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Managing Scope Creep

Scope Creep. It happens on almost every project, every day, in every cross-functional area. Scope creep is when a project has begun and then more elements are added to the project. It’s to be expected in the areas like design and development where a technical expert is working with a business person trying to come up with a solution together. Most clients are not familiar enough with design to be able to outline every single element they need in a final project—if they were, they’d probably be completing the project themselves and you wouldn’t be working with them.

Sometimes scope creep is instigated by the designer. The designer comes up with an idea or points out a area where the project is lacking. This is when the designer must strike a balance between coming up with ideas then sharing and implementing them for free, or introducing each idea with a Change Order and cost associated—too many of these on a project and a client may feel “nickel and dimed” or that the designer didn’t do the necessary up-front work they should have to bid the project.

Managing scope creep has three main components:

Statement of Work (define the original scope)
Change Order (to track and manage changes to the original scope)
Post-Project Review (outlines the differences between a Statement of Work and a Change Order).

Statement of Work

To manage scope creep you must first have a clearly defined scope. This clarifies to both sides what will be delivered, how long it will take and how much it will cost. An in-house designer may not always be able to deliver a final document and have it signed off before work begins, but an email sent to the internal client outlining what they are asking for and the delivery date will suffice. This email should followup an in person meeting and carries the added benefit of showing that the in-house designer is professional, prepared and engaged. It is always appropriate to follow up with these items to clarify that everyone is on the same page.

Different Types of Statement of Work Documents

Choosing the right kind of Statement of Work depends on your organization and how large the project is.

Proposal Type

If the project being considered will have billable hours and a set timeframe a proposal/Statement of Work is best. This document should include:

Project Title

Client / Contact Person

Date

Description of the Project

Process to complete the Project

Deliverables as line-items

Post-project hourly rate (if offered)

Payment Terms

Terms & Conditions

Acceptance Signature

Spreadsheet Type

A spreadsheet type of Statement of Work is especially helpful if there are many elements of the project or if the project will be handled cross functionally. This is similar to a Gantt chart or resource plan, but focuses specifically on the scope of the project. This document should have the following column headers:

Owner

Task ID

Task Description

Functional Area (design, copywriting, development, etc)

Delivery Date

Notes

Email Follow-up Type

An email Statement of Work is the least-formal, but sometimes the minimum that can be put into place on an in-house design project. The email should include:

Deliverables

Time-frame

Allude to a Change Order

A sample of this could be:

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for your time to discuss the summer party.

To confirm, you need us to complete the following by end of day Thursday, September 9:

3 posters (24” x 36”)

Text-only email to all employees

Small ad on the employee intranet (340 px 280px)

Printed invitations for all employees (4.25” x 5.5”, full color, one sided, 350 copies)

Please let me know if this is correct. If there is anything else I need to add it to the list to make sure we can track all the moving pieces to meet the timeframe.

Change Orders

Now that the Statement of Work has been set and agreed upon by the client you can get to work. This is when the inevitable changes start to come up. No matter what the change is, issue a Change Order.

If the client needs Google Analytics installed and sends you the tracking code, reply immediately and thank them for sending along the information, let them know that it’s outside of the original scope so it needs to be handled via Change Order. The Change Order sometimes includes an additional cost and can change the final delivery date. In the example above, adding Google Analytics, it probably won’t take more than a few additional minutes to add if it’s delivered at the right stage of the project, so a $0 Change Order that does not impact the final timeframe is issued.

Larger changes, like when a client or designer forgets an entire element to a project, need to be clearly spelled out, charged for and have the time adjusted for.
Never change your initial Statement of Work, keep that document pure and append with Change Orders. In the case of a spreadsheet-style Statement of Work you will add changes into the sheet but assign them different task IDs. In the case of an email Statement of Work a reply that states the change and negotiates date, deliverable or budget is appropriate. You may find it necessary to issue Change Order numbers and have a central document that tracks each Change Order.

Post Project Review

The project is complete and it’s time to move on. It seems that clients rarely remember all the last-minute changes. Who hasn’t finished a project with a monstrous last-minute push to later hear a client say the project was late or over-budget?

You have the Statement of Work and the Change Orders. These documents should combine to explain why a project was late or over budget.

Before the dust settles it’s time to send out a post-project review. This can be as informal as an email thanking the client for choosing you or working with you or as formal as a presentation showing what was completed. No matter the final form, show a comparison of initial scope and final delivery. This can be in general terms or in specifics. The goals of this is to wrap up the project completely and review with the client all of the extra effort that went into it.

This accomplishes several things:

it makes sure you get the credit you deserve for the work completed;
it points out why the project may be later or more costly than initially planned;
it helps you as the designer refine your process so the next time a scope document is written any necessary elements that were handled via Change Order will be in the Statement of Work; and,
it illustrates why you may ask for more time or more budget the next time a similar project arises.

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