Chapter 5:
Project Scope Management
Information Technology Project
Management, Sixth Edition
Note: See the text itself for full citations.
Learning Objectives
Understand the importance of good project scope
management
Discuss methods for collecting and documenting
requirements in order to meet stakeholder needs
and expectations
Explain the scope definition process and describe
the contents of a project scope statement
Discuss the process for creating a work breakdown
structure using the analogy, top-down, bottom-up,
and mind-mapping approaches
Information Technology Project
Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 2
Learning Objectives (continued)
Explain the importance of verifying scope and
how it relates to defining and controlling scope
Understand the importance of controlling scope
and approaches for preventing scope-related
problems on information technology projects
Describe how software can assist in project
scope management
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 3
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
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 4
Project Scope Management Processes
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
Verifying scope: formalizing acceptance of the project
deliverables
Controlling scope: controlling changes to project scope
throughout the life of the project
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 5
Figure 5-1. Project Scope
Management Summary
Information Technology Project
Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 6
Collecting Requirements
A requirement is “a condition or capability that
must be met or possessed by a system, product,
service, result, or component to satisfy a contract,
standard, specification, or other formal document”
(PMBOK® Guide, 2008)
For some IT projects, it is helpful to divide
requirements development into categories called
elicitation, analysis, specification, and validation
It is important to use an iterative approach to
defining requirements since they are often unclear
early in a project
Information Technology Project
Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 7
Figure 5-2. Relative Cost to Correct a Software
Requirement Defect
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 8
Methods for Collecting Requirements
Interviewing
Focus groups and facilitated workshops
Using group creativity and decision-making
techniques
Questionnaires and surveys
Observation
Prototyping
Software tools
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 9
Documenting Requirements
Requirements documents are often generated by
software and include text, images, diagrams, videos, and
other media; they are often broken down into different
categories such as functional, service, performance,
quality, training requirements, and so on
A requirements management plan describes how
project requirements will be analyzed, documented, and
managed
A requirements traceability matrix (RTM) is a table
that lists requirements, various attributes of each
requirement, and the status of the requirements to
ensure that all requirements are addressed
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 10
Table 5-1. Sample Requirements Traceability Matrix
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 11
Defining Scope
Key inputs for preparing the project scope
statement include the project charter, requirements
documentation, and organizational process assets
such as policies and procedures related to scope
statements as well as project files and lessons
learned from previous, similar projects
As time progresses, the scope of a project should
become more clear and specific
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 12
Table 5-3. Further Defining Project Scope
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 13
Media Snapshot
Many
people enjoy watching television shows like
Trading Spaces, where participants have two days and
$1,000 to update a room in their neighbor’s house; since
the time and cost are set, it’s the scope that has the
most flexibility
Although most homeowners are very happy with
work done on the show, some are obviously
disappointed; part of agreeing to be on the show
includes signing a release statement acknowledging that
you will accept whatever work has been done
Too bad you can’t get sponsors for most projects to
sign a similar release form; it would make project scope
management much easier!
