Scope Management

Reference Material to study:

• A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Chapters 1-5 (1996 edition)
• ESI PMP Challenge!, Scope Section, Ward, J. Leroy, Oct. 1996
• Project Planning, Scheduling & Control, Chapters 1-4, 16, Appendix A,
• Lewis, James P., 1995
• The New Project Management, Chapters 8, 12-13, Frame, J. Davidson, 1994
• PMBOK Q&A, PMI, Scope Section

What to Study?

• The PMBOK framework (first 3 chapters): Introduction, The Project Management Context; and Project Management Processes
• Chapter 4 of the PMBOK on Project Integration Management. Know the processes of Project Integration, Project Plan Development, Project Plan Execution, and Overall Change Control
• Chapter 5 of the PMBOK on the Project Scope Management processes: Initiation, Scope Planning, Scope Definition, Scope Verification, and Scope Change Control.

(Be familiar with Inputs, Tools and Techniques, and Outputs for each phase)

• Know the difference between project and product scope.
• Know the difference between a scope statement and a statement of work (SOW).
• Know key definitions (see list in study notes or PMBOK glossary).
• Know the phases of a generic life cycle. Also know what is generally done in each phase.
• Know what is entailed in each of the phases of a generic life cycle.
• Know what a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is and what it is used for.
• Know what a work package is and how it relates to the WBS.
• Know how to label the levels of a WBS chart.
• Know what a project plan is and how it is used.
  

Key Definitions

Baseline: The original plan plus or minus approved changes.

Change Control Board: A formally constitued group of stakeholders responsible for approving

(CCB) or rejecting changes to the project baselines.

Code of Accounts: Any numbering system used to uniquely identify each element of the work breakdown structure.

Deliverable: Any measurable, tangible, verifiable outcome, result, or item that must be produced to complete a project or subproject.

Delphi Technique: A forecasting technique used to gather information about future events on a project. It relies on gathering expert opinions.

Fast Tracking: Compressing the project schedule by overlapping activities that would normally be done in sequence. Also used to imply overlapping of normally sequential phases in a project life cycle.

Management By Objectives (MBO): A system of managerial leadership that defines individual managerial responsibilities in terms of corporate objectives.

Operation: Work that is ongoing and repetitive.

Program: A group of related projects managed in a coordinated way. Programs usually include an element of ongoing activity.

Product Scope: The features and functions that are to be included in a product or service.

Project Scope: The work that must be done in order to deliver a product with the specified i features and functions.

Project: A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service.

Project Charter: A formal document issued by senior management which explains the purpose of the project including the business need the project addreses and the resulting product. It provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.

Project Life Cycle: A collection of generally sequential project phases whose name and no. are determined by the control needs of the organization(s) involved in the project.

Project Notebook: A detailed project plan. The notebook is updated throughout the life of the project.

Project Phase: A collection of logically related project activities, usually culminating in the completion of a major deliverable.

Project Plan: A formal, approved document used to guide both project execution and project control. The primary uses of the project plan are to document planning assumptions and decisions, to facilitate communication among stakeholders, and to document approved scope, cost, and schedule baselines. A project plan may be summary or detail.

Project Mgmt: The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from a project.

Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM): A structure which relates the project organization structure to the WBS to help ensure that each element of the project's scope of work is assigned to a responsible individual.

Scope: The sum of the products and services to be provided in a project.

Scope Change: Any change to the project scope.

Scope Change Control: Controlling changes to project scope.

Scope Definition: Decomposing the major deliverables into smaller, more manageable components to provide better control.

Scope Planning: Developing a written scope statement that includes the project justification, the major deliverables, and the project objectives.

Scope Management A plan which describes how project scope will be managed and how

Plan: scope change will be integrated into the project. Includes an assessment of how likely and frequently the project scope may change and a description of how scope changes will be identified and classified.

Scope Statement: A documented description of the project as to its output, approach, and content. (What is being produced?, How is it being produced?, and What is included?)

Stakeholder: Individuals and organizations who are involved in or may be affected by project activities.

Statement of Work (SOW): A narrative description of products or services to be supplied under under contract.

Work Authorization: Process of sanctioning all project work.

Work Authorization/Release: In cases where work is to be performed in segments due to technical or funding limitations, work authorization/release authorizes specified work to be performed during a specified period.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): A deliverable-oriented grouping of project elements which organizes and defines the total scope of the project.

Work Package: A deliverable at the lowest level of the work breakdown structure. A work package may be divided into activities.

