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Scope creep is the uncontrolled expansion to project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources.

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Quick reference

Scope Creep

Scope Creep:  "The uncontrolled expansion to product or project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources.”  PMBOK® Guide

When to use

Scope creep can occur at any time in the project.  It most commonly occurs during reviews with stakeholders or customers.  During the review, the stakeholder or customer requests a change to a project goal or deliverable that will require additional unplanned work.  Scope creep occurs when the goal or deliverable is changed without adjusting the project schedule or resources.  

Scope creep can also occur when project team members add unnecessary work to the project.  Often the team members do this because they believe it will make the project results better.  However, if the stakeholders have not agreed to the change and provided additional time and resources, the effect is to cause scope creep.

Instructions

Scope creep inevitably leads to delays and overruns since the extra work requires time and money to complete.  Often scope creep is not recognized until the delay or overrun has already occurred.  At that point it is too late to prevent the scope creep.  The project must either “de-scoped” to fit within the original boundaries or the team must go back to the stakeholders to request the delay and overrun absorbed by the project sponsors.

  1. Managing scope creep starts at the time of project initiation.  A clear set of project boundaries will reduce the likelihood of project scope creep.  The In-Frame / Out-of-Frame technique described in the lesson on that topic is an excellent tool for clarifying the boundaries.  
  2. The Project Leader should guard against scope creep initiated by team members at the pulse meetings (see the lesson on Team Meetings).  If a task completion is delayed, the Project Leader should immediately check for the possibility of scope creep.  If that is occurring, the Project Leader and Core Team member should redirect the task leader to stay within the task scope.
  3. Following every meeting with stakeholders, the project team should review the action items and direction to determine if there is scope creep.  If there is an unfunded request for additional scope, the Project Leader should notify the stakeholders and request a clarification on project boundaries.  Either an increase in time and resources, or the removal of the scope direction.
  4. Scope requests that are not approved by the stakeholders should be recorded on a list known as the “Scope Creep Parking Lot.”  If the project is rebaselined, this list should be reviewed and appropriate scope added to the project.   At the end of the project, this list is turned over to the project sponsors for review by future projects.

Hints & tips

  • Scope creep is a never ending battle on projects.  Expect it will happen, so watch closely for the signs and manage it.
  • Progressive elaboration, which was discussed in an earlier lesson, is not the same as scope creep.  With progressive elaboration, fuzzy details about scope requirements are clarified as the project unfolds.  This is not new scope, it is scope clarification.
  • It is very hard to tell your managers, “No,” when they ask for additional unfunded scope on the project.  Report the request with the impact at the next management review and ask for clarification on boundaries.
  • Create a small reserve of time and resources during project planning to be able to absorb small scope creep requests.

This definition is taken from the Glossary of the Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017.

