Project scope creep management

Scope creep! Oh my God! In my professional life I have gone through certain projects whose scope creep had been so enormous and so dynamic that I shudder thinking back now, how I worked through the whole project from start to end. ?

It happens. Particularly, in these modern days, where the market place is so dynamic and expectations & competitions are at extremes, it definitely happens. The bigger the project in size, the greater the complexity of the project, the more creep must be expected.

It is easy to say that creep is to be avoided or pushed back by being alert to the situations. But then, one is not practical and is not living in modern times. One needs to deal with them which means, one needs to manage them properly. Alertness, which these days is called agile framework or agility, is needed to manage the scope & steer the project towards the ever changing end goal. Managing scope creep is not resisting but properly handling it so that at the end of the project, market requirement are met; financial structure is not adversely affected and finally pays back as per expectations.?

Document management is one of the main aspects. The document management system must be simple & flexible and key to scope management.

The project planning and control function has a vital role. In one of the projects where we went through some significant scope change during the progress of the project, our planning group helped a lot in managing the documents which proved as a key success factor. In this case, one of the brilliant planning engineer had developed a "Data vs. Document" matrix and pasted the ?same on a huge wall board. This helped in tracking, on real time, what documents need to change when some data got updated and vice-versa. An excellent way to manage not just creep, but it is also a robust way to manage any project.

I have seen a grass roots project for petchem plant, where a new parameter came into the Final Product Specification Sheet just as we were starting the plant and planning out the test run along with the licensor. Of course, the change happened because the Business group insisted that the newly added parameter in the quality certification is very important, without which, they said, the product cannot be placed in the market. Needless to say that we managed to overcome this surprise well as a team.

Scope creep does not always happen because of the changes for the Final Product in terms of quality or quantity. It also happens due to various other reasons. Some of the major reasons are, change in Raw material or Raw material specification, regulatory changes, Operability & Maintainability reviews, Hazop studies, etc. I have come across a major project, where scope change happened after the "constructibility review" which was done about 30% progress stage in the engineering phase.?

There are several mechanisms available for scope creep management. One is "stage gate management" process - the more meticulous it is, the better it is for creep management. The second is budgeting control. If the Project Planning group has worked out details of Orders & Supplier Commitments of the project on a time scale, both quantitatively as well as in terms of cash flows, surely, the creep can be managed well.

Cash flow management is another key factor. I have seen a competition big scale project stalled due to poor cash flow management for nearly 10 years. When the problems were sorted out & the project was rekindled, the scope had changed enormously. Geo-political events, Covid & such calamities have triggered scope change in various projects.

Improperly dealing with scope creep have lead to major startup disasters concerning Safety, Health & Environment.

To manage expected scope changes or scope creep, one the strategic approach would be to plan for certain typical changes that might appear at advanced stage of engineering or construction. "provision for expansion" or incorporating "modular or standardised design" are intelligent ways to hedge against adverse impacts on the project. While dealing with engineering, procurement & construction, it is also a good strategy to use suppliers standardised tool, templates, processed and avoid or minimise customisation.

Maintaining a strict operating discipline during project implementation w.r.t. Change Orders through a proper review / approval process will help a lot in scope management.?

Plan vs. Actual monitoring on almost all aspects of the project is fundamental for project management & control, not just creep management. Dynamic Project Plan revisions & suitable Communications to all stake holders is paramount and the responsibility of Project Planning group.