Scope Creep

Scope creep is as disturbing as the term implies.  Like ivy creeping up the sides of a brick wall, it clings to the project with invasive threads and winds itself about as if to suffocate the original structure.  Drama aside, scope creep can negatively affect any project. 

According to Villanova University, scope creep occurs when an area of a project begins to expand in need for resources, time, or tasks (2013, p.1).  Regardless of whether you are a project manager or not, you have likely experienced this to some extent.  I certainly have.  It starts small and little by little creates a larger impact on your project.   You could always add a step, include one more person, insert some interesting tidbit or interactive piece.  There is always room to expand and this is where scope creep can rear its expensive head.

The most recent experience I have noticed scope creep is with a classroom incentive plan I have designed for my middle school students.  I started with raffle tickets that would entice students into choosing appropriate behaviors and improve student learning by reducing distraction and off-task time.  Soon I noticed that my bank balance was dwindling due to an over-eager desire to feed this project and the reward stash of prizes in my classroom.  Villanova University explains that it is important to set parameters for the project (2013, p.1), which I certainly did not in this situation.  As a joke, I wear a string of raffle tickets like a boa around my neck.  The middle schoolers laugh and think what a nerd their teacher is, but they do so while effectively completing their assignments.  That raffle-boa may as well be a creeping ivy, slowly tightening and constricting my wallet.  A small example of scope creep, but a real example of how a simple project can go way over budget- especially when there is no budget established.  The time at the end of class to reward the raffle winners could also easily creep into instructional time.  What am I to do?

I have to refer to the wise guidance of those who know more about scope creep than myself.  One such individual has described seven steps we can all use to avoid scope creep.  One piece of advice offered is to clearly define your vision (Doll, 2001, p.1).  My vision for this project is to improve student behavior, safeguard instructional time, and do so without going bankrupt.  Therefore, I must set a budget for tickets and prizes.  Ten dollars a week sounds reasonable.  Believe me, that is not what I have been spending.  I must set a timeframe for the raffle at the end of class, five minutes before class ends while students are cleaning up should suffice.  I must also set a time limit on how much time I can spend hunting for incentives.  One trip, once a week, to a location in my own city should do. 

The example of scope creep I have shared is small-scale, but on a larger more formal project it can cost millions instead of hundreds.  It can cost the time and effort of dozens or more individuals instead of one.  Developing a budget and a timeline for a project is critical.  Do not let it take over, like the invasive ivy.  Although ornamental, it can be very costly.

References

Doll, S. (2001).  Seven steps to avoid scope creep.  Retrieved at http://tinyurl.com/btmb5xy

Managing scope creep in project management. (2013). Villanova University Online.  Retrieved at http://tinyurl.com/clth9bc

Budget Tools for Project Managers

Project Managers are responsible for a plethora of tasks, timelines, and budgets.  In order to be most effective, the project manager must select effective tools to use to manage the project.  Below I have shared a few tools I found on the internet, which are either free or offer a free trial.  I particularly like smartsheet, as it resembles the RASCI Chart (Responsibility, Approval, Support, Consult, & Inform) descrived by Dr. Stolovich (Laureate Education).  Please take a look at these three tools and let me know what you think of them.  While I was extremely impressed by Vertabase, the price tag is quite high.  I am interested to know which of these tools interest you most and why, so please share your observations.

www.billster.net

Billster is a free budget tool that you can use to manage ingoing and outgoing expenses for any scale project.  This would be an effective tool for a project manager who needs to see where the funds are going and also as a measure to gauge whether or not the project is still on track.  This is a very visual tool, which includes a number of graphs that help one to see the bigger picture.  A project manager might be able to use this as an overview of the major costs associated with a project, track items paid, etcetera.   Billster is completely free.

www.smartsheet.com

There is a 30 day free trial for smartsheet.com  and I have already logged in to get a brief glimpse at what this tool has to offer.  This tool allows you to put in specific projects, sections, sub-items, all with timelines attached.  There are sharing features, alerts, publishing capabilities, and an area to request updates.  With the updates piece, the project manager could send key individuals an email requesting an update to their portion of the project.  The PM could also limit which individuals can access, either private, public, or only to a set of specified individuals.  I have not tried out the smartforms, but this may be a useful feature and will add another row to the worksheet.  Something like this could be built in Excel, but would not have the same level of interactivity.  Pricing after the free trial is not based on number of contributor, however is based on the number of sheets.   3 GB or 10 sheets is $15.95/month,  15 GB or 50 sheets is $29.95/month, 45+ GB or 150+ sheets is $49.95/month.  

www.vertabase.com

This tool also offers a free trial membership.  If you go to http://www.vertabase.com/basics.html , you will find a few overview videos that will help you to see what this tool can do.  It appears that this has more detail than the other two site tools I have found.  There are task lists and overviews that would be very helpful to a project manager.   As a major list-writer, I like the task scratch-pad.   You can also review the plan and export it to your project.  This is a helpful feature and actually adds these tasks to an already existing project management plan, as there are always tasks that come up that were not originally included.  You can also drag and drop files into specified projects.  This is a great tool for organizing and sharing information regarding the project.  This is particularly helpful for projects where key individuals are not on site in an office setting, which many of us will be involved with to some extent.  After the free trial, cost will be an important consideration.  A group of five can use this tool for $150/month, 10 for $250, 50 for $750, and 200 for $1500 per month.   

References

Laureate Education Inc. (n.d.). Creating resource allocations. Video presentation.