- At TeamGantt, we talk an awful lot about the importance
of always having a plan for every project
no matter how big or small.
Part of having a solid project plan is understanding
and agreeing on the scope of the project.
Your project scope is so important to being able to give
accurate estimates on timing and budget
and it also protects both the project team
and your stakeholders by setting agreed upon expectation.
Everyone wins, but then the dreaded scope creep shows up.
Scope creep is when a change is introduced to the project
that negatively impacts the project scope.
Regardless of which side of a project you've been on,
you've likely encountered scope creep
in some form or another
and if you've met up with it face-to-face,
you've also probably felt the stress
and confusion it can cause.
Now, sometimes scope creep can happen
due to completely unforeseen circumstances
that no one could have predicted or planned for
like say having to completely work from home
for more than a year because of a global pandemic.
In those cases, it's pretty easy for the project team
and stakeholders to work together to adjust
or even completely redefine the project scope
and kind of start afresh.
But what about scope creep that shows up due to some party
just not thinking things all the way through?
Well, unfortunately, once you're in that position,
it's kind of too late.
You just have to do the best you can to make things work
while not completely blowing up the project or the budget.
The real trick is to keep scope creep
from ever rearing its ugly head
on your project to begin with.
I'm going to go over a few ways
to keep scope creep from ruining your day,
but if you want a real deep dive,
check out The Art & Science of Leading Projects
where we have a full class
and resources on managing scope creep.
First up, make sure you're aligned with your stakeholders.
Remember, the name of the game is avoiding scope creep
and you can only do that when you
and your stakeholders are on the same page
about what your project is and isn't.
This step is the most important
and is a chance for you to be strategic
with your stakeholders.
If they have ideas that you know
will blow up the scope of the project,
now is your chance to steer them
in a more appropriate direction.
Next, stop me if you've heard this one before,
always have a plan.
It's a lot easier to avoid scope creep
when you have a well-thought out plan from the jump.
Plan out every step of the project in detail
to help ward off the scope creep monster.
On that same note, make sure to talk about how changes
will not just impact the scope of the project,
but also the deadline and budget.
There aren't many things
that will get stakeholders attention
quite like dollar signs and late releases.
Be clear about what a change
will do to both of those things.
In a best case scenario,
your stakeholder will see the resulting timeline
and budget change and make the hard decision themselves.
It's a win-win.
Just say no, just don't say it quite like that.
Explain your reasoning
and help them understand why you've come to this decision.
And finally possibly the most important thing you can do
is to have a written process for handling change.
No matter what, change is a constant on projects.
It's something you're going to have to deal with,
so it's best to get out in front of it
so you're ready when it does come.
Obviously, you don't wanna be a PM or a project team
who's always saying no to your stakeholders.
That's not gonna be a good long-term strategy
for future business,
but you also can't just let stakeholders
come in all willy-nilly and make a bunch of major changes
that affect things in ways
they may not be in a position to fully understand.
When you have a process for making changes in a project,
it keeps everyone on the same page.
The stakeholder can see right away
what these changes will do to the timeline and budget
and decide if they're worth it or not.
If they are, then you add the changes,
update the project plan and keep on moving.
If not, the ideas scrapped
and you haven't lost any productivity,
or sometimes you can put that strategy hat
from earlier in the video back on
and help your stakeholder by giving them some options
that will make them happy,
but also keep your scope intact.
Maybe you can add this feature at a lower or no cost,
but with the push of the final release date,
or maybe you can have your dev team
build the backend for that feature now
for a small price adjustment
while hitting your previously agreed upon launch date
and then the front end can be a smaller project
a few months down the road.
The possibilities are endless,
but make sure it's all written down
and agreed upon by everyone.
Then you have a paper trail
and a set of documents to go back to.
Remember, the best way to keep scope creep at bay
is to always be on the lookout for it
so you can head it off before it becomes a problem.
Take the time to put a process in place
to maintain alignment with your stakeholders
and make sure you're communicating often and clearly.
And that's it for this video on scope creep.
I wanna know, how have you handled scope creep in the past?
Has it gotten the best of you
or have you been able to keep it at bay?
Let me know in the comments
and if this video has been helpful for you,
I'd love it for you to return the favor
and hit that like button.
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Thanks for watching, I'll see you next week.
(bright music)