Scope Creep

Scope Creep

Scope Creep, words that make you cringe. Scope Creep can happen to even the most seasoned Project Manager, it can happen at any time and on even the most well planned project. Scope creep happened on a recent project in my office.

The project converting from our old Learning Management System (LMS) to a new Learning Management System. Project manager has created a project plan, time line and done all the research. Project is moving along, when suddenly the Director of the training department says that the LMS needs to produce a custom transcript that lists Continuing Professional Education credits along with Continuing Education Units. The project manager now has to review the project, add this in, speak with the hosting company, revisit the time line, and add this, as it was never part of the original project. We get moving again, and now the Chief Executive Officer realizes the LMS needs to do something else that is outside the original project scope. These two projects set our project back from a few weeks to several weeks what was to happen the first of the year didn't happen until late February, and still took many more months of releases and bug fixes, but the new LMS is released and being used on a daily basis.