Beyond Waterfall Managing Scope Effectively -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Beyond Waterfall Managing Scope Effectively? Answer: Introduction Scope creep is one of the dreaded things that can happen to any project regardless of the scale of such a project and can lead to such impacts as wastage of money, failure to meet the projects expected value as well as leading to a reduced satisfaction level by the project owner and even the users. It brings about frustrations to the stakeholders and the project teams who by the end of the project will feel they have not met the requirements of the project of which will be true. Most projects especially large scale projects fall victims of scope creep. Scope creep can be defined by differentiating it from the term scope, which refers to the magnitude of what a project will yield, and the amount of work required to finish it. Scope is the sum of service products and the results that are produced in a project and in most cases documented by the use of Work Breakdown Structure and the scope statement. Scope creep defines any extra features or functions of a new requirement, product or work that was not initially project for in the project and not authorized(Barbara Davis, 2014, p. 543). It refers to the additions of functionality and features to a project with taking into consideration what such additions will have on the resources, time and costs and the additions are never within the knowledge and approval of the client. It encompasses the increase in the requirements of a project over the lifecycle of a project for example what began as a single deliverable gets to six or a product that was initially having three essential features must now have five in order to meet the expectations of the project. Scope creep initiates a reassessment of the requirements of the project(Flyvbjerg, 2012, p. 765). Change is inevitable and scope creep does not necessarily result into a bad thing in a project. It is thus important that the client of a project be informed of the possibilities and needs that may arise as the project progresses. The changes are intended in ensuring that the delivered project responds to the exact needs of the client even as the construction process continues. Among the causes of scope creep include: miscommunication between the parties involved in the project poor change control weak executive sponsor or project manager lack of appropriate identification of what is needed in order to achieve the objectives of the project inadequate initial product versatility Scope creep and the causes As in the preceding definition, scope creep defines a project that has undergone expansion in its original goals even as the project progress. It occurs when changes, which including an update or addition, made to part of or even the whole project or has been requested to be made to the project which is already underway. The update or changes from emanate from the client, customer or co-worker who may feel may they want something done in a different way or even just wish to have a different outcome from the originally intended and requested outcomes. Scope creep can occur as frequently as possible in the lifespan of a project and the requested changes tend to have an effect of the various areas of the project. The affected areas range from the project deliverables to the deadline. In the cases where there are numerous people working on the project, Scope creep has an impact on each of the workers and thus affecting their deliverables. Chances are that a project might fail if the parameters of the project are not monitored and managed properly. This is because it is never a guarantee that a management will easily adjust to the expanded scope(Dayal, 2017, p. 54). The management may not be in possession of enough money and staff to be used in completing the project and the result would be that the team would run out of time and even edn up abandoning the project before it is fully completed. Causes of Scope creep It is worth noting that the causes of Scope creep are a mixture of subtle factors, which normally kick off so quietly that they are never noticed and go on unnoticed until it is impossible to ignore them. The effects of such factors may only be noticed when it is too late to establish a mechanism of fixing the default. It is for this reason that it is essential to establish the triggers early enough and adopt the most appropriate corrective measures for Scope creep before such factors break loose the project(Griffiths, 2013, p. 213). Among the causes of Scope creep are as discussed below: Inadequate gathering of data This comes up when for one reason or another project has been hurried or abbreviated. It results in missing important and key information that the project tam would require in the establishment of a workable project scope and charter. Failure to adhere to the targeted expertise provisions that outline the requirements that regulate project development may result in the project development team missing the sequence of the undertakings that are required to be included in a project. Upon noticing such a mistake, the team would be struggling to seal the gaps in their knowledge unfortunately in so doing they will need to expand the scope of the project in order to compensate for the key aspects that they missed in the initial stages of planning for the project. Rigorous and comprehensive planning is key in the avoidance of this scenario which would otherwise see the project unfinished and completely defined. Instead, the project will continually creep outwards even as the project developm ent continues(Harned, 2014, p. 110). Inadequate information leads to premature definition of the scope of the project. In most cases projects are started off from pronouncements by the executive which often dictate the triple constraints of the project-budget, schedule and scope- without gaining an intensive and in-depth understanding of what is required of the project and what it would take to meet the project requirements. Such executives tend to imagine that the positions they hold imbues them with required knowledge in the accomplishment of the project, which is not the case. The lack of formal project initiation procedures called feasibility analysis deprives an institution the opportunity to make concrete decisions on the project. Such procedures equip the institution with the required and suitable information that are informative of a reliable decision-making. Insufficient control of project It is not uncommon that when a project team is busy working on the project it can easily miss very few small issues with none of the team members noticing the minor changes that that occur to the project scope. Lack of a robust and an all-round control in the organization may see the little additions