CSIT214/CSIT883

IT Project Management

Project scope management

Project management framework
(review)
Week 4 Presentation and Group Formation
 In the Week 4 presentation, you need to
1. Introduce your group.
2. justify why you chose the particular project to execute.
3. Explain a brief plan.

 Group Formation
◼ Emailing us will not be of any help.
◼ Be in the lab and discuss with your lab demonstrator if you
have any issues related to the group.
What is Project Scope Management?
 Scope refers to all the work involved in creating the
products of the project and the processes used to create
them
◼ A deliverable is a product produced as part of a project,
such as hardware or software, planning documents, or
meeting minutes

 Project scope management includes the processes involved

in defining and controlling what is or is not included in a
project
◼ Ensures that the project team and stakeholders have the
same understanding of:
 what products the project will produce and

 what processes the project team will use to produce

them
Project Scope Management
Processes (1 of 2)
 Main processes
◼ Planning scope management: determining how the
project’s scope and requirements will be managed
◼ Collecting requirements: defining and documenting
the features and functions of the products produced
during the project as well as the processes used for
creating them
◼ Defining scope: reviewing the project charter,
requirements documents, and organizational process
assets to create a scope statement
◼ Creating the WBS: subdividing the major project
deliverables into smaller, more manageable components
◼ Validating scope: formalizing acceptance of the project
deliverables
◼ Controlling scope: controlling changes to project scope
throughout the life of the project
Project Scope Management Processes
Planning Scope Management (1 of 2)
 The project team uses expert judgment, data analysis, and
meetings to develop two important outputs
◼ Scope management plan (subsidiary part of the project
management plan)
◼ Requirements management plan

 Scope management plan contents:

◼ Prepare a detailed project scope statement
◼ Create a Work-breakdown Structure (WBS)
◼ Maintain and approve the WBS
◼ Obtain formal acceptance of the completed project deliverables
◼ Control requests for changes to the project scope
Planning Scope Management (2 of 2)
 Requirements Management Plan
◼ The PMBOK® Guide, Sixth Edition, describes a
requirement as “a condition or capability that is
necessary to be present in a product, service, or
result to satisfy a business need”

 The requirements management plan documents how

project requirements will be analyzed, documented, and
managed
◼ How to plan, track, and report requirements activities
◼ How to perform configuration management activities
◼ How to prioritize requirements
◼ How to use product metrics
◼ How to trace and capture attributes of requirements
Collecting Requirements
 Several ways to collect requirements
◼ Interviewing stakeholders
◼ Holding focus groups and facilitated workshops
◼ Using group creativity and decision-making
techniques
◼ Utilizing questionnaires and surveys
◼ Conducting observation studies
◼ Generating ideas by comparing specific project
practices or product characteristics (i.e.,
benchmarking)
Defining Scope
 Important elements of a project scope statement
◼ Product scope description
◼ Product user acceptance criteria
◼ Detailed information on all project deliverables
 It is also helpful to document other scope-related
information
◼ Project boundaries, constraints, and assumptions
◼ Supporting document references (e.g., product
specifications)
 As time progresses, the scope of a project should become
more clear and specific
Sample excerpts of scope statement
Flashback quiz
 A ____ is a document that formally recognizes the
existence of a project and provides direction on the
project’s objectives and management.
◼ project charter
◼ contract
◼ business case
◼ project management plan
 Which of the following items is not normally included in a
project charter?
◼ The name of the project manager
◼ Budget information
◼ Stakeholder signatures
◼ A Gantt chart
Creating the Work Breakdown
Structure (1 of 9)
 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a deliverable-oriented
grouping of the work involved in a project that defines the
total scope of the project
◼ Foundation document that provides the basis for
planning and managing project schedules, costs,
resources, and changes
 Decomposition is the main tool or technique for creating a
WBS
◼ Subdividing project deliverables into smaller pieces
◼ A work package is a task at the lowest level of the
WBS
 Outputs of creating the WBS are the scope baseline and
project documents updates
◼ Scope baseline includes the approved project scope
statement and its associated WBS and WBS dictionary
Creating the Work Breakdown
Structure (2 of 9)
Creating the Work Breakdown
Structure (3 of 9)
Creating the Work Breakdown
Structure (4 of 9)
Creating the Work Breakdown
Structure (5 of 9)
Creating the Work Breakdown Structure (6 of 9)
1.0 Software Product
Release 5.0

