What Is Causing Scope Creep in Your Projects?

What does project success look like to you? To most project managers, a project is counted as a "win" when it's completed on time, within budget, and with the intended outcome. It's what you expect out of every project, but in reality, more than half of all projects don't deliver to plan. The culprit? An insidious thief that lurks in the shadows around every project, stealing your time, derailing your budget, and throwing your plans into chaos.

That thief is known as scope creep, and it's one of the biggest challenges in project management. In this blog, we'll give you tips to help you catch scope creep red-handed so that you can get back to business and back to project success.

What Is Scope Creep?

Every project begins with clearly defined boundaries, including deadlines, milestones, resource allocation, and budget. Scope creep encompasses anything that extends the project beyond its original boundaries.

Once the project scope is breached, even the most carefully laid plans are compromised, and your project becomes vulnerable to failure. To banish scope creep, you must first understand what causes it and how to identify it. But, like any thief, it can be hard to pin down. Here's what you need to know to catch scope creep before it's too late.

What Causes Scope Creep?

Contrary to its name, scope creep doesn't always sneak up on you. Sometimes, it's already there before the project even kicks off. There are two primary reasons your project may be at risk for scope creep:

1. The original scope was inadequate

You know that phrase about "under-promising and over-delivering"? Sometimes, the reverse is what actually happens, setting you up immediately for scope creep before you even get off the ground. Trying to force a project to meet a tight deadline, work within a too-lean budget, or reach completion without an adequate amount of resources or support is like leaving your house unlocked while you're away on vacation. It's an invitation to steal everything inside.

2. The project evolves beyond the original scope

This isn't the result of poor planning, but instead, a lack of adaptability. At times, a project will evolve beyond the parameters you've set. But if you aren't ready to adjust and pivot where needed, you're likely to find your project straining — and potentially breaking — the boundaries of its scope.

How Do I Know I Have a Problem with Scope Creep?

To know if scope creep is lurking around your project, ready to pounce, be on the lookout for these key identifiers:

1: Project Scope Statement

This is the cornerstone of your project; however, if it lacks clarity or detail, it leaves the project's execution open to interpretation. Think of your scope statement as a fence around your project. One weak link could be enough to let scope creep slip in.

2: Communication Gaps

Conversations now occur across various channels, including emails, texts, Zoom meetings, and online chats. If your team doesn't have a clear understanding of the project scope, they may promise deliverables and timelines that aren't achievable. And if they aren't relaying accurate information, your clients' expectations may not align with what's realistic. Effective communication and collaboration among managers, team members, and clients are crucial in preventing scope creep.

3: Inadequate Project Tracking

Can you tell at a glance exactly how many hours you've spent on a particular project, and how many hours remain in the budget? Do you know what tasks your team members have completed at any given time? If not, you're vulnerable to scope creep. A configurable, real-time, agile time tracking system can help you stay on track and in scope.

4: Change Management Process

You can't expect the unexpected, but you can be ready for it. Projects grow and evolve over time, and at times, they expand beyond their original scope. How you account for and manage these changes could mean the difference between success and failure for these projects. If your change control process isn't clearly outlined or doesn't allow for the types of changes you might anticipate, you won't be able to grow your scope as needed.

5: Gold-Plating

We all want to surprise and delight our clients, demonstrating that we are going above and beyond. However, if you find that your team is purposely going above budget and beyond deadlines to prove its value, you have a problem with gold-plating. Your worth should be evident in the quality of the predefined deliverables and in your ability to stay on task and on time, not in busting budgets to impress a client. Exceeding expectations is one thing, but gold-plating is a sure way to open your project up to scope creep.

What Can I Do to Stop It?

If you know you have a problem with scope creep, you've already taken the first step in banishing it. Learn from past project failures and build safeguards around new project scopes to prevent scope creep. Here's what you can do to protect yourself from scope creep:

• Be proactive. Success happens at the start of the project, not the end. Create a scope with achievable goals and ensure it is clearly conveyed to all team members.
• Set expectations. Communicate with clients throughout the project so they understand what they can expect to see and when. If you anticipate changes to the budget or timeline, sit down to reevaluate all statements of work before they go out of scope.
• Plan for changes. In your statement of work, outline clearly how you'll handle changes and how that may impact the scope of the project. Discuss your change process with clients and team members so they know how to initiate a change request.
• Stay vigilant. As a project manager, you need to have constant, real-time visibility into the project's progress. Utilize project management software to track task completion, budgets, and resource utilization, ensuring you always know your current status.
• Say "no" when you need to. If a client or team member has an ask that exceeds the scope of the statement of work, saying "no" isn't just justified; it's necessary. If a change is required, be sure they go through your established change control process. If a team member wants to go out of scope for the purpose of gold-plating, be firm in explaining why they can't. Look to your statement of work as your source of truth, and fall back on it whenever you encounter unnecessary requests.

Start your projects out the right way to keep scope creep at bay. And if you find you're consistently maxing out your project budgets, we can help you find ways to stay on track. Don't let scope creep steal your time and derail your projects.