to the project grow into a sizeable problem before being noticed by anyone. This would culminate into big complications. An elaborate project control is responsible for informing and alerting the project management of such minor changes that occur to the parameters of the project. They issue warning whenever there is conflict detected between activities or in case any issues that can be of potential disruption to the progress of the project or even push the project to way beyond its approved schedule or budget have been detected(KENDRICK, 2012, p. 243). Ideological differences among the leadership team In most cases, executives are found to lean towards a passion on their desire to attain certain goals. A stage is set for problems at the later stages of a project if the project management does not set its focus on the intensity of the project and unanimously agree on the fundamentals of the project. The project management needs to get to a consensus on the scope of the project as well as the target resource requirements and completion date. Disagreements from the executives and sponsors increase the chances of introduction of new goals and priorities in the middle of the project. It is hence fundamental that everyone member of the project management team read from the same page when it comes such factors as how much resources are needed to deliver the expected results of a project and which results are to be achieved and when they are to be achieved. Lack of accountability Failure to hold individuals accountable for their actions in the development of a project led to unintentional scope creep environment. Under circumstances that accountability is not given the priority it deserves, a little pushback is experienced from the members of the team aimed at adding new activities to the project. Such additional tasks lead to additional time consumed in achieving the deliverables as well as a possible inflated funding(KENDRICK, 2014, p. 665). Checked accountability ensures that all the tasks are kept on schedule thereby reducing or even completely eliminating the chances of the planned list of activities would expand beyond the ability of the team to have control over it. Benefits of Scope Creep In as much as scope creep is blamed for a lot of extra work, excessive costs, failed projects and delays, it has positive elements that to some extent may not be overlooked. Customers are among the beneficiaries from scope creep. This happens in such a way that the customers more than what was initially incorporated in the scope of the project. On the other hand, through scope creep, a company is able to retain its customers but still remains to maintain the sunk cost of the project it is undertaking. Still, the project management team as well benefits from scope. The team finds a cause of reevaluating the internal processes of the management through scope creep in such a way that helps to reduce or even eliminate scope creep in the future projects and activities. Finally, through scope creep, a company is able to develop new streams of revenue for the business since it calls on the company to deliver new products and services to the project. This it does by at times allowing the cli ent to fund part of or whole of the newly introduced costs of development. For the case of a project whose construction cost is fixed, the project owner or the end user stands to be the primary beneficiary of scope creed. On a similar note, looking at the project in the wider business context, sense is derived of an increase in scope with regard to business investment. This can be illustrated by circumstances in which the contractor secures an opportunity to strategically increase the quality of the construction materials he issuing in meeting the scope of the project so as to achieve an exceptional and outstanding experience to the customer. By achieving such an experience and performance, the contractor will be better positioned and thus strengthened in obtaining further jobs in the future. This thus means that by contractors deciding to invest in an increase scope of a project, they stand chances of enjoying increased revenues as they work on various projects further down the track(Milosevic, 2013, p. 445). Changing the timelines of the projects Some of the changes which happen during the implementation of the project can lead to radical changes of the initial decisions which were made. The changes which are made changes the requirement of the whole project. It requires time to ultimately adopt the new changes into the project plan; many meetings have to be organized between the clients and stakeholders to agree on which way to move. In that way, the timelines which were initially set has to be changed thus making the implementation of the project to delay. Poor communication and relationship between the involved. In the cases where there is scope creep there results regular blames within the project. Most of the parties who are involved in the project fail to deliver what is expected from them. Scope creep associated with lack of proper documentation of the requirements and the project schedule which makes the members of the project team failing to work as a team(Milosevic, 2014, p. 76). The relationship between the stakeholders and the project team also deteriorates because the stakeholders tend to see that the project team has failed to deliver what was expected from them. To control that the team members need to explain the changes which are favorable to the project to the stakeholders and agree before they are included in the project plan. Poor change control. When there are changes which have occurred.it needs a very tight change control process. In the cases where the changes have occurred as a result of any reason, it increases the budget of the project, and in that way, there are many changes which need to be done which were not included in the initial requirement document which was developed. In some cases, the changes which are done greatly increases the scope of the project which makes it very difficult to control the changes which are made. Mitigating the effects and causes of scope creep. Scope creep can be stopped and managed in its tracks it can be even turned into a business opportunity. The control and management of Scope Creep at the inception stage of the project implementation before any requirement or code has been written. The project charter is one of the significant ways to stop Scope Creep before the implementation of the project starts. The project Charter outlines the project goals, determines the acceptance criteria, approval details, and defines the responsibilities and roles of all the parties involved in the project. And details the change request process. The project Charter should be signed and approved before the implementation of the project