Scope Creep in Project Management A project’s scope, as you would know, is everything that needs to be achieved in the project. It is a list of all that you’ll produce by the end of the project, and the work you’ll do in the process. More importantly, the scope defines what you would not do in the project. If the scope is to create a website, you’ll create just a website and not an accompanying app. But what if halfway through the project, the client requests additional features that eventually turn the website into a full-fledged app? This would increase the scope of the project beyond the original brief. Thus, you’d call this request an example of “scope creep”. The definition of scope creep is contained in the term itself. That is, scope creep is when small, continuous requests stretch the project beyond its originally defined scope. Since these change requests are often small, they tend to “creep” up on the scope. Hence the term – “scope creep”. Source: Brooke, C. 2022. [Online] https://www.business2community.com/strategy/what-is-scope-creep-in-project-management-definitioncauses-and-solutions-02068428 [Accessed: 18082022].

Question  

1 Using an example discuss how scope creep leads to project failure. 

2 Advise project managers on what they can do to effectively manage scope of an IT project. NB: use any three methods that project managers could implement. 

3 Using a diagram explain the work breakdown structure (WBS) and how it is useful in scope management.