Project Integration Management

Project Plan Development:

• Uses the output of the other planning processes to create a consistent, coherent document that can be used to guide both project execution and project control.
• Inputs include: other planning outputs, historical information, organizational policies, constraints, and assumptions.
• Methods include: project planning methodology, stakeholder skills and knowledge, and a project management information system (PMIS).
• Outputs include: the project plan and supporting detail.

Project Plan Execution:

• Is the primary process for executing the project plan. The vast majority of the project's budget will be expended in performing this process.
• Inputs include: the project plan, supporting detail, organizational policies, and corrective action.
• Methods include: general management skills, product skills and knowledge, work authorization system, status review meetings, project management information system, and organizational procedures.
• Outputs include: work results and change requests.

Overall Change Control:

• Overall change control is concerned with:
  • Influencing the factors which create changes to ensure that changes are beneficial.
  • Determining that change has occurred
  • Managing the actual changes when and as they occur
• Overall change control requires:
  • Maintaining the integrity of the performance measurement baselines.
  • Ensuring that changes to the product scope are reflected in the project scope.
  • Coordinating changes across knowledge areas (change often affects cost, risk, quality, staffing, scope, time, etc.)
• Inputs include: project plan, performance reports, and change requests.
• Methods include: Change control system, configuration management, performance measurement, additional planning, and project management information system.
• Outputs include: project plan updates, corrective action, and lessons learned.
  • Scope Mgmt Processes

Initiation:

• Committing the organization to begin the next phase of the project.
• The process of formally recognizing that a new project exists or that an existing project should continue to its next phase.
• Inputs include: product description; strategic plan; project selection criteria; historical information
• Methods used during initiation include: project selection methods and expert judgment from other units within the organization; consultants; industry groups; or professional/technical associations.
• Outputs include: scope statement; supporting detail, and scope management plan
  

Scope Planning:

• The process of developing a written scope statement as the basis for future project decisions.
• The scope statement forms the basis for an agreement between the project team and the project customer by identifying the project objectives and major project deliverables.
• Inputs include: the product description; project charter; constraints, and assumptions.
• Methods used during scope planning include: product analysis; benefit/cost analysis; identifying alternatives, and expert judgment.
• Outputs include: scope statement; supporting detail, and scope management plan

Scope Definition:

• The process of subdividing the major project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components.
• Inputs include: scope statement; constraints; assumptions; and historical information.
• Methods used during scope definition are: work breakdown structure templates (or WBS from a previous project) and decomposition (subdivision).
• Output from defining scope: work breakdown structure

Scope Verification:

• The process of formally accepting the project scope by the stakeholders (sponsor, client, customer, etc.)
• Inputs include: work results (completed or partially completed deliverables, incurred or committed costs, etc.), and product documentation (plans, specifications, technical documentation, etc.)
• The methods used in verifying scope include: inspection (measuring, examining, reviewing and testing to determine if results conform to requirements)
• Output from verifying scope: formal acceptance

Scope Mgmt Processes, cont.

Scope Change Control:

• The process of controlling changes to project scope.
• Inputs include: WBS, performance reports, change requests, and the scope management plan.
• Methods for controlling scope change include: a scope change control system; performance measurement techniques; and additional planning.
• Outputs include: scope changes; corrective action, and lessons learned.
  

Scope Management Concepts

Project vs. Operation vs. Program:

• A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service. It has a definite starting and ending point.
• An operation has similar characteristics to a project: it is performed by people; constrained by limited resources; planned, executed, and controlled. The major difference is that an operation is on-going and repetitive.
• A program is a group of relelated projects managed in a coordinated way and is on-going. Example: AIX is a program. Each release of AIX is a project.

Project Life Cycle:

• Defines the begining and the end of a project.
• Varies based on the industry, organization, and/or application area. Generally speaking, project life cycles define:
  • The technical work to be done in each phase
  • The skills involved in each phase
    
• Most project life cycle descriptions share a no. of common characteristics:
  • Cost and staffing levels are low at the start; higher towards the end of implementation, and drop rapidly as the project nears conclusion.
    (see PMBOK, page 12, Figure 2-1)
    
  • The probability of successfully completing the project is lowest at the start of the project. Hence, risk and uncertainty are highest at the start of the project.
    
  • The ability of the stakeholders to influence the final characteristics of the project product is highest at the start of the project and becomes progressively lower as the project continues. This can largely be contributed to the increased cost of changes and error correction as the project develops.
    
• A generic project life cycle may have the following phases:
  • Concept: Someone has identified a need that must be met. The definition of the problem to be solved may be fuzzy. Feasibility studies may be done during this phase to clarify the problem before preceding. Order of magnitude costs may be obtained. Other items that may be identified at this phase include stakeholders, risk, goals and objectives, strategy, potential team, and alternatives. The output of this phase is the project charter which grants permission for the project to proceed to the next phase.
    
