Scope Creep

           I recall a project that I worked on several years ago.  This project was the development of a book that would be used as a handbook by elementary teachers on the use of Microsoft Office software.  The main focus at the beginning was to create a tool that would help teachers who were unfamiliar with technology give simple instruction to utilize email, create and format simple word processing documents, and to manage files.  I believe that inherent in any manual that is developed there is a tendency for expansion just as in any project as pointed out in the Lynch and Roecker book, Project Management: A handbook for successful design, delivery, and management.  In the chapter “Controlling the Project” the author’s state that only 30 percent of software projects studied succeeded without budget overages, extended timelines, or completely failing and never delivering a product (Lynch, and Roecker, 2007).  I am glad that I can say that this project of the handbook was one that did deliver, but did require more time than expected and was effected by “scope creep” as defined in the text Project Management; Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects which says it is when the drivers of the project try to improve it and add more and more to the expectations earlier defined by the plan of the project (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, and Kramer, 2008).

The project had a strong risk factor in that it did not have a clearly written objective yet there was a clearly understood expectation that it needed to fill the gap of knowledge for teacher’s use of email and word processing by offering a hard copy of instruction to use the Microsoft software.  As the project began to develop and parts of the handbook were completed it could be seen that it was a good source of professional development for staff.  Soon district heads, the drivers, sought to add many additional components and software applications to those being addressed in the manual.  The complexity grew and limit of the features to be covered by this handbook were less clear.  It was desired that PowerPoint, a Microsoft presentation application, would be added to the list of software in the handbook.  There were so many features and plug-ins associated with the program that defining the final list to include required many hours of planning and debating.  The focus of the project became less clear and the perceived effectiveness of the handbook dropped.  The project lacked what the Portny text calls a change control system which would have helped to Identify alternatives to the changes, triggered communications that would have informed stakeholders better, identified the impacts on the project (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, and Kramer, 2008).

The project finished up late, but did produce a very helpful handbook that was scaled back to earlier goals of instructing in the use of email and word processing and included an introduction to PowerPoint and presented several URLs for external tutorials on its use.

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. 

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.