Picture yourself as an architect about to construct a skyscraper. The blueprint in your hand is what 'project scope' represents in project management. It is a detailed framework that encapsulates:
- specific goals
- deliverables
- tasks
- costs
- and timelines associated with a project
Often coined as the 'project scope statement' or 'terms of reference,' it sets the stage for the project. This might entail assigning roles and responsibilities to each team member and setting up protocols for validating and approving completed work. Think of it as the project's DNA - unique, specific, and integral to its successful execution.
Why To Have A Project Scope?
The strength of a well-delineated scope statement is its ability to keep the project team anchored and focused. It serves as a guiding light during decision-making, particularly when addressing change requests.
However, it's crucial to differentiate between a scope statement and a project charter - the latter merely authenticates the project's existence, not its intricacies.
In the world of large projects, change is inevitable. However, if these changes are navigated with a well-defined 'scope' from the onset, their management becomes far less daunting. Yet, charting this blueprint doesn't come without its hurdles.
Your Biggest Obstacle Might Be The Scope Creep
'Scope creep', where parts of a project unexpectedly require more resources due to inadequate planning or communication gaps, is a common obstacle. To avoid this trap, stakeholders must exercise utmost precision while documenting the project's scope.
Strong communication forms the backbone of effective scope management. It ensures project-wide understanding and consensus on the means to achieve project goals. To facilitate this, project leaders should actively seek stakeholder approvals and signoffs throughout the project's duration.
This ensures the final product aligns with everyone's needs and expectations.
What To Include In A Project Scope Statement?
Drafting a project scope statement that encapsulates the project's deliverables is a crucial starting point in the project planning process. Generally, you can focus on aspects like:
- Outlining the project's framework, enabling all stakeholders to grasp what's at stake
- Providing a strategic guide that managers can employ to delegate tasks, schedule workflows, and allocate budgets effectively
- Aligning team members toward shared goals and objectives
Setting a clear project scope ensures that projects are streamlined and executed according to expectations. The scope lays a robust groundwork for steering a project as it progresses, helping to ensure that resources aren't squandered or misplaced on elements outside the scope.
Producing An Effective Project Scope Statement
Project scope management relies on an effective statement encompassing the following elements:
- Project deliverables
- Processes
- Deliverables
- Project objectives
- Timelines
- Project assumptions
- Milestones
- Project budget
- Constraints
- Key stakeholders
A project scope statement is a meticulously crafted document that encompasses all the necessary details to accomplish the project deliverables. It provides more comprehensive information than a statement of work to keep the project team centered and task-oriented.
At the same time, it also equips the project manager with guidelines for handling change requests throughout the project.
The project scope statement delineates what isn't encompassed within its undertakings, either implicitly or explicitly. Goals and tasks not stipulated in the scope statement should be deemed outside the scope. Project managers can also specify certain tasks that won't form part of the project.
What's In The Project Scope Statement?
Implementing this can improve your entire project life cycle. The project scope defines clear expectations and boundaries.
Hence, this statement demarcates a project's boundaries. Project leaders are tasked with translating these requirements into a sequence of events and an order of priority. This paves the way for developing a work breakdown structure (WBS). The WBS dissects planned work into smaller, well-defined portions and requisite tasks.
In addition, an eloquently expressed scope statement is a vital component of efficient project management. Regardless of the project management methodology employed, project scope should always be determined. All project stakeholders should scrutinize the project scope statement, make necessary amendments, and grant approval.
Here's a project scope template that might help you get started:
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| Project Scope |
|
|
Goals | Targets |
| Context | Impact |
1. 2. 3. | 1. 2. 3 |
| Summarize: | Explain: |
Stakeholders | Resources |
| Deliverables | Exclusions |
1. 2. 3. | 1. 2. 3. |
| 1. 2. 3. | 1. 2. 3. |
|
| KPIs |
|
|
|
| 1. 2. 3. |
|
|
Upon finalization and approval of the scope statement, project managers can delegate tasks and provide their teams with directions on the necessary steps to adhere to target timelines, budgets, and goals.
'What Not To Do?' - Top 3 Project Scope Failures
No matter how successful, every company is prone to fall prey to the failure of not defining project scope.
Some of the largest companies in the market have suffered the consequences of lazy planning strategies. Here are the top three examples.
1. SONY: Betamax (1975)
Sony's 'favorite child' Betamax, an analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, was launched in 1975 with the promise of revolutionizing the home video recording industry. However, despite being the first consumer tape recorder, it failed to gain the expected market dominance due to the emergence of competitor JVC's VHS technology a year later.
