Analyzing Scope Creep
Creeping Paint
This week I am considering a project
that was affected by scope creep. One that came to mind was a project that took
place 3 years ago. The project was to paint the half-bath in the hallway. The
initial plans called for a simple repaint (color to be chosen by my wife). The
budget was created to allow for purchasing paint and supplies. As I was the
labor, there were no actual labor charges incurred.
The Paint Project Begins to Creep
As I began the project it occurred to
me that the mirror behind the vanity was set too low. Unfortunately, in order
to raise the mirror I would have to change the location of the lights located
above it. While I was at it… we decided to go ahead and change the vanity and
mirror and light fixture. This added substantial cost and time to the original
project. It was also decided that the room really needed crown molding to give
it a finished look and the base molding seemed to be too small when considered
in light of the crown molding. So, the crown molding was put in place and the
existing base molding was removed and replaced with a larger molding. Additionally,
the toilet was replaced with a taller and more efficient unit. Eventually, the
entire room was stripped down to nothing but walls. This made the painting part
exceptionally easy until …..
The color did not work. The color that
was chosen, while a very nice color, was just too dark for a room without
windows. I tried to paint stripes hoping to lighten up the darkness. What
happened instead was the distinct and rather unpleasant feeling of being in a
jail cell. By now I had 2 coats of paint on the ceiling, 2 coats of primer on
the walls, 2 coats of wall paint, and 3 coats of paint on the stripes. The
decision was made to change the color (to a much lighter color). This now
involved several hours of sanding the stripes (to make the edges flush with the
wall), 2 additional coats of primer (to cover the dark color), and 2 additional
coats of the new color.
All of these changes resulted in
substantial delay and additional costs not originally anticipated for the
project. According to Lynch and Roecker, “There
is a constant tension between the desire to add functionality and the
requirement to control time and resources while maintaining quality” (Lynch & Roecker, 2007, p. 95). This was a good
example of adding functionality (changing to a color and fixtures that were
appropriate) and maintaining quality. The time and budget functions had the
largest impact due to the change of the scope on this project. Fortunately, I
was both the client and the company so these changes were understood. Everything
worked out very well in the end and the room looks nice.
The Stakeholders
In this project, my family was the
stakeholders. The primary stakeholders were my wife and I as we had investment
in the outcome of the project. In order to deal with the additional
expenditures we shopped very carefully and found the items at discounted
prices. Additionally, we communicated well with each other regarding our
expectations and decided it was better to go ahead and spend the extra to
finish the project with a high level of quality as opposed to doing the minimal
work. There was some stress in that much of my “free” time was taken to
complete the project as soon as possible. This meant I was not available to be
as involved with my family for a short while.
Looking Back
Understanding scope creep as I now see
it, I would have done several things differently to reduce the likelihood of
its occurrence. At the top of the list would be a very clear statement of work.
According to Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer,
Sutton, and Kramer, “A Statement of Work (often referred to as an SOW) is
written confirmation of what a project will produce and the terms and
conditions under which the project team will perform the work” (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton,
& Kramer, 2008, p. 42). Simply writing down the details of the
project would have helped us to see more clearly the work to be done.
Additionally, it would have provided an opportunity to discuss the possibility
of incorporating major changes (new vanity, mirror, light fixture, etc…) before
the work began. Additional communication as the project was in progress would
have also been helpful. Rather than painting the entire room (only to discover
the color just did not work), painting a wall would have given the client (my
wife and I) a chance to see the product and suggest changes early in the
process which, would have been less costly in terms of time and money.
Concluding Thoughts
Not all scope change
is bad. In this situation, allowing the scope to change to include updating the
vanity and fixtures added value and quality to the finished product. According
to Greer, “scope changes can be beneficial when they allow the project team to
respond sensibly to changing conditions that exist outside the project” (Greer, 2010, p. 35). Realizing the
fixtures and vanity needed replacing was important because it allowed that room
to be completely updated to a point where it will not be in need of anything
(other than maintenance) for many years. A final consideration is the
importance of scheduling tasks and being aware of the critical path. This is
crucial to avoid time dealys and to reduce to possibility of some rework. Portny
et.al, indicates, “Project managers must monitor critical-path activities
closely during performance because any delays in critical-path activities will
delay the final project completion” (Portny, et.al, 2008, p. 157).
-jeff
References:
Greer, M. (2010). The
project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects!
(Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore, MD: Laureate education, Inc.
Lynch, M., &
Roecker, J. (2007). Chapter 5: Controllong the project. In M. Lynch, & J.
Roecker, Project management e-learning: A handbook for successful design,
delivery, and management (pp. 94-108). London: Rutledge. 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. (2008). Project
Management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