1.1 Project
Management

1.1.1 Planning
1.1.2 Meetings
1.1.3 Administration
1.2 Product
Requirements

1.2.1 Software
1.2.2 User Documentation Tabular
form of
1.2.3 Training Program Materials

1.3 Detail Design

1.3.1 Software
WBS
1.3.2 User Documentation
1.3.2 User Documentation
1.4 Construct

1.4.1 Software
1.4.2 User Documentation
1.4.3 Training Program Materials

1.5 Integration and

Test

1.5.1 Software
1.5.2 User Documentation
1.5.3 Training Program Materials
Creating the Work Breakdown
Structure (7 of 9)
 Approaches to developing work breakdown structures
◼ Using guidelines: some organizations, like the U.S.
Department of Defense (DOD), provide guidelines for
preparing WBSs
◼ Analogy approach: review WBSs of similar projects
and tailor to your project
◼ Top-down approach: start with the largest items of
the project and break them down
◼ Bottom-up approach: start with the specific tasks
◼ Mind mapping: uses branches radiating out from a
core idea to structure thoughts and ideas
Creating the Work Breakdown
Structure (8 of 9)
Creating the Work Breakdown
Structure (9 of 9)
Flashback quiz
 Which of the following processes is not part of project
integration management?
◼ Developing the project business case
◼ Developing the project charter
◼ Developing the project management plan
◼ Closing the project or phase
The WBS Dictionary (1 of 3)
 Many WBS tasks are vague
◼ WBS dictionary is a document that describes
detailed information about each WBS item
 Format of the WBS dictionary can vary based on
project needs
 The WBS Dictionary (2 of 3)
WBS Dictionary Entry March 20
Project Title: Information Technology (IT) Upgrade Project

WBS Item Number: 2.2

WBS Item Name: Database Update

Description: The IT department maintains an online database of hardware and software

on the corporate intranet. We need to make sure that we know exactly what hardware and
software employees are currently using and if they have any unique needs before we decide
what to order for the upgrade. This task will involve reviewing information from the current
database, producing reports that list each department’s employees and location, and
updating the data after performing the physical inventory and receiving inputs from
department managers. Our project sponsor will send a notice to all department managers
to communicate the importance of this project and this particular task. In addition to
general hardware and software upgrades, the project sponsors will ask the department
managers to provide information for any unique requirements they might have that could
affect the upgrades. This task also includes updating the inventory data for network
hardware and software. After updating the inventory database, we will send an e-mail to
each department manager to verify the information and make changes online as needed.
Department managers will be responsible for ensuring that their people are available and
cooperative during the physical inventory. Completing this task is dependent on WBS Item
Number 2.1, Physical Inventory, and must precede WBS Item Number 3.0, Hardware and
Software Acquisition.
The WBS Dictionary (3 of 3)
 Advice for creating a WBS and WBS dictionary
◼ Unit of work should appear at only one place in the WBS
◼ Work content of a WBS item is the sum of the WBS items
below it
◼ WBS item is the responsibility of only one individual, even
though many people may be working on it
◼ WBS must be consistent with the way in which work is
actually going to be performed; it should serve the project
team first, and other purposes only if practical
◼ Project team members should be involved in developing the
WBS to ensure consistency and buy-in
◼ Each WBS item must to ensure accurate understanding of the
documented in a WBS dictionary scope of work included
and not included
◼ WBS must be a flexible tool to accommodate inevitable
changes while properly maintaining control of the work
content in the project according to the scope statement
Validating Scope
 It is difficult to create a good project scope statement and WBS
for a project
◼ Even more difficult, especially on IT projects, to verify the
project scope and minimize scope changes

 Even when the project scope is fairly well defined, many IT

projects suffer from scope creep
◼ Tendency for project scope to keep getting bigger and bigger

 Scope validation involves formal acceptance of the completed

project deliverables
◼ Acceptance is often achieved by a customer inspection and
then sign-off on key deliverables
Controlling Scope (1 of 3)
 Scope control involves controlling changes
to the project scope
◼ Keeping project goals and business strategy in
mind
 Goals of scope control
◼ Influence the factors that cause scope changes
◼ Ensure changes are processed according to
procedures developed as part of integrated
change control
◼ Manage changes when they occur
 Variance is the difference between planned
and actual performance
Controlling Scope (2 of 3)
 Suggestions for improving user input
◼ Develop a good project selection process and
insist that sponsors are from the user
organization
◼ Place users on the project team
◼ Conduct regular meetings with defined
agendas
◼ Deliver something to users and sponsors on a
regular basis
◼ Do not promise to deliver what the team
cannot deliver in a particular time frame
◼ Locate users with the developers
Controlling Scope (3 of 3)
 Suggestions for reducing incomplete and changing
requirements
◼ Develop and follow a requirements management process
◼ Employ techniques such as prototyping, use case
modeling, and JAD to get more user involvement
◼ Put requirements in writing and keep them current
◼ Create a requirements management database for
documenting and controlling requirements
◼ Provide adequate testing and conduct it throughout
the project life cycle
◼ Review changes from a systems perspective
◼ Emphasize completion dates to help focus on what’s
most important
◼ Allocate resources specifically for handling change
requests