Project Scope Management

Project Scope Management is the PMP Knowledge Area. Purpose of Project Scope Management:

To perform the work necessary to achieve project objectives. Caution: Only the work necessary.
Here we finalize requirements, scope statement, WBS, WBS Dictionary to finalize scope baseline.
We validate scope and control scope.

Processes & Outputs

Process	Output
Plan Scope Management [Planning]	Scope Management Plan, Requirements Management Plan
Collect Requirements [Planning]	Requirements Documentation, Requirements Traceability Matrix
Define Scope [Planning]	Scope Statement
Create WBS [Planning]	WBS, WBS Dictionary, Scope Baseline [Contains approved scope statement, WBS, WBS Dictionary]
Validate Scope [Monitoring and Controlling]	Accepted Deliverable
Control Scope [Monitoring and Controlling]	We check scope performance and manage changes to the scope

Process Description

1. Plan Scope Management [Process / Planning] – We develop Scope Management Plan, in which we describe how we will plan, implement, validate and control scope. When someone joins the project where some work has already been done and wanted to know procedures for planning, implementing, validating and controlling scope then he/she has to consult Scope Management Plan.

We develop requirements management plan, in which we describe how we will manage requirements throughout the project including changes to the requirement.

2. Collect Requirements [Process / Planning] – We collect requirements from the stakeholders and create 2 documents:
a. Requirements Documentation

b. Requirements Traceability Matrix

Techniques:
a. Interviews
b. Focus Groups – Involves collecting requirements from pre-selected key stakeholders.
c. Facilitated Workshops – It is a technique to remove differences and bring consensus. It is used when the stakeholders have differences in the requirements. It requires qualified facilitator. Example – Joint Application Development or Design (JAD), Quality Function Deployment (QFD).
d. Prototyping – Here the requirements are collected through iteration of “Mock-ups”. It is the tangible technique and better than interviews.
e. Observation or Job shadowing – When a project involves complex processes and finds difficulty in articulating the requirements. We can bring client to an area where we are doing similar job. We request the client to observe. This observation or job shadowing help the client to articulate the requirements.
f. Surveys or Questionnaires – It is used when the number of stakeholders is too large.

g. Documents Review
h. Creativity techniques – Example brainstorming
i. Context Diagrams
j. Benchmark – It means comparing our practices with those of other industries to gain ideas of improvement and to set new benchmark for performance. Here we compare our practices of collecting requirements with those of other industries in order to improve.
k. Decision Making Techniques – It is used for finalizing requirements like majority, consensus, dictatorship

3. Define Scope [Process / Planning] – After collecting requirements, we are able to define scope and prepare scope statement. In the scope statement, we write 6 statements:
a. Product Scope Description – All the features and functions of the product to be delivered.
b. Acceptance Criteria
c. Project Deliverable – These are major deliverable. We divide them further for creating WBS. Therefore, these deliverable make first level of WBS.
d. Project Exclusions – It will help us clarify expectations.
e. Constraints – Related to scope, time, cost, quality. Examples – Pre-defined budget, Funding limitations, imposed date and milestones.
f. Assumptions – Any factor that we consider to be true or certain for the sake of planning without proof or evidence is called assumption. We should record all our assumptions and check their validity during risk identification because all assumptions carry a degree of risk.

Techniques:

a. Product Analysis
b. Expert Judgement
c. Facilitated Workshops – To remove differences and bring consensus on the contents of the scope statement.
d. Alternative generation – We invite creative ideas to generate alternative approaches for doing the project. There are 2 popular ways of inviting creative ideas: Brainstorming and Lateral Thinking [Given by Edward de Bono in the book “Six Thinking Hats”].

4. Create WBS [Process / Planning] – WBS is deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of work required to be performed to produce deliverable and achieve project objectives. There are 3 purposes of WBS:
a. Realistic estimation or Reliable estimation
b. Work assignment
c. Monitoring and controlling of work

Work package – Work package is the lowest level in the WBS where we can estimate resources, time and cost reliably, work has become of assignable size, work can be monitored and controlled efficiently.

WBS Dictionary – WBS dictionary contains detailed description of work packages.

Scope Baseline – Scope baseline contains:
a. Scope Statement
b. WBS
c. WBS Dictionary

During execution, we perform work according to the scope baseline. During monitoring and controlling, we check scope performance against scope baseline. During closing, we close scope baseline. A baseline can be changed only after the approval from the change control procedure.

Advantages of WBS numbering system – It has 2 advantages:
a. It helps us locate the level of the component in the WBS.
b. It provides framework for summing up resource information and cost information. It is used in bottom-up estimation of resource and cost.

Principle of Decomposition – It involves satisfaction of 3 conditions:
a. We keep on dividing until it can be estimated reliably.
b. We keep on dividing until it becomes of assignable size.
c. We keep on dividing until it come to a level where we can monitor and control the work efficiently.

Wherever we meet above 3 conditions, we stop dividing and call it work package.

Tips:
a. WBS creation is the team effort.
b. WBS should be communicated to all stakeholders and their consent should be obtained because WBS becomes foundation for all estimation and planning.
c. WBS contains total project scope
d. Work not in WBS is outside the project
e. WBS is not the bar chart or bill of materials or organizational breakdown structure.

5. Validate Scope [Process / Monitoring and Controlling] – We formalize acceptance of completed deliverable ( after tested by Quality Control). Formal acceptance is provided by the customer or sponsor. Main purpose of the scope validation is to obtain formal acceptance of completed deliverable from the customer or sponsor. Whenever a deliverable is not acceptable then a change request is generated for corrective action.

Note: The purpose of the Quality Control is different from Scope Validation because the purpose of Quality Control is to check the correctness. Normally, Quality Control is performed before Scope Validation. Sometimes, both can be performed in parallel.

Techniques: Main technique is inspection which is also called review, audit or walk through.

Workaround is response to new risk. Workaround is developed in Monitor Risk process.

6. Control Scope [Process / Monitoring and Controlling] – We check scope performance and manage changes to the scope.

In case of variance:

a. Find causes

b. Find corrective actions

c. Recommend it to Integrated Change Control for approval

After approval, there are 4 duties:

a. Give it to execution for implementation

b. Write approved changes in the Project Management Plan

c. Write lessons learned in OPAs

d. Inform concerned stakeholders

Concept of Monitoring and Controlling:
a. Check performance against plan or baseline by conducting variance analysis
b. Manage changes

Exercise: Answer at-least 80% of the questions correctly in order to master the topic.
20 Questions Challenge
50 Questions Challenge