7. Understand project scope management

Question 1

Explain each of the following two stages in a typical change control process:
■ Request for change
■ Recommendation

Answer 1

Request for change:
A change request may occur if there are change in circumstances or if additional tasks/objectives need to be considered as part of the project which in return may impact the project schedule and budget. Anyone is eligible to raise a change request as this is the beginning of the process
where the PM will input the change on the change log, it will carry an associated ID, high-level details of the change, who that raised it, before it can be further evaluated. This step is to ensure that any applicable changes to the project is raised and captured with some detail, so that the change control
process can be applied. The change log can then be updated as the change is tracked through the process.

Recommendation:
Once a change is evaluated, there are options in terms of how to address the change.
The project may either accept the change (add it to the scope of the project and re-baseline) which can be approved by the project sponsor; reject the request (if it is not financially viable, add any value in terms of benefits documented in the business case, or potentially carries a high level of risk to the project objectives) and lastly defer (where this may be escalated to the sponsor for further discussion at a more appropriate time). This step in the process would see the project manager seek authorisation from the
project sponsor on the agreed way forward and gives confidence that the right approach will be taken to deal with the change request.

Question 2

Explain three factors that should be considered when defining a project’s scope

Answer 2

One factor would be time.

When you are going through the project scope you need to include items
that will fit inside the time you have been given. For example, if a stakeholder in a car building project wanted technology inside the car that is yet to be released you may not include it in the scope of your project. This is because your project may not want a dependency on an external organisation to create the technology for your project to then use. If they had delays this would have a knock on impact on your project. You would have included timescales in your business case which would have been baselined and
you would be trying your best to stick to it.

Another factor is cost.

In your business case you would have outlined the key deliverables that you
are going to complete. You will have a set budget that you have been given and whilst budgets can be amended after they have been baselined you would still refuse any scope creep if it was too expensive.
One example is if your project had a £10M budget and you had expected costs of £10M you would not add an item of work into your scope that would further exceed this budget. The only reason you would is if the analysis displayed the benefits of adding one further item would exceed the current benefits by
more than the new item would cost. This would have to be presented to the project sponsor for them to make the ultimate decision.

Quality.
You would have a quality management and control plan that has defined the expected quality of the system your project team is going to develop. If one item in the scope does not meet this quality criteria then it could be excluded from the scope. An example would be if you were building a house and the requirements told you the depth and size of bricks to use but there was a cheaper alternative slightly smaller than required you would not just use the new brick because it is cheaper. If you did your project
would fall short on quality expectations. In this example, you could clarify the request with the originator because your requirements would detail the person who wanted this as a requirement for tracking
purposes.

Question 3

Question part (a)
Explain two steps in a configuration management process that help to manage the scope of a project.
Marks 20 marks (10 marks each)

Question part (b)
Explain three steps in a requirements management process that help to establish the scope of a project.
Marks 30 marks (10 marks each)

Answer 3

Question part (a)
1) Configuration status accounting: this is the penultimate step of the configuration management process and essentially records and reports on the status of any deliverable and its configuration management information. It enables traceability of the configuration items throughout the life cycle. This helps to manage scope as it allows the users to identify the updated accounts of the configuration item, showing all changes up to the current point and who is responsible for creating the latest version ensuring that no scope creep is occurring.

2) Configuration verification audit: This is the final step in the configuration management process and this involves determining whether a deliverable conforms to its requirements and configuration information. This normally takes place at the end of a phase, when the deliverable is complete or when transitioning the output into use - these audits can also happen throughout the lifecycle as well. This helps to manage project scope as it demonstrates that the products conforming to specification, are consistent and are in line with their most current configuration status.
Question part (b)
1) Gather: This is the first step in the requirement management process and involves using investigative techniques (such as questionnaires, interviews and checklists) to gather the requirements from the user. This can help to establish the scope of the project as it establishes the exact requirements needed for the products desired and allows for the team to understand the exact deliverables.

2) Analyse: this is the second step in the process and involves using evaluative methods such as investment appraisals and schedule management. This results in a thorough understanding of requirements and the value that they will contribute to the overall project. This may include the need for a ‘requirements catalogue’ as a form of recording the information.

3) Justification: This is the third step in the process and is about reviewing the documented requirements, to ensure that they support and are relevant to the project/business needs whilst also providing advice on the acceptance criteria needed to achieve the outcomes. This helps to establish the project scope as it reduces the chance of scope creep and requires a strong foundation in terms of reference to check against as the project progresses.