Firstly, scope creep is essentially an increase in project requirements throughout the project lifecycle. Scope creep has been prevalent on each project in which I have been involved with some instances of additional scope amounting to +10% of the total amount of hours to the scope already planned.

Often, scope creep finds its origins within the internal environment through project stakeholders, inadequate planning or a change in plant condition, but scope creep can also develop due to externally induced environmental factors such as unforeseen governmental requirements, technological advancements or socioeconomic influences.

Change management is therefore a crucial element in project management as it defines how existing scope, baseline schedule and sanctioned budget are to be impacted. Although brownfield projects often expose the project manager to the greatest scope creep, the element of unknown within greenfield projects will constantly challenge the constraints on authorised scope throughout the project lifecycle.

Although many can acknowledge the existence of scope creep, not all can appreciate the value in the adoption of a scope change management strategy. Identified within the execution phase of any project, scope creep proposals are often ill-defined and material-poor, consequently leading to schedule overruns, safety concerns and commonly riddled with quality issues.

Nested within the literature-backed Project Management Plan is the Change Management Plan which subsequently defines all the parameters of any change experienced throughout the project lifecycle. It is within these developed processes and procedures in which we can aim to wrestle with the inevitability of change. By creating and enforcing distinct thresholds for scope inclusion, this can be invaluable in outlining and communicating the expectations of the project outcome aswell as the expectation of key project stakeholders.

Although we may never be able to fully mitigate change, we can do our best to manage and control it.

Remember, “Change is inevitable. Change is constant”.

Author: Alex Hanly