A project from the moment it is established, all stakeholders expect the project to lead smoothly to the final success step by step according to the established plan. the final success factors affecting the project are many, including the top ten knowledge areas of project management (including project overall management, project scope management, project time management, project cost management, project quality management, project human resources management, project communication management).
Project risk management, project procurement management, and project stakeholders management), none of the final success of a pair of projects has a positive impact. however, i think project scope management is the most important of these ten areas of knowledge when comparing the importance of the impact on project success.
the scope of the project refers to all the work that is included in the production of the project product and the process used to produce the product. project stakeholders must reach a consensus on what products the project will produce, as well as on how to produce them.
project scope management refers to the process of defining and controlling what is included and what is not included in the project. this process is used to ensure that the project team and project stakeholders have a common understanding of the project products that are the result of the project and the processes used to produce them.
the interaction of project scope and other constraints of the project
the condition that restricts a project is the project's "three constraints" - scope, time, cost.
in a project, these three conditions interact, constrain each other, and are often due to scope affecting time and cost. "if the scope of the project is small at the outset, the time and cost it will take to complete will inevitably be small, and vice versa." many projects will start with a rough determination of the scope, time and cost of the project, but after the project to a certain stage often becomes a feeling that people do not know when the project will actually end, to make the end of the project in the end still need to invest how much human and material resources, the whole project is like a bottomless hole, the end of the project who has no bottom in mind. this is the last thing they want to see at the top of the company, but it's not uncommon. this result is due to a lack of control and management of the scope of the project. it can be seen that the three constraints of the project are the most important or the most important impact of scope.
failure case: i understand this practical case, this is a software development project, the whole project has been carried out for more than two years after the project is over or in an unclear state, because users continue to have new needs out, the project team will be based on the new needs of users to continue to develop new features. this project is actually a bottomless hole, endlessly down to do, project members "fat drag thin, thin drag to death", really can not do can only run. there has been a complete loss of confidence in such a project.
this project is in fact the beginning did not clearly define the scope of the entire project, in the absence of a clear definition of the scope, and there is no complete set of change control management process, let the user say what to do, that is, the game rules are not set at first, resulting in the whole project has become a mess.
Success story:
The same is a software development project, this project is also smaller than the above case mentioned in the project, this time the company has begun to implement CMM software development activities management, there is a relatively perfect software development management process. The project begins with a clear user need, and the requirements are essentially quantitative and testable. And the project team under the framework of the company CMM change management process developed the scope of the project change control management process, in the implementation of the project, the user's needs changes are in accordance with the pre-planned process of implementation.
as a result, the project was successfully completed, and the time and cost of the project were essentially slightly increased in the context of the completion time and cost of the initial project plan.
causes of unclear scoping
since unclear project scoping is a common phenomenon, it is something you don't want to see. then we must analyze the reasons for this phenomenon. i think there are three reasons for this:
first, it is the responsibility at the enterprise level - there is no perfect project management system to guide the project management. this is the worst case scenario, and if that is the case, the success or failure of the project often depends on the project manager's personal management and leadership skills. the likelihood of success of such a project is very small, and most projects end in failure;
second, it is the shared responsibility of the enterprise and the project team - the scope change control process for the project that has not developed a clear specification. enterprises have a management system, but not perfect and standardized, the project team change process has not played an effective role in guiding. change is inevitable, as long as it is effectively managed and controlled, it can also achieve satisfactory results;
third, the definition of scope is not clear enough to be quantifiable and verifiable. many times it is qualitative rather than quantitative, such as "interface-friendly, operable, improve user satisfaction" and so on. vague requirements like these are the root cause of subsequent project rip-offs. a clear definition of the scope of the project, with experienced project managers and system analysts, will play a critical role.
from the above discussion, we can conclude that perfect project scope management is the key to the ultimate success or failure of the whole project. so, how can we do a good job of project scope management? this issue is discussed in detail in a large number of spaces below.