  • Development/Planning: The purpose of this phase is to determine exactly what is to be done. A problem statement is developed along with objectives, strategies for acheiving the objectives, and detailed work plans to support the strategies. The scope baseline is determined. Budgetary costs are determined, and the budget is developed. A risk assessment is done. The WBS is established. The players are identifed along with the levels of authority, responsibility, and accountability. Control systems are developed (if not already in place) and quality standards determined. Detailed planning is completed and placed in the project plan/notebook. The project plan/notebook serves as the controlling document throughout the life of the project.
    
  • Implementation/Execution: The lines of communication between teams and team members are established. Work packages are established and implemented. Definitive estimates are determined. Goods and services are procured. Scope, quality, time, and cost are directed, monitored and controlled. Problems are resolved.
    
  • Termination/Close-out: The product is finalized, reviewed and accepted. Product responsibility is transferred. The project is evaluated and the results documented (postmortem). Resources are redirected or released, and the project team is reassigned.

Feasibility Phases:

• The feasibility phases are the concept and development phases of a generic project life cycle. Generally speaking, these phases count for approximately 25% of the project time.
• While the feasibility phases are critical to project success, they are also the most often neglected. These phases are often compromised by implementation pressure.
• The principle issues during these phases are cost, time, quality, and risk.
• Project controls should be established. Some characteristics of a good project control system:
  • The controls should be tailored to each project
  • The controls should limit informal changes in scope
  • The controls should be designed to "avoid surprises"
  • The frequency and type of control is project phase dependent.
  • Depending on the control, there may be varying degrees of management involvement.
  • The focal point for scope change control is the WBS.

Acquisition Phases:

• The acquisition phases are the implementation and termination phases of a generic project life cycle. Generally speaking, these phases count for approximately 75% of the project time.
• Project controls during the implementation phase:
  • Emphasize performance measurement against cost, quality, and schedule baselines.
  • Maintain scope, cost, time and quality balance.
  • Types of reports: cost, schedule, performance status; S curves; earned value; variances; trends, and exceptions

Work Breakdown Structure:

• An output of the scope definition process. Used as input into the scope change control process.
• Developing a WBS (from Infotech notes):
  1. Identify major issues.
  2. Break down each issue into smaller deliverable units.
  3. Subdivide deliverables into measureable units.
  4. Define each work package as subcontractable units of work.
  5. Review for patterns and anomalies.
  6. review again.
• Developing a WBS (from Project Planning, Scheduling & Control by Lewis):
  1. What tasks must be done?
  2. Who will do each one?
  3. How long will each task take?
  4. What materials/supplies are required?
  5. How much will each task cost?
• Examples of names of WBS structure levels:
  1. Program
  2. Project
  3. Task
  4. Sub-Task
  5. Work Package
• See PMBOK pgs. 54-55 for examples of WBS's.
•  

Work Package:

• The lowest level of a WBS.
• Work packages are furthur broken down during the Activity Definition Process. (part of Time Management)

Project Plan:

• The project plan is used to:
  • Guide project execution
  • Document assumptions and decisions
  • Facilitate communication, define reviews
  • Provide baseline for grogress measurement and project control
• Elements of a project plan:
  • Project Charter
  • Management approach/strategy
  • Scope statement including deliverables and objectives
  • WBS
  • Performance measurement baselines
  • Major milestones and target dates
  • Key or required staff
  • Key risks, constraints, assumptions
  • Open issues and pending decisions
• The project plan is a working document. It should be updated as needed.

Scope Management Plan:

• A subsidary element of the overall project plan.
• Describes how project scope will be managed.
• Describes how scope changes will be integrated into the project.
• Should also include an assessment of the expected stability of the project scope.
• Should also include a clear description of how scope changes will be identified and classified.

Role of Project Manager:

• Produce end item with available resources, within time, cost and performance constraints.
• Make all required decisions regarding the project.
• Act as interface with customer and top functional managers.
• Negotiate with functional managers to accomplish necessary work within time, cost, and quality goals.
• Resolve conflicts.

Functions Performed by Project Manager:

• Planning and scheduling
• Performance analysis, progress reporting
• Client/consultant relations
• Project and cost trend analysis
• Logistics management, cost control
• Organization and manpower planning
• Contract and materials administration and estimating

Sample Questions

1. Which of the following could be an appropriate WBS code for a work package at the fourth level in a WBS where the top level code is 1.0?

