Skills and knowledge activity

1. What does a scope management plan involve?

In our quest to identify issues, and find and implement mitigation options
during the control and monitoring phase, we sometimes overlook the use
of a key document developed in the planning phase to help manage the
chaos: the Scope Management Plan (SMP). This document is a best
practice, but is often forgotten once a project transitions from the
planning phase to execution or monitoring and controlling phases due to
of the number of activities needing a PM’s attention. The following
tailored scope management plan is based of PMI and CMMI standards.
What Is A Scope Management Plan
 Documents the process to evaluate whether or not a request is within the
contract’s scope
 Defines how approved requests are prioritized and scheduled
 Explains the roles and responsibilities for each participant in the scope
management process

2. What are the likely challenges you could face within scope management?

Scope changes - As most project managers know, an evil nemesis "The

Scope Creep" is usually their number one enemy who continually tries to
take control. Solution: There is no anti-scope-creep spray in our PM utility
belts, but as with many project management challenges, document what is
happening or anticipated to happen. Communicate what is being
requested, the challenges related to these changes, and the alternate
plans, if any, to the project participants (stakeholders, team, management,
and others).

3. How would you address these issues?

The Project Management Institute Project Management Book of

Knowledge (PMBOK) defines product scope as the features and functions
that are to be included in a product or service. It defines project scope as
the work that must be done to deliver a product with the specified
features and functions. Project scope management is defined as the
processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work
required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully.

4. Describe how you could monitor scope

 The “monitor and control” project management processes typically start
with a baseline. The project manager monitors the actual results of the
project and compares the results to the baseline. If the actual results and
the baseline vary by an unacceptable margin the project manager must
react to bring the actual results in line with the variance (or else gain
approval to change the baseline).

5. How could you respond to potential and actual changes?

Much resistance to change can be avoided if effective change management

is applied on the project from the very beginning. While resistance is the
normal human reaction in times of change, good change management
can mitigate much of this resistance. Change management is not just a tool
for managing resistance when it occurs; it is most effective as a tool
for activating and engaging employees in a change. Capturing and
leveraging the passion and positive emotion surrounding a change can
many times prevent resistance from occurring—this is the power of
utilizing structured change management from the initiation of a project.

6. What factors may impact on project scope?

Project scope factors may benefit or adversely affect a project. If these

factors are known at the start of a project, the Project Manager can
identify strategies that optimise those likely to have positive benefit and
mitigate any likely to have an adverse effect. In other words, he or she can
anticipate them, whether or not they materialise. Failure to invest time in
properly identifying and understanding what these impact factors are can
lead to diminished managerial control of a project during its planning and
implementation or to project goals not being fully realised.

7. Outline change-control processes.

 Change control is a systematic approach to managing all changes made to
a product or system. The purpose is to ensure that no unnecessary
changes are made, that all changes are documented, that services are not
unnecessarily disrupted and that resources are used efficiently. Within
information technology (IT), change control is a component of change
management.

8. What methods can be used for measuring the outcomes of your project
against original plans?

Creating your outcomes framework Once you know all the details of the
project and have mapped how the changes come about, you can look at
how you're going to monitor and evaluate each of the different areas of
your project. Doing this thinking upfront should mean that you won't miss
opportunities to gather information along the way. As a voluntary and
community organisation you are likely to need to collect information on
the following four key areas:
 the services you offer (your outputs)
 the people you work with (diversity)
 what stakeholders, particularly users, think of your work (user
satisfaction)
 the changes you bring about (your outcomes).
9. How could you segment and document a work breakdown structure?

You‘re probably aware of the technique of decomposition, which is used

for dividing and subdividing the project scope and project deliverables
into smaller, more manageable parts. Here’s how decomposition typically
plays out in the work breakdown structure.
On projects that are familiar and have a consistent methodology for
completing them, the first level of the work breakdown structure is
segmented into phases, and each phase has a set of associated
deliverables.

10. What procedures could be used to report scope change?

Throughout the process, make sure that you

communicate all scope change status and
resolution to project team members and other
appropriate stakeholders. This is usually done by
attaching your current Scope Change Log to your
Status Report. This helps manage expectations
and shows how approved scope change requests
are impacting the project end date and budget.

11. Give examples of the project management tools that could be used for
managing scope.

Certainly being a seasoned project manager broadens the repertoire of

one's scope planning techniques. They can draw on past experiences with
like projects to determine the work that is realistically doable, given time
and cost constraints, for a current project. Communication and
negotiation skills are a “must-have” as well. Project managers need to
educate stakeholders about the project impacts of some requirements.
Adding complexity to a project may require more staff, time, and/or
money. It may also have an impact on project quality. Some aspects of the
project may be unfeasible – stakeholders need to know this so they can
adjust their vision or prepare for future challenges.
12. What could the role and responsibility of the project manager be in
relation to project planning?

