DEFINING SCOPE WHEN NO ONE UNDERSTANDS WHAT SCOPE EVEN IS
A project’s success or failure usually hinges on scope management – how well scope was defined, understood, agreed, monitored, controlled, communicated about and delivered. This (along with risk management, in my opinion) is one of the biggies in project management.
So, what happens when you’re a project manager and you’re the only one who knows or understands what scope actually means? Ask any lay person and you’ll get several, varied, sometimes conflicting definitions of scope.
Time to get out your coach-consultant-trainer-facilitator hats on to help progress the project towards gaining a common understanding of what scope is, what it means to project success and how it should be/is going to be managed. Only when everyone (Sponsor, project board, project team and project stakeholders) understands what scope is, can scoping discussions, workshops and consultations begin in earnest.
DEFINING SCOPE WHEN NO ONE HAS TIME TO DEFINE SCOPE
Quick question: “I don’t have time right now, there are other more important/urgent things going on. Can’t you just do it? When you’re done, I’ll just review it really quick and sign it off. You know what I want better than me, anyway!”
Short answer: “NO!”
Longer answer: “I may have done similar projects in the past and can guess fairly close to a scope definition that would meet a lot of your needs, but I don’t do what you do, I don’t think what you think, nor do I mind-read to understand what you need. If you don’t dedicate the time, you’re not going to get what you want, you’re going to get what I want and I am not you. I will not be an end user. At the end of this project, I will be on to my next and you will be stuck using something that I wanted, but will never use. Make time…please!” [Read more…]