PROJECT SCOPE MANAGEMENT

WHAT IS SCOPE MANAGEMENT:

Scope Management is the process to ensure that the project/Engineering includes all the work required and only the work required, to complete the project successfully.

Managing the project scope is primarily concerned with defining and controlling?what is?and?what is not?included in the project.

What is the difference between project and product scope:

Product scope: Includes the features and functions that characterize a product service or result( like product may be Oil and Gas)

Project scope: Includes the work performed to deliver a product ( project to extract oil and gas) service or result with the specified features and function.

Why Scope Management:

Even if we discuss and plan out all the details in advance with all the project stakeholders involved, there’s always something that changes the scope of the project during its course. In fact, scope creep is a huge concern for project managers, affecting most of the projects.

By managing the scope of the project, you can document everything required to achieve the project goal and avoid issues like scope creep.

A well-defined project scope management helps avoid common issues like:

• Constant changing requirements
• Pivoting the project direction when you are in trouble midway through the project
• Going over the discussed budget
• Falling behind the project deadlines

The steps involved in Scope management as per Project management Institute (PMI) are as below. Let's look at the below steps in detail using the Oil and Gas Engineering management as a case in study.

• Plan Scope Management:?Plan scope management in Oil and Gas Enginnering is drafting the engineering execution plan in line with the overall project execution plan. Enginnering execution plan is always a subset of Project execution plan. It typically includes(not exhaustive):
• Detailed project scope:
• Breakdown of all the project requirements
• Expected project deliverables
• Change control or MOC process

The document doesn’t have to be very detailed, it just has to fit the purpose. You can also use a previous project’s execution plan as a reference for this if there are not many changes to procedures and strategies of execution.

• Collect requirements:?The next step is to document all the project requirements, expectations, budgets, and deliverables for engineering this step involves understanding the client expectations and detailing the required deliverables etc through discussions and other forums. This is a rather important step because more often than not, clients might have unrealistic requirements or expectations and the project managers would be required to step in to find a solution that is acceptable by everyone from avoiding project delays.
• Define scope:?At this step, you need to turn your requirements into a well-detailed description of the scope. This step is typically preparing the high-level deliverable list in a typical engineering cycle. While it is important to list what is in the scope of the project, it is just as important to note down what is out of the project scope.
• Create Work breakdown structure(WBS):?A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a document that breaks down all the work which needs to be done in the project. typically like a detailed master deliverables list. It lists the deliverables that need to be completed and their respective deadlines as well.
• Validate Scope and Control Scope:?Once the MDR is prepared it needs few rounds of check and review to ensure nothing is missed out. once the scope is reviewed and validated, If a certain scope needs to be added then it's better practice to go through the change management procedure so that the scope control process is effective.

Conclusion:

The scope management in a project is one of the essential activities. Defining the proper scope enables is never a difficult task; however, it requires experience, effort, time, and patience. Only with the help of scope management, a project manager can define, control and ensure that the project deliverables are met, without any issues/risks occurring during the project lifecycle.?