“Scope creep refers to uncontrolled changes in the requirement of the course defined in the scope definition of the project management plan” (Lynch & Roecker; 2007. P. 96). For this week’s blog I am to describe a project, either personal or professional, that experienced issues related to scope creep. I am going to look at this from a personal perspective rather than a professional one.
Background:
A few years back we were doing construction on our house. We have a very old house and having done construction in the past knew there would be some unplanned expenses that may creep up. However, we were not prepared for what we were to do. Lynch, et al state “Sometimes changes must occur due to a change in vision, a change in the needs of the customer, even a sudden change in budget” (P. 96). Our change was clearly the result of a change in vision due to not completely planning the project out.
Our changes were a result of a change in vision. We were doing a small addition to the back of our house as well as rebuilding our back porch. We had no intention of changing the size of our porch and the addition would not require that we do so. However, as the project was progressing and the addition was built, we realized it would be nice to make the porch bigger. No problem, easy to do. However, as we look at what we want to do with the porch we realize the back door will also need to be moved. To make a long story short, our well-planned budgeted project took a very different course, both in time and money. Fortunately the contractor was able to accommodate these changes.
What specific scope creep issues occurred?
“Another common source of change is the natural tendency of the client, as well as he project team members, to try to improve the project’s output as the project progresses, a phenomenon known as scope creep” (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, and Sutton, 2008; P. 346). This is exactly what happened – as the project was progressing we envisioned further modifications that would produce a better outcome. We also realized “now was the time to do it.” However, the issues the contractor now needed to address were the additional costs associated with 1) time, 2) materials, and 3) labor. This temporarily suspended the project while he re-designed and re-planned the project.
How did you or other stakeholders deal with those issues at the time?
Our contractor had to start the porch stage of the project over. This included the planning, designing, developing, implementation, and evaluation (what were the benefits of doing these changes now vs. later) of the project. He had to identify the impact of the changes from a time and cost perspective; evaluate the advantages and disadvantages, communicate the changes and ensure they were properly executed. He analyzed our request, determined whether or not it was appropriate and feasible to make the change, prepared written documentation of the change, updated the plans, and communicated the changes. (Portny, et al; 2008. PP. 346 & 347)
Looking back on the experience now, had you been in the position of managing the project, what could you have done to better manage these issues and control the scope of the project?
I’m not really sure there are many things I could have done differently to better manage the issues and control the scope of the project. As previously stated, scope creep happens when you see a way to produce a better outcome or more positive return on your investment while your project is progressing. However, as a contractor I may have suggested improving the look and design of the porch during the initial design stage. Just as an instructional designer needs to carefully design a program and take all variations into consideration, a contractor should do the same when designing a renovation.
References:
Lynch, M. M., & Roecker, J. (2007). Project managing e-learning: A handbook for successful design, delivery, and management. London: Routledge. Copyright by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Reprinted by permission of Taylor & Francis Group, LLC via the Copyright Clearance Center. Chapter 5, “Controlling the Project” (pp. 94–108)
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
