Managing Scope Creep

Every project is vulnerable to scope creep. It is the desire to use the latest and greatest of the new technology and the need to improve on every aspect of a project as it unfolds that drive clients and instructional designers to begin requesting changes as the project unfolds. Unfortunately, scope creep can become the cause of missed deadlines and over budget outcomes, and can result in a project becoming out of control or failing all together (Doll, 2001).

Scope creep will begin when the project begins. It is important that any project have a project plan, and that the clients be kept informed in the additional costs and time delays related to requests to make changes as the project proceeds (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, 2008).

An experience I had that leads me to reflect on scope creep is the design of an introductory science class for the school where I was teaching. Initially, it was to be a freshman level class, introducing the basics of chemistry and physics. There was no written plan or course outline, nor was there a timeline for the hours to be worked creating the class. As I began planning the year long course, the director began adding duties to the project, such as correlating the class to an online version to be used for credit recovery or as an alternative to being present in the classroom, integrating all of the exams into an online benchmark tracking software, and adapting the class for individual students who had already taken the class and were assigned to me for independent study, and for those who had accommodations that required me to personalize the course to meet their needs.

What began as a plan to layout one course quickly resulted in the equivalent of three courses being developed- low, mid, and highly challenging, each allowing the student to be present in the classroom during that class period, but to have individual educational services delivered. The time I was given for planning was based on 10 minutes for every hour of instruction. Unfortunately every hour of instruction included 3 separate course levels being taught.

Had I been the director (project manager) I would have started the project off with a brain storming session with several staff members of the school. As the development team, we could have shared the needs of the various students, and better identified the needs that would be addressed in the course being developed. Having established the project needs, I would ask the instructional designer to put together a project plan that would estimate the time and cost requirements for putting the course together. This would need to be done some months to a year in advance of the expected delivery of the course, allowing for planning and purchasing of materials and supplies. When new products such as the benchmark tracking software became available, I would consider incorporating that change in phase two of the project, after the course was created and successfully initiated.

The need to establish the course at three levels required an extension of the time allowed for the staff to design the course (courses) and to prepare the materials. Establishing the change after the assignment had begun placed pressure on the staff to move forward quickly, and resulted in a sacrifice of quality. It is important that as project manager I have a well developed understanding of the school administrations priorities when requesting a change in the project. It would be with the understanding that extending the time to delivery was not an option, that the decision to sacrifice quality would be made. As project manager I would keep thorough notes and documentation of the changes and suggested upgrades, so that after we completed phase one we could look to a follow up project to make additional improvements.

Doll, S. (2001, March 1). Seven steps for avoiding scope creep. In TechRepublic. Retrieved October 10, 2011, from http://www.techrepublic.com/article/seven-steps-for-avoiding-scope-creep/1045555

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.