05 Feb
What is Project Scope and how do you define it
Project SCOPE is defined as “the sum of all the products, services, and results to be provided by the project” (According to the Project Management Institute (PMI)) So scope can take many forms from tangible to intangible including:
- A Product: E.g. a House
- A Service: E.g. Healthcare
- A Result: E.g. Business Relocation
Scope describes what your project is going to deliver on and includes descriptions of the product, service or result.
Scope development can take several stages to generate a robust statement including:
- Gathering Requirements
- Defining the Scope
Requirements gathering
A wish list for all your project stakeholders wants and needs, a high-level catch all list is generated by using the following methods and needs to be tracked.
- Interview senior stakeholders one-to-one
- Use workshops for other stakeholders
- Seek advice and guidance from an expert
- Prioritise and rank them and associate a stakeholders name with each requirement
- Use a simple requirements matrix to log and track them
- Keep stakeholders informed of items which are changed or removed from your project as you proceed
Defining the Scope
- Use your requirements matrix as a starting point
- Use decision making to agree and priorities scope based on your requirements
- Employ facilitation techniques to gain agreement on scope
- Use product analysis to help identify the product features and functions
The Scope Statement then forms an agreement on the work you are going to perform on the project and should include
- Description of the product/service – This is what your project delivers.
- List of project deliverables – a bullet pointed listing
- Acceptance criteria – a list of conditions that need to be met.
- Project exclusions – identify what is excluded from the project
- Assumptions and constraints
One of the most important aspects of project work is defining what you are going to deliver.
Doing this diligently and with repeated process will lead to:
- A better understanding of the project,
- form the basis for the schedule and budget
- most importantly achieve stakeholder buy-in for your project.
If you require support for scoping a project or other Project Management advice feel free to give me a call to see if I can be a fit for your business.