commences(philis, 2013, p. 67). In spite of the methodologies difference and the organizational preferences for given methodologies over others, the common thing across all the projects is that implementing early diligence pays off in the control and management of the Scope creep. Early diligence does not preclude a project from the usage of particular methodologies, only if one has a strong foundation upon which to build, testing, launching and developing will proceed. Many projects land into trouble when they start on the wrong foot either early definition or the design phases. It is essential in the process of controlling and managing of the Scope Creep the consultants to utilize their expertise to be able to gather all the requirements by holistically evaluating all the relevant components on the clients business and the view towards their consultants. Which will earn them trust from the interception stage of the project? It is very unreasonable to say that the scope is very rigid defined and that is impossible to change without Scope Creep. The scope of the project is very dynamic, but the changes which are made need to be managed using the controls and processes. A backlog should be used to put a lot of focus on what is significant for launching and what is not. The backlog which is used should be regularly groomed, sized and prioritized. The backlog is used for the analysis of the project methodology. In the cases where the development team has the capacity, and some items can be completed in a very reasonable way before the project is launched. However, the items in the backlog are typically reserved for the post-launch(jones, 2013, p. 45). In the cases where Scope Creep has happened due to a variety of reasons .the best way to control it is to manage the expectations of all the parties in the project. Issues can be exacerbated in the project implementation when the expectations of the parties involved in the project are not managed. The expectations of the parties should cover the impact on the timelines, budget and the staffing concerns. The changes which are done need to be communicated in a clear way and to be documented by using the established changes control process. Documenting all the requirements. One of the most significant ways to prevent scope creep in a project is by documenting all the requirements. Talk to all the users and the project stakeholders to work out their exact requirements from the project. All the requirements which are mentioned by the parties should be recorded down. The requirements should be prioritized as it may not be humanly possible to do all of them. Even though it is time-consuming everything that is raised by the parties should be recorded to capture the essential requirements. All the requirements must be captured in the documents which will be later shared to all the parties. Coming up with change control process Even though a requirement document is developed, there must be controls which will be in place to control the change comes. It is very unrealistic to believe that something will never change. What you need is managed and controlled on the project. Due to that a change control process is very essential. A change control process refers to what is reviewed to when there are changes which need to be done to the project. In the cases where the change agrees with the change control it is approved and incorporated into the project plan, and in the cases where it is different from what is in the change control process it is ejected and can never be incorporated into the project plan. Setting up the change control process refers to the teaching about who is going to be responsible in reviewing and approving changes in the project. A change control process is an essential tool which regulates on how the changes are to be implemented into the project. In the cases where there is no regulation of the changes, there are very high chances of scope creep occurring(Sorinolu, 2012, p. 145). Creating a precise project schedule. A detailed task list can be created from the requirements document.it is very easy7 to come up with a project schedule after you know all the project deliverables The schedule shows all the requirements and how they will be achieved in the form of activities and tasks. One can do cross-referencing of the project schedule with the requirement document to ensure that there is not anything which is left out. Once the project schedule is well outlined, one has to plan for some contingency. In the cases where there is a clear project schedule each who is involved in the project knows exactly what he/she should deliver at a given period. In that way, most of the parties are usually motivated to achieve what is expected from them. A clear outline of how the task will be carried out gives room for better planning of all the resources which are required. In the cases where there is proper planning of resources the chances of scope creep developing are very low. All the resources which are required to accomplish a given task can be acquired before the task is started in that way the chances of changes being made are reduced because what is remaining in the project implementation is very small(Shiv, 2016, p. 456). Verifying the scope of the project with the stakeholder. It is very important to understand the project requirements. Your taught about the project might not be exactly what the sponsor of the project meant. All the involved should meet and talk issues which are relating to the project. The project schedule should also be discussed by all the parties involved to ensure that there is no requirement which was left out during the process preparing the requirement docu8ment. At some time it is important to meet each stakeholder individually to know what is exactly he/she is supposed to deliver. The stakeholder is given the project plan and schedules them to get a given a chance to comment on it and on how to improve on what he/she is supposed to deliver. The owner of the project should take time to discuss how the change control process is structured and come up with ways to make it better. The project owner needs to show the change control process to the sponsor and explain how the changes which arise to the project will be managed. This is a very important moment to remind the stakeholders what is expected from them many months before the start of the project. In case the stakeholders may not want to be fully involved at the schedule, its much better to remind them the stage of construction. Poor communication at this stage means that the primary stakeholders were not informed of what the requirements are needed to be worked on. Engage the project team. When the stakeholders of the project are happy to ensure that the project team is also happy. The project team needs to know how