Project scope refers to your project’s defined boundaries. It should include specifics such as:

• Specific project goals

• Detailed descriptions of the deliverables that need to get done

• Deadlines by which certain deliverables will be completed

• Tasks that need to get done and by who

• Milestones or deadlines for each deliverable

• Costs for the project or each line item of the project

Anything that falls outside of your project’s scope can lead to scope creep.

Project scope management is a process that helps in determining and documenting the list of all the project goals, tasks, deliverables, deadlines, and budgets as a part of the planning process. In project management, it is common for a big project to have modifications along the way.

For a project manager, managing the expectations of the stakeholders and clients is one of the most challenging tasks. With a clear project scope, managers can easily stay on track and ensure that all the deadlines are being followed throughout the project life cycle.

A well-defined project scope management helps avoid common issues such as:

• Constantly changing requirements

• Pivoting the project direction when you are already mid-way

• Realizing that the final outcome isn’t what was expected

• Going over the discussed budget

• Falling behind the project deadlines

1. Planning Scope Management

In the first process in project scope management, project managers create a scope plan document that they can refer to in the later stages. The document mainly helps in defining, managing, validating, and controlling the project’s scope.

It includes:

• Detailed project scope statement

• Breakdown of all the project requirements

• Expected project deliverables

• Project change control process

2. Collecting Requirements

The next step is to work out stakeholder requirements and expectations. Project managers will be required to document all the project requirements, expectations, budgets, and deliverables through interviews, surveys, and focus groups.

This is a rather important step because more often than not, stakeholders can have unrealistic requirements or expectations and the project managers would be required to step in to find a solution that is acceptable by everyone to avoid project delays.

It should have deliverables of:

• Functional as well as non-functional requirements

• Stakeholder requirements

• Business requirements

• Support and training requirements

• Project requirements

3. Defining the Scope

At this step is where the requirements need to be turned into a well-detailed description of the service or product that is to be delivered through the project. Project managers will then have a project scope statement that they can refer to throughout the project. While it is important to list what is in the scope of the project, it is just as important to note down what is out of the project scope. 

With a defined scope, project managers get a reference point for the project team and anyone else involved. In case there is something that is not involved in the scope, it doesn’t need to be completed by the team, which could result in scope creep or gold plating.

Any kind of additional inclusion to the scope upon what was defined would then have to go through the entire change control process. This is to ensure that the team is only working on things that they are supposed to work on as defined in the project scope. 

4. Making a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

A WBS is a document that breaks down all the work which needs to be done in the project and then assigns all the tasks to the team members. It lists the deliverables that need to be completed and their respective deadlines as well. Currently in ViTrox, the Jira Software System is used for setting up and managing the project Work Breakdown Structure. 

5. Validating Scope

In this step, the scope and deliverables that have been recorded need to be sent to  the project’s executives and stakeholders for review in order to get their feedback and approval. Scope validation needs to be done before starting the project to ensure that if something goes wrong then it is easy to find where it went wrong. 

6. Controlling Scope

Project managers need to ensure that as the project begins, it always stays within the defined scope. Part of controlling the project scope would mean to be ready to make changes when necessary, and not hesitating to jump in when goals no longer align. In cases where changes are required to be made, then the proper change control process should be followed.