The
Case of the Creepy Scope
As
I do not have any professional project management experience, I must draw upon
my personal life for an example of scope creep affecting a project. When my
wife and I were looking for a house in Atlanta (via FL) one of my non-negotiable
items was a finished basement. Once we found and purchased our house, I began remodeling
the basement. My wife and I created a budget together based on the items and
functionality that I desired out of my man cave. As I began installing equipment
and arranging furniture, I kept “envisioning” improvements that I could make as
I went along. This resulted in me making frequent trips to Home Depot and
multiple purchases on Amazon.com. In addition, I returned furniture and attempted
to custom build a theater platform.
This
became a point of contention between my wife and I; I spent much more than we
had agreed upon when we created our project budget and I was spending far too
much time in the basement, which was not fair to my wife. As the manager of the
project, it would have been beneficial for all involved if I had performed more
research during the planning phase of the project; this would have prevented me
from finding the next best item that caused me to repeatedly change my mind
about the direction of my basement project. 
Christopher,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your example for how scope creep can affect a project. Like you I do not have a lot of experience job wise with project management. Scope creep can happen during the life of any project be it professional or personal.
Scope creep is, “The natural tendency of the stakeholder, as well as project team members, to try to improve the project’s output as the project progresses” (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, 2008). This a common occurrence as team members and stakeholders develop new, exciting ideas at various points during the project. However great the ideas are, they can drastically change the scope of the project to the point of failure.
Like you I chose a personal example, me planning holiday parties and activities for my family and friends during the holiday season, and just like you I always encounter scope creep because either a family member wants changes at the last minute or I want to include more people at a party which increases the time, budget and resources.
The main preparation for risk is the development and maintenance of a risk management plan which lays out specific strategies to minimize the potential negative consequences that uncertain occurrences will have on a project (Portny, et al., 2008). With more communication, and a detailed risk management plan I feel that both of us will be able to stave off scope creep in a more efficient manner.
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M.,& Sutton, M. M.,(2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Thank you Christopher. The personal projects are the best! I for one, am prone to just go out and hire a professional or to consult frequently with a subject matter expert. I know my limits. Did you finally get the "man cave" of your dreams? Has the Home Depot become the store you "love to hate," as one of my SME's calls it? In summary, we learned from the text how PM's are constantly planning, monitoring, and controlling various projects, and what's even more vital to the project's success is making the decision to undertake the project in the first place with regard to considering the potential impact of risks on the chances for project success (Portny, et al, 2008, p.348 & 378). That being said, would you choose to manage another home project?
ReplyDeleteIjea
Reference:
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteI had a similar scope creep experience as you did. It ended up costing me more money and time just like poor planning affects any other project in a corporation.
While our text defines risk as the possibility that a project might not achieve its product, schedule, or resource targets because something unexpected occurs or something planned does not (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer & Sutton, 2008). With every projected there is assumed risk. There is no way to avoid all risk. However, you can certainly minimize your risk factors by adequate planning and effective communication.
Have you embarked on any other home improvement projects? Has this course and previous course helped improve your planning skills?
Great post Chris!