scope creep

• Includes project management work as well

These smallest tasks, called work packages, must be identified as manageable units that can be planned, budgeted, scheduled, and controlled. The WBS indicates the relationship of the



organizational structure to the project objectives and tasks, and so provides a firm basis for planning and controlling the project.

WBS should not be confused with:

• Organizational breakdown structure

• Bill of Materials

• Risk breakdown structure

• Resource breakdown structure

Decomposition Decomposition is the process of breaking the deliverables into smaller, more manageable components, or work packages.

Expert Judgment It is likely that the project team does not fully understand the nature of all deliverables that are built far in the future. In that case it is not possible to identify the work packages. These deliverables and work packages need to be defined further as the project progresses. This technique of building some deliverables while continuing to plan for others in the future is called rolling wave planning.

WBS Dictionary The WBS Dictionary is a document generated as part of creating a WBS. The dictionary includes the account identifier, statement of work, responsible organization and a list of scheduled milestones along with other pertinent information. As the WBS is a hierarchical diagram of the project work packages, the dictionary provides additional detail information to help everyone better understand each component in the WBS.

Exam Notes:

• You should know all the benefits and uses of the WBS. Most importantly, you should know that a work breakdown structure is a decomposition of the project work that has to be done.

• Remember that the WBS contributes to customer communication.



Validate Scope Scope verification is the process of formalizing acceptance of the project scope by the stakeholders. It requires reviewing work products and results to ensure that everything was completed correctly and satisfactorily. Scope verification occurs at the end of each project phase, and as part of the project closeout process. Scope verification is concerned with stakeholder acceptance of the work. When acceptance is not received, the component or task must be reworked.

Don’t get this confused with a related activity, Quality Control (QC) (see Project Quality). QC is concerned with the correctness of the work. Scope verification and quality control happen in tandem as the quality of the work contributes to scope verification. Poor quality will typically result in scope verification failure.



Control Scope Control Scope is the process of monitoring the status of project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline (remember that the baseline is the initial approved scope plus all approved changes). Because changes are likely to happen within any project, there must be a way to process, document, and manage the changes.

Scope Creep Scope Creep in project management refers to uncontrolled changes in a project's scope. Scope creep occurs when either new products are added without authorization, or new features are added to already approved products without approval.

Integrated Change Control Control scope and Perform Integrated Change Control (4.5) are closely tied. The project manager should identify changes to scope in Control Scope. The actual changes can be managed in this process. However, all changes must also be processed through Perform Integrated Change Control. This ensures that all aspects of the change are analyzed and managed. A scope change request might impact the project budget, schedule, quality, etc., and all of these aspects need to be understood and managed.

Exam Notes:

• Know and understand Scope Creep.

• Integrated change control refers to the idea that scope changes may lead to and require changes to cost, time, quality, or other project aspects. If a scope change is approved, there are many baseline deliverable that may need to be updated, including the scope statement, WBS, scope baseline, schedule baseline, etc.



Learning Project Scope Management Inputs, Tools/Techniques, Outputs Plan Scope Mangement

Collect Requirements

Define Scope



Create WBS

Validate Scope

Control Scope

Chapter_5_-_Project_Scope_Management_-_Final.pdf

Documents

plan scope management

scope statement

scope baseline

term scope

scope creep

scope control scope

product scope features

project management plan