how to manage the scope of the project
now that we have realized that project scope management is so important, how can we manage the scope of the project? from the above demonstration process, we clearly see some of the reasons for the project scope is not good management, then to manage the scope of the project must be the cure, in order to manage the scope of the project.
first, we must understand some of the scientific processes of project scope management. good project management should include the following processes: start-up, scope planning, scope definition, scope verification, and scope change control. here's how to do it in more detail:
startup is when an organization formally starts a project or continues to the next phase of the project. one output of the startup process is the project charter. the project charter is an important document that formally acknowledges the existence of the project and provides an overview of the project.
the start-up process clearly specifies that the process has an important output document - the project charter, which will roughly define the scope of the project, which is also an important basis for the follow-up to the project scope management. the project charter will also specify the rights of the project manager and the responsibilities of the members of the project team, as well as the responsibilities of other stakeholders in the project, which is also a clear provision for how the various roles in the future project scope management work to do their jobs well, so that follow-up work can be carried out in a more orderly manner. therefore, the project's startup process must not be ignored.
the scope planning process
scope planning refers to the further development of documents that provide the basis for future project decisions, including criteria to measure whether a project or project phase has been successfully completed, and so on. as an output of the scope planning process, the project team develops a scope specification and scope management plan.
the old saying cloud: "pre-rule stand, do not pre-set waste!" ”。 if a project manager wants to really manage the scope of the project, there is no need for the technology and good method is certainly not.
to do a good project first emphasize is to carefully plan the scope. scope scheduling is the process of progressively detailing and archiving the project work (project scope) that will be required to produce the project product. to do scope planning work is to refer to a lot of information, such as product description, first of all clear the definition of the final product to plan to do the work, the project charter is also a very important basis, usually it has a rough line of the scope of the project agreement, scope planning on this basis to further in-depth and refined.
one output of this process mentioned earlier is the scope specification, so what does the scope description mean? the scope description is a consensus that identifies or establishes a project scope among project participants as a documented benchmark for future project decisions.
at a minimum, the scope description describes the project justification, the project product, the project deliverable, and the project objectives. project justification is the established goal of the merchant to provide a basis for estimating future gains and losses, the project product is a brief overview of the product description, and the project deliverables are generally outlined in a sub-product level, such as: the main deliverables set for a software development project may include program code, workbooks, human-machine interaction learning programs, etc. any result that is not explicitly required means that it is outside the project deliverables, and the goal is to take into account the success of the project, including at least cost, schedule, and quality testing. project objectives should be marked (e.g. cost, units) and absolute or relative value. try to avoid unquantifiable goals (e.g. "customer satisfaction") because it will put your project at high risk.
what is the scope plan? a scope management plan describes how the scope of a project is managed, how the scope of a project changes to be consistent with project requirements, and so on. it should also include an assessment of the expected stability of the project scope (e.g. how it has changed, how often it has changed, and how much). the scope management plan should also include a clear description of how the scope of change should be determined and what category the change should fall into (this is particularly difficult, but absolutely necessary, when product characteristics are still being described in detail).
The scope definition process
Scope definitions are the subdivision of the project's main deliverables into smaller, more manageable components. In this process, the project team establishes a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
The establishment of WBS is of great significance to the project, which makes the original project objectives, which look very general and very vague, clear, so that the project management is well-founded and the project team's work objectives are clear. Without a well-defined WBS or unclear definition of scope, changes inevitably occur, with a range of adverse consequences such as rework, extended duration, and reduced team morale.
Scope verification process
Scope verification refers to the formal identification of the scope of the project, the project's main stakeholders, such as project customers and project sponsors, etc. in the process to formally accept the definition of project deliverables.
this process is a matter of scope, after implementation of the commitments of the parties concerned prior to implementation. once a promise indicates that you have accepted the fact, you must fulfill it according to your promise. this is also an effective measure to ensure that the scope of the project is well managed and controlled.