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  • 00:04 >> Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 Let's talk about controlling one of the most troubling aspects of many projects,
  • 00:11 scope creep.
  • 00:12 Project Management Body Of Knowledge, the PMBOK guide,
  • 00:16 defines scope creep as the uncontrolled expansion to product or
  • 00:19 project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources.
  • 00:24 For example, it could be a stakeholder asking for just one more thing to be done
  • 00:28 on the project that wasn't on the original project charter and original project plan.
  • 00:33 Scope creep adds more requirements or activities for
  • 00:36 a project than were originally intended.
  • 00:38 Of course, projects are often started with some uncertainty in the scope or
  • 00:42 deliverables required.
  • 00:44 Clarifying that uncertainty is not the same as scope creep.
  • 00:48 That uncertainty should have been unaccounted for
  • 00:50 in the project plan through estimate reserves or risks.
  • 00:53 The project team is aware of the uncertainty and can manage it.
  • 00:57 Scope creep occurs when there are new requirements or
  • 01:00 deliverables that were never envisioned as part of the project.
  • 01:04 Let's look at the impact of scope creep on a project.
  • 01:07 Scope creep will inevitably lead to overruns and delays in the project.
  • 01:11 That's because the new work consumes resources.
  • 01:14 Those resources were not budgeted for that work.
  • 01:17 Paying for the increased work creates an overrun.
  • 01:20 Also when the project resources are on the scope creep work
  • 01:24 their assigned work is normally delayed leading to the project delay.
  • 01:28 Scope creep can also lead to confusion over what really should
  • 01:31 be done on the project.
  • 01:32 The original charter and
  • 01:34 project plan had a particular list of deliverables that should be accomplished.
  • 01:37 But now the team is working on other things that were not in the charter or
  • 01:41 on the list of deliverables.
  • 01:42 The team is no longer certain what they should be doing or when they will be done.
  • 01:47 Finally some scope creep near the end of the project
  • 01:49 gives it a sense of being endless.
  • 01:52 Whenever the team thinks it's almost done there's
  • 01:54 one more thing being added to the project, this is demoralizing.
  • 01:59 So the obvious question is how to manage scope creep.
  • 02:02 First we need to recognize where scope creep items come from and
  • 02:06 guard against them.
  • 02:07 The common source are customers, stakeholders and team members.
  • 02:12 Customers will often think of additional items they would like to have
  • 02:15 based upon what they have seen developed so far.
  • 02:17 It's hard to tell the customer no.
  • 02:19 However, there's normally a contract with the customer
  • 02:22 that explicitly lists the scope.
  • 02:24 If your project is funded by the customer, you need to be prepared for
  • 02:28 their requests.
  • 02:29 Now stakeholders are harder to resist when they ask for additional scope.
  • 02:33 After all they're usually our senior managers and
  • 02:35 can influence your career in a good or bad way.
  • 02:39 However, they also want the project to complete so
  • 02:42 they can begin to get the project benefits.
  • 02:44 One of the most insidious sources of scope creep are the team members themselves.
  • 02:48 Team members will start doing additional work that they think would be great for
  • 02:52 the project.
  • 02:53 It's not required and leads to scope creep.
  • 02:56 You need to be on guard against scope creep from any of these three sources.
  • 03:01 When someone does identify a need for some change they should be able to explain
  • 03:06 the benefits of that scope change to the project's stakeholders.
  • 03:09 If the benefit is attractive enough the project scope should be changed.
  • 03:13 But that's a form of change to the project charter or
  • 03:15 deliverables that requires a new base line plan and is not scope creep.
  • 03:20 The best place to have that discussion is in management reviews or
  • 03:23 at face gate meetings.
  • 03:25 Normally, all the right stakeholders are present at those meetings to make
  • 03:29 the decision whether to rebaseline the project.
  • 03:31 Scope changes that are rejected are place on the scope creep parking lot.
  • 03:36 In that way, the project team can keep track of these ideas and
  • 03:39 possibly use them in the event of a rebaseline of the project in the future.
  • 03:44 Let's talk about the scope creep parking lot for a minute.
  • 03:46 The scope creep parking lot is a database of potential changes to the project
  • 03:51 that have not been approved.
  • 03:53 Whenever a scope change is proposed and
  • 03:54 rejected it's placed in the scope creep parking lot.
  • 03:58 This list is often the starting point for the next generation project.
  • 04:02 If at any time, this project is rebaselined
  • 04:04 because of some mandatory change, the scope creep parking lot is reviewed
  • 04:08 to determine if there's anything else that should be added at that time.
  • 04:12 Since we're already changing the project,
  • 04:14 this could be a good time to add something that might not stand on its own merit but
  • 04:18 is still beneficial and is appropriate to implement now.
  • 04:22 At the end of the project, anything that is still in the scope creep parking lot is
  • 04:26 handed off to the next team, or to whoever is managing the results of the project, or
  • 04:30 planning the next generation of project work.
  • 04:33 Scope creep is often a problem, but it can be managed.
  • 04:38 It can be controlled, these techniques will help you do just that.

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