Marc Conrad University of Bedfordshire 1 Project Management – PMBOK® Scope Creep About one of the main reasons for projects to fail. Dr Marc Conrad Office: D104 – Park Square Title

2 Scope Creep – What is it? Scope creep is defined as adding features and functionality (project scope) without addressing the effects on time, costs, and resources, or without customer approval. (PMBOK) Other definitions: “Scope creep is the piling up of small changes that by themselves are manageable, but in aggregate are significant.”  “Scope creep refers to the change in a project's scope after the project work has started. Typically, the scope expands by the addition of new features to an already approved feature list.” 

3 Scope Creep – Possible reasons Poor implementation of change control. Incomplete gathering of requirements before project execution begins. Insufficient involvement of critical stakeholders (including customer) Lack of support from executive sponsor and enforcement power in project manager

4 Central to avoid Scope Creep, is the process “Verify Scope” Inspection is an essential part of Project Management

5 How to avoid Scope Creep Seven steps to avoid Scope Creep:  Eight Tips on How to Manage Feature Creep  Ten Ways to Stop Scope Creep in Your Web Design Project  Illustrations of Scope Creep 

6 Summary Scope Creep is one of the main reasons why projects fail. A variety of reasons can be responsible for scope creep. Scope verification is key. The Internet is full with links about Scope Creep.