Dr Zain Yusufzai Scope The Project Capter # 6 (Page # 107-132 )

Scope the Project

• If you don’t know where you are going, how

will you know when and if you ever get there?
• Lots of project get off terrible state because
of no clear understanding

Develop Conditions of Satisfaction

• An essential skill that project managers need
to cultivate is good listening skills
• No communication gaps or ambiguity
between client and provider

Clarify
request

Request Response

Agree on
response

Negotiate agreement and

Write project overview
statement

Create the Project Overview Statement

• The conditions of satisfaction statement

provides the input you need to generate
the POS.
• The POS is a short document that
concisely states what is to be done in the
project, why it is to be done, and what
business value it will provide to the
enterprise when completed.
• The main purpose of the POS is to secure
senior management approval and the
resources needed to develop a detailed
project plan.
• It will be reviewed by the managers who
are responsible for setting priorities and
deciding what projects to support.

Effective Project Management 1

Robert K. Wysocki, Robert Beck Jr, David B. Crane
Dr Zain Yusufzai Scope The Project Capter # 6 (Page # 107-132 )

• It is also a general statement that can be

read by any interested party in the
enterprise.
• POS cannot contain any technical jargon
that generally would not be used across
the enterprise.
• It becomes the reference document for
questions or conflicts regarding project
scope and purpose
Inheriting the project?
• To become familiar with and understand
the project and the customer’s and
management’s expectations
• POS will become the referent for the
planning team.
Unsolicited individual initiative
• Many organizations use the POS as a
method for anyone in the organization
to suggest an idea for increasing
efficiency, improving productivity, or
seizing a business opportunity.
A reference for the team
• The team members need to have an
understanding of the project at their
level of investment.

Parts of the Pos

The POS has five component parts
1. problem/opportunity
2. project goal
3. project objective
4. success criteria
5. assumptions, risk,
obstacles

State the problem/ opportunity

• This is critical because it provides a
basis for the rest of the document
• If you are addressing a high-priority
area or high-business-value area, your
idea will get more attention and senior
management will read on.
Know problem/opportunity area
• The POS gives proposes a way to
relate their idea to known problem and
to offer a full or partial solution
Effective Project Management 2
Robert K. Wysocki, Robert Beck Jr, David B. Crane
Dr Zain Yusufzai Scope The Project Capter # 6 (Page # 107-132 )

Customer request
• The POS is an excellent vehicle for
capturing the request and forwarding it
to senior management for resolution.
Corporate initiative
• There will be several ideas coming
from the employees, and the POS
provides a standardized approach and
document from which senior
management can prioritize proposals
and select those that merit further
planning.
Mandated requirements
• The POS clarifies for all interested
parties exactly how the organization
has decided to respond to the
mandate.
Establish the project goal
• The purpose of the goal statement is to
get senior management to value the
idea enough to read on.
• Specific. Be specific in targeting an
objective
• Measurable. Establish a measurable
indicator(s) of progress
• Assignable. Make the object
assignable to one person for
completion
• Realistic. State what can realistically
be done with available resources
• Time-related. State when the objective
can be achieved; that is, duration.

Define the project objectives

• Objective statements as a more
detailed version of the goal
statements.
• The purpose of the objective
statements is to clarify the exact
boundaries of the goal statement and
define the boundaries or the scope
of your project.
• An objective statement should
contain four parts:

Effective Project Management 3

Robert K. Wysocki, Robert Beck Jr, David B. Crane
Dr Zain Yusufzai Scope The Project Capter # 6 (Page # 107-132 )

1. An outcome. A statement of
what is to be accomplished
2. A time frame. The expected
completion date
3. A measure. Metrics that will
measure success
4. An action. How the objective
will be met.

Identify success criteria

• It sells the project to senior
management
• The best choice for success criteria
is to state clearly the bottom – line
impact of the project
• Higher net revenues
• Reduced turnaround
• Improved productivity
• Reduced cost of manufacture or
sales
• This reengineering project is
expected to reduce order entry to
order fulfillment cycle time by 6
percent
• If you can get 6 percent
improvement from our current
process, that will be a remarkable
feat, so remarkable, in fact, that we
would like more detail on how you
expect to get that result. Can you
provide an analysis to substantiate
your claim?

List assumptions, risk, and obstacles

• Technological
• Environmental
• Interpersonal
• Cultural
• Causal relationships

ATTACHMENTS
• Risk analysis
• Financial analysis
Risk analysis

Effective Project Management 4

Robert K. Wysocki, Robert Beck Jr, David B. Crane
Dr Zain Yusufzai Scope The Project Capter # 6 (Page # 107-132 )

• Many business-decision models

depend on quantifying risks, expected
loss if the risk materializes, and the
probability that the risk will occur.
Financial analysis
• Financial analysis of the project before
granting approval to perform the
detailed planning
• Offer a tripwire for project planning
approval
• Feasibility study
1. Clearly define the problem
2. Describe the boundary of the
problem; that is, what is in the
problem scope and what is
outside the problem scope
3. Define the features and
functions of a good solution
4. Identify alternative solutions
5. Rank alternative solutions
6. State the recommendations
along with the rationale for the
choice
7. Provide a rough estimate of the
timetable and expected costs
• Cost/benefit analysis
• Break-even analysis
• Return an investment
• Customer or representative meeting
with provider takes place when
condition of satisfaction exercise
does not take place.

Approval Process
• How important is the problem or
opportunity to the enterprise?
• How the project is related to our
critical success factors (CSFs)?
• Does the goal statement relate
directly to the problem or
opportunity?
• Are the objectives clear
representations of the goal
statement?

Effective Project Management 5

Robert K. Wysocki, Robert Beck Jr, David B. Crane
Dr Zain Yusufzai Scope The Project Capter # 6 (Page # 107-132 )

• Is there sufficient business value as

measured by the success criteria
• Is the relationship between the
project objectives and the success
criteria clearly established?
• Are the risks too high and the
business value too low?
• Can senior management mitigate the
identified risks?

Participants in the approval process

• Core project team
• Project team
• Project manager
• Resource manager
• Function/process manager
• Customer
• Senior management

Effective Project Management 6

Robert K. Wysocki, Robert Beck Jr, David B. Crane