Issues… What Issues?
Without fail, there are bound to be issues that arise with every single project one does. The project could be a personal project, a passion project, or a professional project. It does not matter the origin of the project, issues will abound.
Scope Creep Creepin’ In
Stolovitch (in Walden University, LLC, n.d.a) Week 5 shared that resources are indeed the lifeblood of a project. Yet, without fail, someone or something will try to take the project in a different direction. This is called scope creep. According to Ajmal, Khan, Al-Yafei (2020), scope creep develops from a lack of fully developing the scope of a project, or an incomplete definition of the scope of a project. Either definition, or any definition, has a negative impact on the resources associated with the project (time, costs, or quality of project) (Ajmal, Khan, Al-Yafie, 2020).
Stolovitch (in Walden University, LLC, n.d.b.) shared that scope creep is a normal occurrence with a project and will happen any time new things “come up” with a project. It is important to involve stakeholders and have them overtly state what they want from the project and what the deliverables are (Stolovitch in Walden University, LLC, n.d.b.) This can ensure that the project manager does not become the scapegoat for where the project went awry. Although, according to Budrovich (in Walden University, LLC, n.d.c.) it is still possible for the stakeholders to blame the project manager and thus he/she takes the fall. I suppose this is a professional hazard that many project managers fall prey to. Realistically, I feel there is always a pitfall with every profession, and for a project manager, this is it.
Overcoming Creep-ers..
Project managers must accept that scope creep is coming, just like John Snow said in Game of Thrones, “Winter is Coming.” Once you do, you can begin to make changes and adapt. Stolovitch (in Walden University, LLC, n.d.c.) shared that at times it may be necessary to reallocate resources, but all of this should be communicated and agreed upon with stakeholders. A project manager’s job can be overwhelming, but there are strategies to help cope and manage the project and team members. Stolovitch (in Walden University, LLC, n.d.c.) shared that listing all the management tasks, ranking them, handling the top priorities first, delegating low-priority tasks to others, avoiding the desire or urge to be perfect, and focusing on the big players of the project (timeline, budget, and stakeholders) can all help bring the project manager back down to Earth and begin to adapt and overcome.
Scope Creeping into the Pool…
Last time we were asked to explore either a personal or professional project, I examined a professional project with my job as an educator. This time, I want to demonstrate that scope creep occurs in the personal arena as well. My scope creep is an example is/was a doozy. It all began with the idea to put in an inground pool in our somewhat tight, mountainous backyard. My spouse, at the time, and I tossed around the idea of putting in a pool. We checked our savings accounts, researched the costs, called around and got some pool contractors to come out. Within a few months, we were picking out our liner and ready to break ground. We had anticipated the costs of the pool, as we felt it was reasonable. Once it all got underway, we hit some boulders… no, literally, they hit boulders. We had specifically had the pool contractor company dig some test holes in our hard to make sure this was even possible. They had determined that, yes, there was rock in there, but it was manageable. So, the first hurdle came to us with a price tag of 5K. We could either fold up the project with a ten-foot hole in the yard, or bring in a special jackhammer machine to break up the big rock they had hit. We chose the latter. There goes the budget. Next, we got back on track with the pool project, but it came time to pick out extras. We were feeling the creep- bigtime. Pool light? Heater? Timeline? Budget? So many questions swirled and the project started to take on new dimensions.
Overall, I feel this was an easier project to manage, since the stakeholders, project managers, and the financiers were one in the same. I don’t envy project managers who are constantly forced to bounce back and forth between stakeholders and team members. Being that the pool was coming from our own budget, we had more flexibility to choose the path and what we wanted to spend the money on. I understand that a project manager does not always have that same luxury. I presume there is a lot of going back and forth between different people and elements of the project. Scope creep is real. Very real.
Amanda
References
Ajmal, M., Khan, M., & Al-Yafei, H. (2020). Exploring factors behind project scope creep – stakeholders’ perspective. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 13(3), 483–504. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-10-2018-0228
Walden University, LLC. (Executive Producer). (n.d.a). Project management concerns: Locating resources [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Walden University, LLC. (Executive Producer). (n.d.b.). Monitoring projects [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Walden University, LLC. (Executive Producer). (n.d.c.). Practitioner voices: You can’t win them all [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Amanda,
My example of scope creep this week also involved a personal project. You bring up an interesting point about personal projects such as, “Overall, I feel this was an easier project to manage, since the stakeholders, project managers, and the financiers were one in the same”. I agree!
At the same time, I am also wondering if personal projects can get more out of control when the stakeholders, project managers, and financiers are one in the same and are so emotionally invested in the project. From the research article, you included, “Results indicate that communication is among the major causes of project scope creep” (Ajmal et al., 2020, p. 483). In the personal project examples, the communication problems could involve over-communication with sharing every enticing possibility of add-on features, etc.
Planning the budget and sticking to it is easier said than done sometimes with personal projects.
Reference:
Ajmal, M., Khan, M., & Al-Yafei, H. (2020). Exploring factors behind project scope creep-stakeholders’ perspective. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 13(3), 483-504. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-10-2018-0228
Hi Amanda,
My example of scope creep this week was a personal home improvement project too! It seems that pest creeps in easily to just about every type of project, even when sufficient research and planning has happened. Just imagine how chaotic it would have been had you not tried to estimate costs and other resources before jumping into your pool project (just a little pun for you!).
I feel like scope creep inches into personal projects easily because we often neglect to factor in the “what if” factors of real life that we cannot control. With project management scenarios, we are more likely to consider including a contingency plan to buffer changes to budget, time and other resources(Walden University, n.d).
I am getting ready to start a garden/backyard project for my new house. This time I am trying to remember to include provisions for those unexpected items in my plan as well!
Penny Jordan
Reference:
Walden University, LLC. (Executive Producer). (n.d.). Creating a resource allocation plan [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
Amanda,
I can definitely relate to your example. It can be a bit difficult to pull back on the scope of a project when you are personally invested in the project. I would love to have a pool, but we need to get our kitchen/living room finished first!! 🙂
Scope creep can come into play when the project is in full swing and you run into problems right in the middle of the plan such as happened with your pool. This is where the contingency plan and funds can help alleviate the burden and help determine the direction of the project (Walden Univeristy, LLC, n.d.).
Reference
Walden University, LLC. (Executive Producer). (n.d.). Practitioner voices: Resource challenges [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu