Scope creep is “the natural tendency of the client, as well as project team members, to try to improve the project’s output as the project progresses” (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer 2008). I experienced and am currently experiencing scope creep with one particular project: the redesign of our New Hire class. We are on our second phase of the redesign because the first one did not go too well and we saw areas that needed big improvement. During the first phase, managers, team leads, and the training team all had ideas that they wanted to include in the New Hire class, but it was not possible due to the length of the class. However, it was discovered that after the first redesign was implemented, some training team members were including the information they wanted to anyway resulting in the classes not all being the same. This then caused complaints from the managers because some of their associates understand the job great and others are quite confused because they didn’t get all of the training and simulation practice they needed. It was discovered that the shorten simulation practice time was due to the additional information being added in that wasn’t approved. This was a huge set back because the additional content was needed, but within a three week time span was not possible so it was said that it would be looked over again in phase two. This caused a lot of tension among the training team, design team for the class, and the center towards training. It was a mess!
At the time, I kept informing my boss, who was also the PM that these ideas were good, but would need to be added to a phase two of the project when we could convince the center to extend the time of training. She agreed; although, she added in some of her own brief practices that was not run by everyone in the team. It was a lot of chaos and not a lot of communication, which resulted in a frustrated project team, training department, and anyone else impacted by it. I was unfortunately trying to have some control over the content since I was put in charge of designing, but that control wasn’t really there once it came time for decisions. I needed to have more of a voice and help more with the communication knowing that’s not a strong skill for the PM.
The second phase, which we are currently working on, began in January 2010 and has been a better success in terms of the project phase. It won’t be implemented until early 2011, so it is still up in the air as to whether this is a successful project or not. However, there have been steps taken to ensure more success. For example, the PM did give me complete control over managing the content and announced it to the team so there was no confusion as to who had the final say. We did implement a type of “change of scope” document where there are formal written requests to add or change the scope of the project (Stolovitch, n.d.). This has worked much better as there is now tracking being done with these requests and things are being delegated to either be added or to be looked over again in phase three. Before phase two began, the training team met with the managers and discussed what they wanted to see in New Hire and the idea of extending the class to incorporate all of this information. Involving the managers during the conceive phase was essential and has really smoothed out some rather big bumps with this project. The PM has also done more delegation instead of trying to be a PM and create content. This has provided her with more focus on the overall project and opened up time for her to follow-up and have continuous meetings with individuals and the team. I can see first-hand why communication is essential to any project – it ensures everyone is on the same page and any confusion is handled right away.
Another area that was lacking the first time was having a Linear Responsibility chart. There were so many people involved in the project and unfortunately no one knew what each other was doing and/or many people were working on the same piece. There was no clarification from the PM as to what the assignments were so it stayed chaotic and ended up falling on one person to tie up loose ends, which there were many. Phase two has a chart similar to the Linear Responsibility chart that has been in place and updated periodically throughout the project. It hangs in the Training Department’s aisle where everyone can see what projects have been assigned, what needs assigned, what has been completed, and what is currently being worked on. When I spoke to my manager/PM about this idea, I didn’t know what this was called, but I did know a chart needed to be involved. The results are great and it truly has helped the flow of the project and people know who to communicate with about certain topics. It also holds people accountable for their piece if it’s not finished in time, where last time it seemed to all fall on one person instead of the correct individuals who were at fault.
I am still not in the position of managing the whole project, but being able to manage the design portion has really helped my skills and allowed me to help the team in building those communication skills with each other. If I were in charge of the whole project, I would be sure I thoroughly go through the steps: conceive, define, start, perform, and close and ensure all the proper forms (e.g., Statement of Work, Linear Responsibility chart, Work Breakdown Structure, Project Schedule, etc.) were used (Portny, et al. 2008). With the Project Management class’ course project, I have been able to work with each of those forms and work through the phases, which now I can see the benefits and if I am ever in charge of a project, they would certainly all be used as much as possible. It’s amazing to see the transformation of the team with phase two of this project and we all have a good feeling this will be a very successful project that will transform the New Hire class and improve the learners’ understanding of their job skills.
References
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., $ Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Stolovitch, H. (n.d.). Monitoring Projects. Laureate Education, Inc. Retrieved November 30, 2010, from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4603378&Survey=1&47=6260654&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
