You Know They’re the Scope Owner If…

When project ideas flow freely, it’s challenging to manage scope. One sure way to keep scope in line is to evaluate whether the owner of each scope item is the true owner. If they aren’t and you can’t find the true owner, you can remove that scope item from the project. Here’s how to tell if someone is the true owner of a scope item:

• True owners supply funding. The true owner will fund the development of their scope item and can increase the funding (within business case parameters) if the cost of delivering that scope increases. The true owner can defend the priority of their scope against other people’s scope. If they can’t do either of these, they aren’t really the owner.
• True owners can provide capable resources for requirements, verification, and implementation of scope items. If they provide new or lower-level resources, they might not be the owner. Delays in getting resources could mean other scope items have higher priority. If there are resource delays, re-evaluate whether the scope item is actually out of scope.
• True owners can make decisions about the scope. They can make decisions about how to build and implement the scope item. Others may be involved in decision-making, but the true owner has the final say. They need to understand the current business processes as well as how those processes will change when the project deliverables are implemented. When scope decisions affect others, the owner is able to resolve stakeholder conflicts by consulting with and influencing others about the scope in question.
• True owners have time to support the project. True owners make time to support the project effort to handle questions and issues. They are able to participate so they won’t delay the schedule.

In the next newsletter article, we’ll look at what to do if a senior leader is pushing scope but doesn’t fit the criteria of scope owner.

Have you encountered scope that seems to be orphaned without an owner? Or someone promoting scope that doesn’t seem to fit the project goal and objectives? Would these criteria have helped you figure out whether the items were in or out of scope? Share with us in the comments section.?

For more about defining scope, check out my Project Management Foundations course.

Coming Up

Anna Lung’aho Anderson and I get so many questions from people who want to transition into a career in project management. In this LinkedIn Learning Office Hours, we’re going to dig deep into the work YOU have to do to move into project management. Yes, it does require some effort on your part. We will talk about how to figure out if project management is a good fit for you; learning project management hard skills and terminology; how to update your resume, LinkedIn profile, and approach to networking; and finally, how to research companies you apply to so you have a better chance of getting their attention. We’re also going to explore how to move into project management from non-traditional backgrounds, such as sales, real estate, customer service, nursing, and (fill in your current role here).

I am really excited about this event because Anna provides many more services and resources related to project management careers than I do: Career Development Coaching, Resume Writing, Interview Preparation, Negotiation, Resume Review, Change Management, Executive Coaching, and Leadership Development. I hope you will join us on Friday, December 8, 2023, 11am MT, 12 PM CT for this deep dive into the first steps to moving into a project management career.

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This article belongs to the?Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 54,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can?subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

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