Managing the Project Scope

Course details

So what is a project scope? A project scope is a description of the work required to deliver the product of a project. The project scope defines what work will, and will not, be included in the project work. A project scope guides the project manager on decisions to add, change, or remove the work of the project. In the project scope definition, the elements within the scope and out of the scope are well defined in order to clearly understand what will be the area under the project control. Therefore, you should identify more elements in detailed manner and divide them among the scope and out of scope.

If you do not do a good job in project scope definition, project scope management during the project execution is almost impossible. The main purpose of the scope definition is to clearly describe the boundaries of your project. Clearly describing the boundaries is not enough when it comes to project. You need to get the client's agreement as well. Therefore, the defined scope of the project usually included into the contractual agreements between the client and the service provider. SOW, or in other words, Statement of Work, is one such document.

Project scope management, according to the PMBOK, constitutes "the processes to ensure that the project includes all of the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully. Project scope Management has several purposes:

" It defines what work is needed to complete the project objectives

" It determines what is included in the project

" It serves as a guide to determine what work is not needed to complete the project objectives

" It serves as a point of reference for what is not included in the project

When it comes to project planning, defining the project scope is the most critical step. In case if you start the project without knowing what you are supposed to be delivering at the end to the client and what the boundaries of the project are, there is a little chance for you to success. In most of the instances, you actually do not have any chance to success with this unorganized approach.