Scope creep is a common occurrence that can adversely affect ongoing projects eventually leading to decreased satisfaction, wasted money and unmet project value. According to Khan (2006), the changes may occur due to unclearly defined initial requirements, poor communication, lack of clarity and depth to the project specifications and failure to plan. Project managers ought to adopt appropriate tools and techniques to control variations and ensure project scope requirements are met.
How will you ensure that the work completed by your team will meet the project scope requirements.
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First, I would employ effective scope management processes. Project managers ought to enumerate and have clearly defined roles and responsibilities necessary to make scope decisions ( Khan, 2006) . I would therefore handle all new features and functions in a manner that is satisfactory to all project stakeholders hence avoiding possible scenario of scope creep. Second, I would employ requirements’ traceability matrix which is a technique that traces back business needs for every project objective. The technique also controls scope by tracing forward design, test and construction requirements to ensure implementation of approved requirements. Adoption of scope models would also be crucial in ensuring that scope requirements are met. Context diagrams, SIPOC, Case and Context Diagrams are simple models that would foster discussion and agreement on scope ( Mirza, Pourzolfaghar & Shahnazari, 2013) . I would use the tools to also build on and elaborate the project’s deliverable thereby preventing a possible scope drift. As the project manager, I will create a clear project schedule that would show all requirements in form of activities and tasks as well as how they will be achieved. To actualize the idea, I would develop the project schedule on a Gant Chart that clearly defines project outcome.
Potential ethical dilemma that might arise while managing a project
One of the ethical dilemmas that might arise in project management relates to protection of stakeholder’s interests. A project manager may face a difficult situation on whether to treat all stakeholders as equal or not and in determining if the interests of a project affected person are of importance as those of the boss ( Mishra, Dangayach & Mittal, 2011) . The project manager may wonder if the customer is right in case the owner goes ahead and demands the project team to work for an unreasonable 60-hour weeks to meet project deadline. In the event of such conflicting views, the project manager faces an ethical dilemma on whose side to go with. To respond to the ethical dilemma, I would carefully assess the stakeholder needs and use negotiation as well as conflict resolution techniques to arrive at an agreeable position that is acceptable by all stakeholders. I would also document each stakeholder’s interests, set boundary conditions and trade-offs as a reference point incase such conflicting interests arise. Upholding honesty and transparency would also be key in amicably addressing the ethical dilemma.
What approach will you use when asked to change the scope of a project.
First, I would utilize a formal change process where any change in the project scope is documented and agreed upon by all stakeholders. The stakeholders will be actively involved through meetings to reach an informed decision. I would consider creating a Change Control Board constituting key stakeholders who have the mandate to approve or disapprove the scope change. I would also communicate a structured approach that requests, evaluates and seeks approval of project scope. The approach would include risk assessment and analysis of potential risks to disprove or approve the change of scope ( Shirazi, Kazemipoor & Tavakkoli-Moghaddam, 2017) . The approach adopted will be the same for all groups. Adoption of a similar change approach will eliminate instances of conflict brought about by application of different approaches. The uniformity in the approach will ensure that only the justifiable change of scope is approved.
References
Khan, A. (2006). Project scope management. Cost engineering , 48 (6), 12-16.
Mirza, M. N., Pourzolfaghar, Z., & Shahnazari, M. (2013). Significance of scope in project success. Procedia Technology , 9 (1).
Mishra, P., Dangayach, G. S., & Mittal, M. L. (2011). An Ethical approach towards sustainable project Success. Procedia-social and behavioral sciences , 25 , 338-344.
Shirazi, F., Kazemipoor, H., & Tavakkoli-Moghaddam, R. (2017). Fuzzy decision analysis for project scope change management. Decision Science Letters , 6 (4), 395-406.
