How can you manage scope creep in market research?

2 Monitor your progress

The second step to avoid scope creep is to monitor your progress regularly and compare it to your scope. You should track the status, costs, and risks of your project and report them to your stakeholders. You should also collect feedback and input from your customers, team members, and suppliers. Monitoring your progress will help you identify any deviations, issues, or changes that might affect your scope and address them promptly.

3 Manage change requests

The third step to avoid scope creep is to manage change requests effectively. Change requests are inevitable in market research projects, as you might encounter new information, insights, or opportunities that require adjustments. However, you should not accept or implement any change request without evaluating its impact on your scope. You should have a formal process for reviewing, approving, or rejecting change requests, and documenting the reasons and consequences. You should also communicate any changes to your scope to your stakeholders and update your project plan accordingly.

4 Control your scope creep

The fourth step to avoid scope creep is to control your scope creep. Scope creep is not always bad, as some changes might add value, quality, or innovation to your project. However, you should be careful not to let scope creep compromise your core objectives, deliverables, or resources. You should prioritize the most important and urgent changes and balance them with the trade-offs and costs. You should also be flexible and adaptable to cope with the changing market conditions and customer needs.

5 Learn from your experience

The fifth step to avoid scope creep is to learn from your experience. Scope creep is a common challenge in market research projects, but it can also be a valuable source of learning and improvement. You should conduct a post-project evaluation and review the causes, effects, and lessons of scope creep in your project. You should also solicit feedback and suggestions from your stakeholders and customers on how to improve your project management and market research skills. Learning from your experience will help you avoid or minimize scope creep in your future projects.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?