1. 1.4
2. 1.1.1.1
3. 1.2.3.4
4. a and c
5. b and c

2. Which of the following Project Scope Management processes involves subdividing the
major project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components?

1. Scope Planning
2. Initiation
3. Scope Change Control
4. Scope Definition
5. none of the above

3. The review of key deliverables and project performance at the conclusion of a project phase is called:

1. phase exit
2. kill point
3. stage gate
4. a and c
5. all of the above

4. Which of the following is a common characteristic of most project life cycle descriptions?

1. Cost and staffing are low at the start, higher towards the end, and drop rapidly as the project nears completion.
2. The probability of successfully completing the project is highest at the start of the project.
3. Stakeholders have the most influence on the final characteristics of the product at the end of the project.
4. a and b

5. Project scope is:

1. The work that must be done in order to deliver a product with the specified features and functions.
2. The features and functions that are to be included in a product or service.
3. A narrative description of work to be performed under contract.
4. a and b
5. all of the above

6. What is the purpose of the WBS?

1. To show which work elements have been assigned to organizational units.
2. To ensure that all work within a project is identified and defined within a common framework.
3. To show the organizational structure of a program.
4. all of the above

7. The unique identifiers assigned to each item of a WBS are often known collectively as:

1. The work package codes
2. The project identifiers
3. The code of accounts
4. The element accounts

8. Change requests can occur due to:

1. An external event such as a change in government regulation.
2. An error or omission in defining the scope of the product.
3. An error or omission in defining the scope of the project.
4. a and c
5. all of the above

9. What is the difference between scope verification and quality control?

1. There is no difference.
2. Scope verification is primarily concerned with the correctness of work results while quality control is primarily concerned with the acceptance of work results.
3. Scope verification is concerned with ensuring that changes are beneficial while quality control is concerned that the overall work results are correct.
4. Scope verification is primarily concerned with the acceptance of work results while quality control is primarily concerned with the correctness of work results.

10. Which of the following are outputs of the Scope Verification Process?

1. Inspection
2. Work results
3. Formal acceptance
4. Scope changes
5. b and c

11. Which of the following are outputs of the Scope Change Control Process?

1. Scope changes
2. Corrective action
3. Lessons learned
4. All of the above
5. None of the above

12. Who should contribute to the development of the project plan?

1. Project manager
2. Entire project team including project manager
3. Senior management
4. Just the planning department

13. A project plan is:

1. A formal, approved document used to guide both project execution and project control.
2. A document issued by senior management that provides the project manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.
3. A narrative description of products or services to be supplied.
4. A document describing the organizational breakdown structure of the company.

14. Which of the following tools and techniques are commonly used in the Scope Definition Process?

1. Benefit/cost analysis
2. Decomposition
3. Inspection
4. WBS templates
5. b and d

15. Which of the following is NOT an example of a type of schedule report?

1. Gantt chart
2. Milestone chart
3. fishbone diagram
4. network diagram

16. What is the primary purpose of a milestone chart?

1. To show task dependencies.
2. To show resource constraints.
3. To show significant events in the project such as completion of key deliverables.
4. To highlight the critical path.
5. All of the above

17. When should the project manager be assigned?

1. As early in the project as feasible.
2. Preferably before much project planning has been done.
3. At least prior to the start of project plan execution.
4. All of the above.

18. In which type of organization(s) is the project manager's role most likely part-time?

1. Functional
2. Balanced Matrix
3. Weak Matrix
4. Strong Matrix
5. a and c

19. A document which describes how project scope will be managed and how scope changes will be integrated into the project is: (choose the best answer)

1. A project plan
2. A risk analysis
3. A scope management plan
4. A scope statement

20. Which of the following statements concerning a scope statement are true?

1. It provides a documented basis for making future project decisions and for developing common understanding of the project scope among stakeholders.
2. Scope statement and Statement of work are synonymous.
3. Project justification and project objectives are not included or referenced in the scope statement.
4. Once written, the scope statement should never be revised.
5. all of the above.

Answers

1. e
2. d
3. e PMBOK, pg. 11
4. a PMBOK, pg. 12
5. a PMBOK, pg. 47 and glossary definition for Scope
6. b Definition "a" is an OBS. See PMBOK, pg. 56
7. c
8. e PMBOK, pg. 57
9. d PMBOK, pg. 56
10. c Answer "d", scope changes, is an output of the Scope Change Control Process. PMBOK, pg. 56
11. d PMBOK, pg. 57
12. b
13. a
14. e PMBOK, pg. 48
15. c ESI Challenge!, question 18
16. c
17. d
18. e
19. c
20. a