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 14
Creating the Work Breakdown
Structure (WBS)
A WBS is a deliverable-oriented grouping of the
work involved in a project that defines the total
scope of the project
WBS is a foundation document that provides the
basis for planning and managing project
schedules, costs, resources, and changes
Decomposition is subdividing project
deliverables into smaller pieces
A work package is a task at the lowest level of
the WBS
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 15
Figure 5-3. Sample Intranet WBS
Organized by Product
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 16
Figure 5-4. Sample Intranet WBS
Organized by Phase
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 17
Figure 5-5. Intranet WBS and Gantt
Chart in Microsoft Project
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 18
Figure 5-6. Intranet Gantt Chart Organized
by Project Management Process Groups
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 19
Table 5-4. Executing Tasks for JWD
Consulting’s WBS
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 20
Approaches to Developing WBSs
Using guidelines: some organizations, like the
DOD, provide guidelines for preparing WBSs
The analogy approach: review WBSs of similar
projects and tailor to your project
The top-down approach: start with the largest
items of the project and break them down
The bottom-up approach: start with the specific
tasks and roll them up
Mind-mapping approach: mind mapping is a
technique that uses branches radiating out from a
core idea to structure thoughts and ideas
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 21
Figure 5-7. Sample Mind-Mapping
Approach for Creating a WBS
Information Technology Project
Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 22
Figure 5-8. Project 2007 File with WBS Generated from a
Mind Map
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 23
The WBS Dictionary and Scope
Baseline
Many WBS tasks are vague and must be
explained more so people know what to do and
can estimate how long it will take and what it will
cost to do the work
A WBS dictionary is a document that describes
detailed information about each WBS item
The approved project scope statement and its
WBS and WBS dictionary form the scope
baseline, which is used to measure performance
in meeting project scope goals
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 24
Advice for Creating a WBS and WBS Dictionary
A unit of work should appear at only one place in
the WBS
The work content of a WBS item is the sum of the
WBS items below it
A WBS item is the responsibility of only one
individual, even though many people may be
working on it
The 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
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 25
Advice for Creating a WBS and WBS
Dictionary (continued)
Project team members should be involved in
developing the WBS to ensure consistency and
buy-in
Each WBS item must be documented in a WBS
dictionary to ensure accurate understanding of the
scope of work included and not included in that
item
The 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
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 26
What Went Wrong?
A project scope that is too broad and grandiose
can cause severe problems
◦ Scope creep and an overemphasis on technology for
technology’s sake resulted in the bankruptcy of a large
pharmaceutical firm, Texas-based FoxMeyer Drug
◦ In 2001, McDonald’s fast-food chain initiated a project to
create an intranet that would connect its headquarters
with all of its restaurants to provide detailed operational
information in real time; after spending $170 million on
consultants and initial implementation planning,
McDonald’s realized that the project was too much to
handle and terminated it
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 27
Verifying Scope
It is very difficult to create a good scope statement
and WBS for a project
It is even more difficult to verify project scope and
minimize scope changes
Scope verification involves formal acceptance of
the completed project scope by the stakeholders
Acceptance is often achieved by a customer
inspection and then sign-off on key deliverables
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 28
Controlling Scope
Scope control involves controlling changes to the
project scope
Goals of scope control are to:
◦ Influence the factors that cause scope changes
◦ Assure 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
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 29
Best Practices for Avoiding Scope
Problems
1. Keep the scope realistic. Don’t make projects so large that
they can’t be completed. Break large projects down into a
series of smaller ones.
2. Involve users in project scope management. Assign key
users to the project team and give them ownership of
requirements definition and scope verification.
3. Use off-the-shelf hardware and software whenever
possible. Many IT people enjoy using the latest and
greatest technology, but business needs, not technology
trends, must take priority.
4. Follow good project management processes. As described
in this chapter and others, there are well-defined processes
for managing project scope and others aspects of projects.
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 30
Suggestions for Improving User Input
Develop a good project selection process and
insist that sponsors are from the user organization
Have users on the project team in important roles
Have regular meetings with defined agendas, and
have users sign off on key deliverables presented
at meetings
Deliver something to users and sponsors on a
regular basis
Don’t promise to deliver when you know you can’t
Co-locate users with developers
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 31
Suggestions for Reducing Incomplete
and Changing Requirements
Develop and follow a requirements management
process
Use 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
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Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 32
Suggestions for Reducing Incomplete
and Changing Requirements (continued)
Provide adequate testing and conduct testing
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/enhancements like NWA did with
ResNet
Information Technology Project
Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 33
Using Software to Assist in Project
Scope Management
Word-processing software helps create several
scope-related documents
Spreadsheets help to perform financial
calculations and weighted scoring models and to
develop charts and graphs
Communication software like e-mail and the Web
help clarify and communicate scope information
Project management software helps in creating a
WBS, the basis for tasks on a Gantt chart
Specialized software is available to assist in
project scope management
Information Technology Project
Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 34
Chapter Summary
Project scope management includes the
processes required to ensure that the project
addresses all the work required, and only the work
required, to complete the project successfully
Main processes include:
◦ Collect requirements
◦ Define scope
◦ Create WBS
◦ Verify scope
◦ Control scope
Information Technology Project
Management, Sixth Edition Copyright 2009 35