Generally speaking, the scope of a project should not change. However, in the real world scope change is difficult to eliminate altogether. Inevitably the presence of many interrelated moving parts means that the initial project estimate and the final project cost (or deadline) are rarely the same. Scope change can be authorized or unauthorized. The latter is often … [Read more...]
Scope issues are the #1 reason for project failure. A scope management plan is the component of the project management plan that describes how the scope will be defined, developed, monitored, controlled and validated (Project Management Body of Knowledge, 6th Edition). The core of the scope management plan is the project scope statement. However, the other items … [Read more...]
Many projects have a long list of requirements, from product features to design standards to quality metrics. Each of these requirements originated from a stakeholder, manager, or company policy. To make matters difficult, the stakeholder often can't even articulate their requirements or how they would like it implemented into a solution, or company policies … [Read more...]
Scope management, or rather the lack of it, is one of the biggest reasons for project failure. Correctly defining what is and is not included in the project is absolutely foundational to good project management. I've seen many projects go south even though they had the right expertise, schedule, high quality deliverables, and even satisfied clients. But if the dreaded … [Read more...]
A Requirements Traceability Matrix is a project management tool that provides a formal way to track project requirements. It links project (or product) requirements from their origins to the deliverables that satisfy them. At the outset of each project, prior to even the scope statement, the requirements should be identified and prioritized. Things like paint quality … [Read more...]
