What is Scope in Project Management?

Project management is tough at the best of times. You must swiftly tackle any issues that arise, make sure all the work is getting done, and ensuring that your team is working well together – all while meeting your deadlines. To make sure you succeed when managing a project in the workplace, there are a lot of different things you need to do. One of them is to build an effective scope management plan. In this article, we’re going to find out what project scope management means, how to do it effectively, and why it’s an important step in project management.

What is Project Scope?

Project scope is a broad term that refers to everything that needs to be done for a project to be completed. Everything is documented, including a detailed set of deliverables for the project to be considered a success. In other words, the project scope is simply defining the goals of the project and spelling out how exactly to achieve them. It’s an essential step in any project.

What is Project Scope Management?

Project scope management is the set of processes involved in figuring out the project scope. This is usually undertaken by the project manager, who’s responsibly clarifying what needs to be done and when to achieve the desired result.

It’s an essential part of a successful project. When a project manager knows the tasks that are vital to a project’s success, they’ll be able to delegate the right amount of work to their team to increase the chance of the job getting done right.

The Two Kinds of Scope in Project Management

So far, we’ve covered the broad definition of project scope, and what project scope management means. But if we dig into project scope a little further, there are two different types of scope that a project manager needs to work out: product scope and project scope.

Product scope refers to all the details of the product, like its size, how it will work, what features it has, etc. For example, if the product is a smartphone, then the product scope is all the things that will go into making that smartphone, like the RAM, screen size, processing power, camera, and more.

Project scope refers to all the work that needs to be done to deliver the product or service with the features defined by the product scope. It also defines what falls outside of the scope, which helps a team avoid doing any work that’s unnecessary.

The Project Scope Statement

All the information in both the product and project scope (and lots more) is included in the project scope statement. It’s a vital step in overall project scope management and should indicate the expected results, any issues that might arise, constraints, assumptions, and a clear list of deliverables.

The project scope statement also defines the project’s boundaries and details the responsibilities of each team member.

Steps Involved in Project Scope Management

1.    Define the Goals of the Project

Before anything can be done, the goals of a project need to be defined. Only when you know what you’re working towards can you effectively work out how to get there.

2.    Work Out the Project’s Objectives

Once you know the goals, the next step is to set up the workable objectives. These are the concrete tasks that need to be done to help the project achieve its goals.

3.    Define the Project Scope

Step 3 is to define the project scope, as we’ve outlined how to do above. This includes detailing everything that is needed to successfully complete the project. The result of this step will be a polished project scope statement.

Why is Project Scope Management Vital?

The easiest way to think about the importance of project scope management is by imagining you’ve gone to the supermarket without a shopping list. In the store, you’ll more than likely spend more than you would if you had brought the list, and even miss out on a few vital things as well. You could even end up spending more time standing around, trying to remember what you need to get.

The exact same thing occurs without solid project scope management. The project is likely to blow way over its budget and miss deadlines as you scramble to get things done that have suddenly cropped up. Even with a good project scope, things can still spring up and catch a manager’s unawares. However, it’s a bit.

Some Final Tips

Project management is a key role in any industry. The Monarch Project Management Course goes into the subject of project scope even more, but to help you out in the meantime, we’ve rounded up a few more tips to follow below:

1.    Set Aside Enough Time to Work on the Project Scope

The more time the better. You and your team need at least a few days to assess the needs of the project, and the tasks that will get the desired result.

2.    Ensure Easy Communication Channels

Quick, efficient, and effective communication is key in project scope management. When things change (as they most likely will), you need to be able to communicate with the key stakeholders and explain what’s new.

3.    Adjust on the Fly

You’ll be lucky to account for every single little thing in the project scope. That’s why it’s important to be flexible and be willing to adjust the project scope on the fly.

4.    Use Visuals

An easy way to make sure the project scope is understood is by using visuals.  Charts, graphs, and story maps are all great tools to help you and your team get a solid grasp of the project scope.