Project management is chiefly associated with planning and managing

change in an organization, but a project can also be something unrelated
to business - even a domestic situation, such as moving house, or planning
a wedding.

Project management methods and tools can therefore be useful far more
widely than people assume.

13. Give examples of types of project initiation documentation.

Provide broad information about how the project will be implemented.

Outline how the project will roll out by defining timelines, resources, and
management stages. This is a high-level overview that will, as the project
proceeds, be supported by more detailed project planning documents.
Initial Project Plan
 Assignments: What major tasks (with milestones) will be completed
during the project?
 Schedule: Provide a report of the estimated time involved for the project.
You've probably already prepared a high level Gantt chart or similar
schedule, so the PID simply summarizes the anticipated schedule.
 Human Resources: How many days activity will be needed to complete
the project? How many support staff will be needed? Will you need to
bring more people onto the project team?
 Project Control: How will progress be monitored and communicated?
 Quality Control: How will the quality of deliverables be evaluated and
monitored?
Major Activity

1. What procedures were required for project authorization?

Previous chapters have described processes that should take

place early in the life history of most kinds of project. Those
processes should define the project to the point where a
business proposal will allow the project owner to decide
whether or not to authorize the project and thus commit
expenditure and other valuable resources. That decision is
an important project milestone because it is the boundary
between the preparatory, theoretical stages of the project
and its actual fulilment.

2. How was authorization to expend resources obtained?

Company directors are responsible to shareholders and other

stakeholders to ensure that the capital invested in the company is used
prudently. Directors are expected to maximize the return on investment
for that capital. The principal reason for having a project authorization
procedure is to ensure that money will only be spent on projects that
promise to be profitable or are otherwise essential in the interests of the
organization and its stakeholders.

3. How were project delegations and authorities confirmed?

In order to better understand the implications and the complexity of the

delegation process in the project management environment, the basic
concepts inherent in the design and operation of project organizations
must be considered. Delegation is a critical aspect of the management
function of organizing; organizing involves establishing and maintaining
meaningful relationships between and among all personnel working on
common tasks, regardless of their assigned department or functional
speciality.
4. What were the project boundaries and how were they identified?

Project boundaries identification allows improving the overall project

management process and increase accountability level by redefining the
principles of delegation and teamwork. When you have set up accurate
boundaries for your project, groups and individuals can show higher
performance and overall accountability because they clearly know what
they should do within the project and what is out of their duties.

5. What were the project benefits, outcomes and outputs? How were these
measured?

The beauty of the relationship between outputs, outcomes and benefits is

that the conversation can start from any of the 3 words and be expanded
to encompass all of them. To further expand the conversation, PRINCE2
also mentions Strategic Objectives and links this to benefits. This is a
fourth dimension that can be added into the discussion.
All of these discussions allow for greater understanding of the project and
will result in a better definition of what this project is looking to achieve.
It will result in a much more meaningful business case and project brief
and enable a better decision on whether or not to initiate this project.

6. Who did you establish a shared understanding of the desired project

outcomes with?

At the most basic level, projects undertake work to create value for the
customer (or client) that commissioned the project.

7. Briefly describe the process of developing the scope management plan for
the project

The project scope statement provides a detailed description of the project,

deliverables, constraints, exclusions, assumptions, and acceptance criteria.
Additionally, the scope statement includes what work should not be
performed in order to eliminate any implied but unnecessary work which
falls outside the of the project’s scope.
 8. Explain how you implemented scope management procedures and
processes?

To connect scope and change control, define your project's scope and set a
clear change control process that the team and client understand. Ensure
everyone is aware of who is responsible or accountable. Hold project
progress meetings to ensure changes to the scope aren't needed or to
determine if they are necessary. Be clear on your project initiation
checklist on the project's approach, costs, controls, and stakeholders to
help you define the scope. Once the scope is defined, your change control
process should be a document that can intertwine with every project you
and your team take on.

9. How did you manage the impact of scope changes?

A project scope change control system, documented in the project scope

management plan, defines the procedures by which the project scope and
product scope can be changed. The system includes the documentation,
tracking systems, and approval levels necessary for authorizing changes.
The scope change control system is integrated with any overall project
management information system to control project scope. When the
project is managed under a contract, the change control system also
complies with all relevant contractual provisions.

10. Were there any scope management issues? What would you improve in
the future?

Project performance measurements are used to assess the magnitude of variation. Important aspects of
project scope control include determining the cause of variance relative to the scope baseline and
deciding whether corrective action is required. Earned value management is very helpful here. Approved
change requests affecting the project scope can require modifications to the WBS and WBS dictionary,
the project scope statement, and the project scope management plan. These approved change requests
can cause updates to components of the project management plan.