Chapter 5:

Project Scope Management

Information Technology
Project Management,
Fifth Edition
 Learning Objectives
 Understand the elements that make good project
scope management important
 Explain the scope planning process and describe
the contents of a scope management plan
 Describe the process for developing a project
scope statement using the project charter and
preliminary scope statement
 Discuss the scope definition process and work
involved in constructing a work breakdown
structure using the analogy, top-down, bottom-up,
and mind-mapping approaches
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 Learning Objectives (continued)
 Explain the importance of scope verification
and how it relates to scope definition and
control
 Understand the importance of scope control
and approaches for preventing scope-related
problems on information technology projects
 Describe how software can assist in project
scope management

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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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Project Scope Management
Processes
 Scope planning: deciding how the scope will be
defined, verified, and controlled
 Scope definition: reviewing the project charter and
preliminary scope statement and adding more
information as requirements are developed and change
requests are approved
 Creating the WBS: subdividing the major project
deliverables into smaller, more manageable components
 Scope verification: formalizing acceptance of the
project scope
 Scope control: controlling changes to project scope
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 Figure 5-1: Project Scope
Management Summary

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Scope Planning and the Scope
Management Plan
 The scope management plan is a document that
includes descriptions of how the team will prepare
the project scope statement, create the WBS,
verify completion of the project deliverables, and
control requests for changes to the project scope
 Key inputs include the project charter, preliminary
scope statement, and project management plan

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Scope Definition and the
Project Scope Statement
 The preliminary scope statement, project charter,
organizational process assets, and approved
change requests provide a basis for creating the
project scope statement
 As time progresses, the scope of a project should
become more clear and specific

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 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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Table 5-4: Intranet WBS in Tabular
Form
1.0 Concept
1.1 Evaluate current systems
1.2 Define Requirements
1.2.1 Define user requirements
1.2.2 Define content requirements
1.2.3 Define system requirements
1.2.4 Define server owner requirements
1.3 Define specific functionality
1.4 Define risks and risk management approach
1.5 Develop project plan
1.6 Brief Web development team
2.0 Web Site Design
3.0 Web Site Development
4.0 Roll Out
5.0 Support
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Figure 5-5: Intranet Gantt Chart
Organized by Project Management
Process Groups

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 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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 Scope Verification
 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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 Scope Control
 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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 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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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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 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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 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
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 Using Software to Assist in Project
Scope Management
 Word-processing software helps create several
scope-related documents
 Spreadsheets help to perform financial
calculations and weighed scoring models, and
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
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 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:
 Scope planning
 Scope definition
 Creating the WBS
 Scope verification
 Scope control
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