Project Scope Management
The scope of the project is one factor that might have a direct impact on the budget and timeline. However, it appears to be one of the most underserved domains in both agile and traditional [3]. Agile is known for its quick progress and readiness to welcome change [4]. Changes in scope are not considered “creep” in Agile because they were approved and expected as part of the project and would be controlled throughout. Change is viewed as a risk in a more traditional context, such as Projects In Controlled Environments (PRINCE2) [5]. Every modification must be closely monitored since it might affect the project’s timeline and budget, which is why the scope must be properly established at the start of the project.
The scope is described in project management as a specification document that covers the work’s detail as well as the process involved in creating or delivering the project’s objective [5]. Thus, scope management is the act of establishing and regulating what is and is not included in a project. It also establishes the baseline for measuring performance, directing the project, and conveying defined duties.
In terms of scope management, the 6th Edition of the PMBOK Guide defines scope as “the processes necessary to guarantee that the project contains all of the work required to finish it effectively” [6]. The scope is determined during the project planning phase and becomes part of the project plan document. Because it contains so many information, this project plan document serves as a guide for the project.
The scope of a project in PRINCE2 is defined as what it will deliver [3]. Before beginning the project, the project manager and the customer should have an express agreement regarding the project’s scope. The project manager should understand what is and is not within the scope of the project and not deliver beyond this scope because doing so might cause the project to be delayed, overspent, and result in uncontrolled modifications [3]. Because the contract is also based on the agreed-upon scope, those processes must be followed. As a result, the project manager and the customers must have a clear understanding. Any major modification in the midst of the project might cause a delay and an expenditure.
The Agile project scope methodology differs from PMBOK and PRINCE2. Agile is a welcomed new notion, especially in latter phases of the project. As a result, project scope volatility is allowed [7]. The product owner and the client worked together to manage and verify the scope at each iteration phase. This procedure determines whether features performed during the iteration phase are approved or rejected. This is a natural process because the Agile methodology requires close involvement with the customer throughout the project’s development. These procedures were implemented in order to prevent rework, unanticipated delays, overspending, and customer discontent [8]. However, this strategy may introduce a new risk to the project. Changes happen more often throughout the development phase, and there is a chance that undesirable changes may occur towards the conclusion of the iteration. These ongoing adjustments might raise the project’s risk [9]. Therefore, the organisation should foster an agile attitude. Some best practises, such as establishing a clear level of roles and providing adequate training to handle change, might be implemented. Making a defined method or structure is also important for dealing with change and managing the scope. Best practices, such as the Concept of Continuous Change (COOC), can also be used to address various challenges [9].
Further, a change request that is unrealistic and unsystematic might result in a goal that is inadequately defined. Documenting version history eliminates the over-scope requirement [9]. At the end of the sprint, the product owner and key stakeholders should review the product development and provide feedback. It was vital to assess the scope’s quality and completeness [10]. Additionally, to bridge the team’s knowledge gap, the team should share its expertise with other team members. However, and probably most importantly, the team should commit to the outcome of the sprint planning [11].
It was vital to keep constant communication with the team and stakeholders during the adjustments. The establishment of trust among team members was one of the factors that might be termed best practices. Building trust among team members is essential for building a collaborative atmosphere, protecting individual rights, and assuring equitable involvement throughout the project [12]. Another technique to increase communication and coordination is to do more creative training and workshops than traditional training, which will build the relationships of the project team [9].
There is a need of using tools to manage change and scope. Jira and Microsoft TFS can be useful. Tools benefits to regulate the scope, which eliminates bottlenecks and increases throughput [1]. TinyPM, ScrumDesk, Agile for Trac, and VersionOne are all planning tools that may be utilized [9].
References
[1] Amjad, Sunnia, Naveed Ahmad, Tanzila Saba, Adeel Anjum, Umar Manzoor, Muhammad A. Balubaid, and Saif Ur Rehman Malik. (2018) “Calculating Completeness of Agile Scope in Scaled Agile Development.” IEEE Access 6: 5822–5847.
[2] Sliger, M. (2010) “Goodbye, scope creep–hello, agile!” PMI® Global Congress 2010, North America, Washington, DC. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute. [Online] Available: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/project-scope-creep-agile-methodologies-6552.
[3] AXELOS. (2017) “Managing Successful Projects With Prince2 – 2017.” AXELOS Global Best Practice.
[4] Hays, F. (2016) “A guide to the SCRUM BODY OF KNOWLEDGE (SBOKTM Guide): A comprehensive Guide to Deliver Project using Scrum.”. SCRUMstudy. [Online] Available: http://www.cs.vsu.ru/~svv/spm/SBOK_Guide_3rd_edition_English_Sample.pdf.
[5] AXELOS. (2017) “Managing Successful Projects With Prince2 – 2017.” AXELOS Global Best Practice.
[6] PMBOK. (2017) “PMBOK Guide – 6th Edition.” Project Management Institute.
[7] Rehman, I. U., S. Ullah, A. Rauf, and A. A. Shahid. (2010) “Scope management in agile versus traditional software development methods.” Proceedings of the 2010 national software engineering conference: 1-6.
[8] Anes, V., A. Abreu, and R. Santos. (2020) “A new risk assessment approach for agile projects.” 2020 International Young Engineers Forum (YEF-ECE): 67–72
[9] Marnada , Raharjo, Hardian, Prasetyo (2022) “Agile project management challenge in handling scope and change: A systematic literature review” Procedia Computer Science 197 (2022) 290–300.
[10] Amjad, Sunnia, Naveed Ahmad, Tanzila Saba, Adeel Anjum, Umar Manzoor, Muhammad A. Balubaid, and Saif Ur Rehman Malik. (2018) “Calculating Completeness of Agile Scope in Scaled Agile Development.” IEEE Access 6: 5822–5847.
[11] Batool, K., and I. Inayat. ( 2019) “An Empirical Investigation on Requirements Change Management Practices in Pakistani Agile Based Industry.” in 2019 International Conference on Frontiers of Information Technology (FIT),: 7–75. doi: 10.1109/FIT47737.2019.00012.
[12] Le Grand, T., and R. Deneckere. ( 2019) “COOC: An Agile Change Management Method.” in 2019 IEEE 21st Conference on Business Informatics (CBI), 2: 28–37. doi: 10.1109/CBI.2019.10093