Scope Creep

During the phases of a project, the direction of a project changes and goes outside the initial parameters. This is a change in the scope of the project. Similarly, if there are any changes to what will be done for the project, no matter how small or large and no matter if these changes were specifically requested or not, it is a change in scope of the project. Scope changes can make a project larger or smaller. Scope changes can affect the timeline of the project and the cost of the project. These changes in scope are more commonly referred to as scope creep. Therefore, scope creep is the change or growth of the project scope (Gurlen, 2003). Portny, (2008), describes scope creep as natural tendency of the client, as well as project team members, to try to improve the projects output as the project progresses.



As I think on the definition of Scope Creep, I am faced with the task of describing a project either personal or professional that experienced issues related to scope creep. As I think about this project, the first episode that comes to mind is our family reunion. Each year our family comes together for this beautiful occasion. The scope creep that occurred in planning and organizing this reunion happen, when the person in charge of the planning last summer, decided it was too much of a burden for his family to plan and drop the load on my mom. The ramifications of this action lead to multiple scope creep.


The specific scope creep issue occurred when the leader approached my mom and gave her the money he had collected as well as planning and organizing the project. Unfortunately the money he had collected on his side of the family was just $200.00. Since our family is spread out in so many different cities across the country, there is a person in charge of collecting the money in their area and sending the funds to the planner and organizers of the project. Each household was responsible for paying $50.00 per home, which is not a great amount considering some people have four or more people living with them. Each year about 300 or more people shows up for the reunion. There are usually no big issues with the funds and we have charging this amount for several years. Conversely, last summer many of the people reneged on paying their funds and associated their household with that of their parents even though they no longer lived with their parents and had established their own family. Since there were so many people who did not have the integrality to do what was right it created an appalling situation for my mother. There was a total of about $400.00 collected to feed 300 people or more for two days. As we all know with the high cost of purchasing goods, this diminutive sum of money was not enough to feed even half of the people and get the suppliers that were needed for the reunion.


In order to deal with this scope creep issue, I informed my mother that she should purchase as much as the money would allow and informed the people when they all showed up what had transpired. My mother being a Good Samaritan wanted to ensure that this reunion would be one of the best ever and asked all of her children to contribute much more toward the project. We did as we were asked because she is our mother and we did not want her to go in debt trying to ensure a successful project on her fixed income.


As I look back on the experience, had I been in the position of managing the project, I would not have contributed the amount of money I did to make this project successful. I would have informed all stakeholders of what had transpired before the due date of the reunion and let them know if no more funds are received the reunion would have to be cancelled. In fact, if I had been in charge of the project for the initial start, I would have asked for more money. Instead of asking for $50.00 from each household, I would have asked for $30.00 for each individual and $15.00 for each child ten and under. Therefore, there would not have be any misunderstanding of how much funds everyone had to contribute toward the project. As I continue to think about this project, I would not have allowed the man who was in charge to abandon his responsibilities. However, what I would have done was to offer to help out but not take over the tasks and responsibilities because he was the one who asked to take on the project. What he did not know was how big of task he was taking on.


Even though there was a great shortage in funds, the family reunion was successful and everyone had a great time. In fact, there were so much food left over, that the people were able to take home carry-out trays. After this experience, I did tell my mother not to allow other people to use her in this manner ever again.




References:


Gurlen, S. (2003, Decemeber 2). What is scope creep. Retrieved April 6, 2011, from Scope Creep: http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/6840_f03_papers/gurlen/


Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc