Scope creep is defined as the creeping of a project scope beyond what has been a

Question

Scope creep is defined as the creeping of a project scope beyond what has been authorized and approved for that project. Scope creep takes place when changes are allowed to a project without going through the change control process.

What is the negative side of scope creep to projects?

What is the positive side of scope creep?

Is there a medium point in which changes should be allowed without going through the change control process? If so what would be the guidelines for allowing those changes to take place without experiencing change control and the change control process?

Explanation / Answer

Even though it is blamed for excessive costs, delays, failed projects, and a lot of additional work, some people emphasize the positive elements of scope creep. To begin with, customers benefit from scope creep, primarily when they get more than what was originally included in the project’s scope. Furthermore, a certain perspective on scope creep could say that it benefits companies because they are able to retain customers without losing the sunk cost of a project. In certain way, scope creep can benefit project management teams because it gives them cause to reevaluate internal processes in effort to reduce scope creep in future activities. Finally, because scope creep often requires companies to deliver new products and services, it has the potential to develop new revenue streams for the business while sometimes allowing the client to finance some or all of their development costs.

Scope creep can have very serious effects on the overall performance of a project, its personnel – especially the Project Manager - and the relationship between those performing the work and the organization receiving the finished product or system. Let's examine some of these effects.

Budget – everyone has certainly heard horror stories of cost overruns on projects. Poor estimating is not always the cause of these overruns.   

Time – creeping scope will have an impact on the time it takes to complete the project. Additional effort with no corresponding increase in resources will cause the project to suffer from “schedule lengthening”. This will move the completion date out and may cause other side-effects. For the customer, the product may be too late getting to market, and profits may be diminished as a result.

3.    There is no point where changes should be allowed, without going through change control process. Change Control Process has to be defined and any change must go through the change control process.

Continuous change leads to the loss of overall project control. But almost every project will change for a variety of reasons: new opportunities, new managers, new methods as well as problems encountered during the execution phase. It is also not unusual for such changes to originate on two separate fronts: external customers and internal customers. The key is to manage change by establishing a robust change management process; a system that analyzes proposed changes and tracks their implementation if adopted. This will aid in setting internal and external ground rules concerning all types of changes including those that are deemed out-of-scope. It is important to review and gain up-front agreement upon these ground rules along with all other customer expectations. After this initial agreement with the customers, establish a "no freebies" discipline. If this is not in place, the customer will expect you to accommodate "minor" changes and requests for data or work

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