Discussion Questions on Project Scope Management

Scope change management is an area frequently overlooked during a project. However, it is one of the most important areas of concern for a project manager as scope changes are typically the source of project overruns. What are the three most important elements in scope change management? Why?

I agree 100% about the importance of scope change management. I haven’t run a project in recent times that did not have changes to the scope at some point in the project. For me, the three most important elements in scope change management are schedule, budget and risk.

For every change we consider we evaluate the impact on these three elements. We determine the activities that we must add to the schedule in order to produce the added scope deliverables. We consider the additional costs related to producing the scope deliverables. We also evaluate the risks associated with adding the new scope. In the risk area, if the risk impacts the schedule milestones or our ability to produce the deliverables, we develop risk mitigation plans, which might include additional schedule and budget contingencies. So these three areas, schedule, budget and risk are always evaluated when we consider scope changes.

Who is responsible for scope change control?

I suspect many will say the project manager is responsible for scope change control. However, I don’t agree with that position. Everyone working on the project is responsible for scope change control. The project manager should facilitate the analysis, review, approval and implementation of formal scope changes, but the project manager is not able to fully control scope without the agreement from all stakeholders. Why? Because the project manager is unable to see all direct interactions between the stakeholders. For example, I have a person on my LA project team that is installing computers in the showroom. I am not there all the time, so I am unable to see the direct conversation that might occur from day to day. Someone in the showroom might ask him to add an additional computer to a workstation that is out of scope. He has the ability to fulfill the request, but in doing so he would be spending time and money on an activity that is not part of his assigned scope. So in order to have true control, everyone must understand and follow the scope change process.

Does the customer have the right to make changes to the project scope? If so, what constraints apply?  If not? Give an example.

No. The customer does not have the right to make changes to the project scope. However, the customer does have the right to request changes to the project scope! Whether the request is to add or remove scope, the project manager should evaluate the impact of the change, submit the information to the change board and implement what is decided.

For example, at my company the projects I manage are for internal customers. The internal customers control the budget. However, we control the resources that implement the projects. So when the customer wants to add something to scope, even though they will fund the addition, the change still impacts project resources. We must evaluate the impact, review with the change board and implement what is approved.