Scope change is defined by Greer as: any addition,
reduction, or modification to the deliverables or work process as outlined in
your original project plan (p.35).
I have never been an
official project manager in the professional setting so when I read the
description of this assignment I immediately thought of home. My husband and I are definitely project
managers in our home on a daily basis.
A landscaping project that began a few years ago is a great
example of how our project scope (budget)changed quickly. We were excited to give the areas around the south
and east sides of our home a face lift.
Maybe it was the excitement that blinded us from thinking through all of
the steps that would need to take place to complete the project. To begin, we took the measurements of the spaces;
brought the layout to someone with a horticulture background and they devised a
plant plan. Taking into account the amount of sun versus shade each area would
be receiving.
After we determined how much the plants would cost we had an
idea of what we would need to spend. We were going to purchase the plants and
install on our own (being cost effective and enjoying time outside).
Our biggest mistakes 1) not setting an original budget 2)
Creating a work breakdown structure. There
were a few major steps we did not account for that in turn cost more money! The first major problem was we had to tear
out some of the existing shrubbery. I believe the big pest was a spreading Juniper. The roots were so deep we had to rent a
skidloader to pull this huge shrub up.
We then needed to bring in additional dirty to refill the void from the
shrub roots. We could not believe the root system this creeping shrub had!
All of these
additions made up the scope creep for this project. As they were unavoidable and needed taken
care of before we could proceed we ended up doing the landscaping in phases. The first summer we did the south section and
the following summer we worked on the east side.
KWK
References:
Greer, M. (2010). The project management
minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.