The statement in PMBOK is a little different from the above statement. The scope of verification is the result formally submitted, not the definition of the result. is to review the delivered results with the customer or sponsor to ensure that it is formally completed and formally accepted by the customer or sponsor. This involves either the end of the project or the end of the phase process group.
scope change control refers to the implementation of control over changes to the scope of the project. the main process outputs are scope changes, corrective actions, and lessons learned.
No good plan can be set in stone, so changes are not to be avoided, and the key question is how to effectively control them. controlling changes requires a standardized change management process that follows the specification change procedures to manage changes when they occur. often, changes that occur need to be identified as being within the scope of a given project. "if it is within the scope of the project, the impact of the change and how it will be addressed should be clear to all affected parties, and if the change is outside the scope of the project, the business person will need to negotiate with the user to see if the cost increases or the change is abandoned."
therefore, the organization (enterprise) in which the project is located must develop a rigorous, efficient and practical change procedure in its project management system.
the implementation of the above project scope management of the five processes, i think the scope of the project management, control will be effective!
the scope management assurance project contains all the work to be done and only the required work, which is primarily about defining and controlling what is within the scope of the project and what is not. the basic contents of scope management include: project start-up, scope planning, scope verification, scope change control and so on. the more important parts of this discussion are discussed below.
Prepare a scope plan
"if the public wants to do good, it must first benefit the instrument". if a project manager wants to really manage the scope of the project, there is no need for the technology and method is certainly not. there have been investigations abroad into the causes of project failure, in which the plan was put first, which shows its importance in project management.
the first thing we emphasize here is to plan the scope carefully. scope scheduling is the process of progressively detailing and archiving the project work (project scope) that will be required to produce the project product. to do scope planning work is to refer to a lot of information, such as product description, first of all clear the definition of the final product to plan the work to be done, the project charter (typical example is a contract) is also a very important basis, usually it has a rough line of the project scope agreement, scope planning on this basis to further in-depth and refine.
what exactly should be included in the scope plan? the level of detail of different plans is naturally different, with scope descriptions and scope management plans that must be included.
The scope statement identifies or establishes a project-wide consensus among project participants as a documented benchmark for future project decisions. at a minimum, the scope description describes the project justification, the project product, the project deliverable, and the project objectives.
Project justification is the established goal of the merchant to provide a basis for estimating future gains and losses, the project product is a brief overview of the product description, and the project deliverables are generally listed in a sub-product level summary.
Such as:
The main deliverables set for a software development project may include program code, workbooks, human-machine interaction learning programs, and so on.
Any result that is not explicitly required means that it is outside the project deliverables, and the goal is to take into account the success of the project, including at least cost, schedule, and quality testing. project objectives should be marked (e.g. cost, units) and absolute or relative value (e.g. less than $1.5 million, etc.). unquantifiable goals (e.g. "customer satisfaction") are highly risky.
A scope management plan describes how the scope of a project is managed, how the scope of a project changes to be consistent with project requirements, and so on. it should also include an assessment of the expected stability of the project scope (e.g. how it has changed, how often it has changed, and how much). the scope management plan should also include a clear description of how the scope of change is determined and what category the change should fall into (which is particularly difficult, but absolutely necessary, when product characteristics are still being described in detail).
Range decomposition
The more commonly used way is based on the project progress division WBS, the first layer is a large project results framework, each layer below the work decomposition, the advantages of this approach is combined with the progress of the division of intuitive, strong sense of time, the review is easy to find missing or more parts, but also easier for most people to understand. Project, Microsoft's project management tool, automatically encodes tasks at all levels.
Scope changes
The scope plan for a project may be very good, but it is almost impossible to think of any changes. therefore, the management of change is one of the necessary qualities of project managers. it's not bad, it's bad that there's a lack of a regulated change management process.
There are many reasons for the scope change, such as the user's request to increase the product function, environmental protection problems lead to the design modification and increase the construction content. project managers must analyze and anticipate possible scope changes by monitoring performance reports, current progress, etc.
During the management process, and follow the specification change procedures to manage changes when changes occur. we strongly recommend that an enterprise's project management system include a rigorous, efficient and practical change process that is critical to managing the project.
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