Despite this, Sony continued to produce Betamax until 2016, long past its relevance in the market. On performance metrics, Betamax machines were known to reproduce colors better and had faster playback and fast-forward speeds, but these features were not enough to secure a win over VHS.
The story of Betamax serves as a reminder that innovation and being first to market are not always guarantees of success. It underscores the importance of continuously monitoring market responses, analyzing data, and making necessary adjustments to remain competitive and relevant.
2. Apple: Lisa (1983)
Before the era of the iPhone and when Apple was still trying to make a name for itself in the personal computing space, it launched the Lisa. Priced at a hefty $10,000, the computer came with a 5 MHz processor and 1 MB of RAM. However, the initial model only managed to sell 10,000 units.
Lisa was essentially a prototype that met its downfall due to several reasons. Launched in 1983 as a successor to the Apple II, Lisa was touted as a revolutionary product. Its high price tag made it an impractical choice for a personal computer, but technical issues also contributed to it becoming the 'most influential failure in history'. Despite having an operating system capable of running multiple programs, Lisa's processor wasn't powerful enough, resulting in slow performance.
However, Lisa's failure served as a valuable learning experience for Apple. It paved the way for the creation of the Macintosh, which was essentially a more affordable and efficient version of Lisa. This scenario illustrates that failures can be instructive if they don't lead to the company's financial ruin.
3. Ford: Edsel
The Ford Edsel is a classic example of a significant failure in the automobile industry. Despite conducting thorough market research, including personality studies to target the perfect customer, Ford's team spent a decade and $250 million on Edsel's research and planning. However, by the time the car was launched in 1957, it was too late. The consumer preference had already shifted towards compact cars, a category that didn't include the Edsel.
The failure of the Ford Edsel underscores the critical importance of timely market entry. Even with a strong brand and product, if a project loses momentum, it risks failure. Inadequate communication and unrealistic timelines can slow down a project to the extent that it loses relevance or value, diminishing its chances of success.
Creating a resource management plan to ensure that project workers are fully engaged and performing at their optimal performance can lead to more precise project timeline estimates, preventing unnecessary project delays.
Edsel's failure is also called a 'strategic waffling', stressing the importance of having a project scope that can define the strategy you will implement.
Let's learn more lessons from this particular failure:
While Ford's Edsel was not a success, others profited from its failure. For example:
Midas: 'We'll never forget the Edsel'
The mufflers manufacturing company scoped its project around Edsel's inability to satisfy its customers. Midas found its market in people who had bought cars and were looking for parts that gas station stores did not stock.
Midas also boasted that it had mufflers for over 1,770 car models and could install a muffler in under 30 minutes. This also exemplifies how many ways there are to manage a marketing project.
Another great project scope example would be:
MACtac: 'Seemed like a good idea at the time'
An adhesive company, MACtac, featured Ford's Edsel in their advertisement, capitalizing on the project's failure to stay put. The marketing team put out a very subtle message about the failures of 'pressure sensitive manufacturers going down', and how their industrial-grade adhesive could be used to hold together various materials.
Moral Of The Story: Define Project Scope
To state the obvious, you may be overestimating or undermining the scope of a project, which can result in a huge setback. Failures are nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, they offer a great learning point and marketing success for others.
The Not So Obvious: What Else To Consider?
Managing project scope does not end up knowing what you have. It is also crucial to know what you cannot have.
Define the acceptance criteria. Project managers, team members, and other stakeholders should know what to avoid during the execution. In the end, all the hard work can go to waste if expectations have not been properly communicated.
In your project scope document, you can define stakeholder expectations. This could also help you avoid scope creep by setting things straight for everyone. In other words, you need to ensure that nothing is spilling through the holes.
More Help?
To boost the process of defining the scope, you can also use project management software, automating the entire process. Using the right software can help you create a project plan, keep project team members informed, define the project's goals properly, and keep relevant stakeholders in the loop.
To Summarize
We are living in an unpredictable world where managing projects has become more complex than ever before. The process of trial and error plays a wonderful role in helping us gain experience and knowledge. However, diving headfirst into a project might not be the best strategy.
You can certainly ensure the success of your project with the help of different elements including project scope. In the end, project scope defines your success and brings your ideas to life. By using suitable templates or project management software, you can easily create project scope statements that help you win!