the change control process works and how the changes they many propose may affect them. They should be guardians and protectors of change. Sometimes the project team agrees on their own to do some changes for the good of the project without following the formal procedures. They need to be aware that they cannot implement the changes without the changes being approved by the stakeholders. If the project team want to implement the change, the best thing they can do is to explain to the stakeholder what the changes they need without following the formal procedures. Scope creep a very serious problem on the projects especially in the cases when the stakeholders and the project team does not have a clear understanding of the impact the changes can have on the entire project and the resources, the budget and the schedule. Fortunately in the cases where the team project are well informed about the effects of the changes on the budget, the resources, and the project schedule. To avoid and manage the scope creep one needs to have an online software tool which is up to the data regarding the task which offers room to add the new requirements of the project and review them to be up to date with the current project. Once the project team is well involved in the project, they are also motivated to achieve what is required from them. Avoiding gold plating. Gold plating refers to the practice of adding extra features to the expected result of the project. In most cases, this is done to please the client. There are two main reasons for this practice first the client may not be willing to approve the changes instead he may demand that the project is redone from scratch to meet the specifications listed on the brief. Second, this sets a precedent to the client that any proposal in future may include the changes. Verify everything with the client and the project stakeholders. Once one ensures that the client and the stakeholders have agreed with the plans, you are working on it is very paramount to the success of the project. It is very significant that every detail of the project which is to be implemented is verified before the work is done. The project team should provide the clients and stakeholders with the project schedule which to ensure that they are updated with what is happening in the project(Moustafaev, 2015, p. 453). Break the project down. It is essential to break down the project into small digestible portions. In that way, it is straightforward to keep track of all the members in the project team. Also, it is very easy for the client to reach all the parties in the project and hear the changes which they are proposing to be done to the project plan. Addressing the concerns which are raised by the project team members, in this case, is very easy. Each small portion should have a leader who communicates to the overall project leader to make a communication to be easy and efficient. Keep your team motivate Things run very smooth in the implementation of the project where the members of the project team are well motivated. The members who feel fulfilled by their work they can be open and free to share ideas on the changes which can be done to improve the general project. Also when the project team members are motivated, they can significantly contribute in the changes which are done during the initial stages of the project which can easily be incorporated into the project plan. It is essential to implement an open-door policy whereby the members have the freedom to speak their minds and ask questions which are regarding the project. When all the members are working as per what is expected from them chances of miscommunication and mistakes made are reduced thus reducing the scope creep. Giving an estimation. Giving an estimate is one of the easiest ways to stop scope creep. The estimations answer many change requests which would arise at late stages of the project implementation. The estimation of all the resources which are required greatly allow the resources which were to be changed to be included in the estimation which is done. The estimation also gives room to the client to ask the project team for clarification in the area/she where he does not understand. Always Refer to your change control protocol It is always very important to refer to the change control protocol to understand how to implement the changes. In the cases where there are doubts, it is very important to reveal to the change control protocol. In the cases where the changes go beyond the scope, one needs to break down change control process and then discuss with the client to know the necessary actions to be taken. Conclusion The research and extensive literature review done on scope creep above sheds light on scope creep, its impacts on the cost of construction and strategies that can be used in reducing the costs associated with it. The research has revealed that though scope creep is a bad thing for any construction project and Construction Company or the client, to some extent it is beneficial. It is beneficial to the contractor and the client as well as the project team. Unfortunately, the benefits that come with scope creep are outnumbered by the disadvantages and thus such benefits to an insignificant level count in the project success. Scope creep is a bad thing for a project and may lead to ultimate failure of the project should the most appropriate corrective measures not be adopted at the right time. Commitment of the stakeholders to the decisions arrived at, evaluation of the benefits of the project against the cost, reviewing of the policies and procedures as well as constant communication be tween the various stakeholders are among the strategies that are integral in reducing the risks associated with scope creep to the cost of a project. Such strategies would ensure the stakeholders are continually reading from the same page and focus their interest and attention to the success of the project as initially outlined in the project activities sequence(jones, 2013, p. 172). The research gives the reader and the stakeholders in a project development an elaborate explanation on the scope creep and the associated cost implications. This prior information enables the stakeholders to practice some element of caution by attempting to get to the nitty-gritties of the project. In so doing, hurry and haste in the initiation and abbreviation of the project are eliminated with interest direction in meeting the expectations of the client. References Barbara Davis, 2014. Going Beyond the Waterfall: Managing Scope Effectively Across the Project Life Cycle. 1st ed. Texas: J. Ross Publishing. Dayal, S., 2017. Earned Value Management Using Microsoft Office Project: A Guide for Managing Any Size Project Effectively. 4th ed. London: J. 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