As I began brainstorming for this blog assignment I realized that most of the projects I have been a part of have had some scope creep. Yet upon further analysis it seemed that the amount of pre-planning and monitoring throughout the project dictated the amount of scope creep.
Most recently I experienced scope creep in a project that was initially designed to prepare instructors for the next school year and complete summer work hours. As an online high school instructor I am required to work throughout the summer even though my students are on summer break. This usually means that myself and other instructors have summer projects that involve reflecting on the previous year and preparing for the coming year. This year our summer project was suppose to be the creation of course guides that could be used as a study resource for students. This course guide would include the timeline for courses, the topics covered each week, required readings, lecture recordings, supplemental resources, and major assignments.
The pre-planning for this project included a course guide template, a timeline of check-in meetings, and a discussion amongst instructors of what additions or changes would strengthen the usefulness of the course guides. Yet two weeks before the summer projects were to begin we were told that half of the curriculum that we would be utilizing in the coming year would be changed but not available until near the end of the summer. This left everyone scrambling to try to figure out how the course guide project could be adjusted and the project leader ended up making different accommodations for each individual instructor. The project is to be presented next week and after chatting with other instructors it seems that this once dynamic project will not live up to the expectations set at the start of the project.
In this course I now see how the scope creep could have been avoided, leaving the project results uncompromised. I believe the first change I would make would be the amount of pre-planning. I would have involved all the stakeholders, including the curriculum team, from the start of the project. This pre-planning would have also allowed for the identification of potential risks and the creation of contingency plans. Next, I would have established a very clear plan for monitoring the project and for instructors to report their status throughout the project timeline. Lastly, I probably would have been flexible enough to completely change the project and project goals, especially because changing the project was an option. The point of the summer project was to help instructors to prepare for the coming school year and if a different project would have become more beneficial the project should have been changed.
Thank you.
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects (pp. 1-21). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Stolovitch, .H, "Monitoring Projects" [video format] Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5364556&Survey=1&47=7136420&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1
