Mastering Scope Management Plan in PMP: A Comprehensive Guide
Project Management Professionals use a Scope Management Plan to map out the steps the team will follow to achieve the project’s approved goals. This plan is a powerful tool for keeping the project team on schedule and within budget.
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PMI, PMP, and Scope Management Knowledge Area
Project Management Institute® (PMI) is a global professional organization advancing the project management profession through practice standards, certifications, and more. PMI’s Project Management Professional® (PMP) certification is focused on core project management knowledge. To earn a PMP, you must pass the PMP certification exam, which may assess your understanding of the 10 Project Management Knowledge Areas, such as Scope Management.
Scope Management Plan Process and Purpose
A project manager uses Project Scope Management processes to document the scope of the project so that the project team works towards creating the project deliverable within the project plan.
- Planning: define the project work and the scope baseline, and create a scope statement.
- Controlling: monitor progress against the scope management plan, track scope changes, and manage scope creep.
- Closing: audit final deliverables against the original scope management plan and project plan.
The project manager uses project requirements to create a Scope Management Plan that:
- manages stakeholder expectations,
- keeps the work aligned to goals throughout the project and
- manages (or prevents) scope creep
Scope Management Plan Benefits
There is value in being prepared for scope management plan PMP certification exam questions, but the real benefits of a scope management plan are for your projects. A project manager with a strong scope management plan can:
- Maintain alignment to shared goals: reduce time spent addressing misunderstandings among project stakeholders.
- Prevent scope creep: reduce time and money spent on out-of-scope efforts.
- Realize more accurate estimates: increase the accuracy of resource, cost, and time estimates from the clearly defined scope.
- Improve stakeholder communication: prevent misunderstanding with stakeholder communications on scope changes, scope creep, and progress.
Project Management Knowledge Area Integration
Scope management is integrated with other project management knowledge areas:
- cost management,
- integration management,
- quality management,
- risk management, and
- time management.
Good Project Management has an integrated scope management plan and project scope management efforts.
Scope Management Plan Components
Within Project Management standards, the Scope Management Plan will include:
- Scope Statement: The scope statement is the foundation of the Scope Management Plan, listing the project’s objectives, deliverables, assumptions, constraints, and exclusions.
- Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): The work breakdown structure is a hierarchical diagram of the project scope organized into manageable work packages and used to determine which work packages are in scope.
- Scope Baseline: agreement of project deliverables created by the project manager using the Scope Statement and Work Breakdown Structure.
- Scope Change Control Process: defines how proposed scope changes are evaluated, approved, and implemented using change request assessment criteria, decision-making roles, and communication processes.
Steps to Create a Scope Management Plan
There is no “scope management plan PMP,” but there are proven approaches to creating a scope management plan.
Step 1. Determine Scope Definition: identify the project’s objectives, deliverables, constraints, assumptions, and exclusions in a formal written document.
Step 2. Write a Scope Statement: serves as the reference point for determining what is “in scope” and “out-of-scope” for the project.
Step 3. Create a Scope Management Plan: document how the scope will be managed via the team roles and responsibilities, the change control process, and the scope change management processes.
Step 4. Confirm Scope Verification Process: functions as guide how deliverables are assessed and the process for their acceptance.
Step 5: Document the Scope Change Control Process: states how scope changes are assessed and, if approved, then implemented.
Common Scope Management Plan Challenge: Scope Creep
“Scope Creep” refers to incremental, minor changes that expand the project scope. When work is added without activating change controls, risks include:
- schedule delays,
- budget overages,
- stakeholder misunderstandings, and
- inaccurate project documentation.
A Scope management plan with project requirements and ongoing, timely stakeholder communication can limit scope creep.
Scope Management Best Practices
A savvy project manager employs continuous improvement techniques for effective scope management.
- Change Control Process: used to assess and incorporate scope changes to prevent scope creep.
- Lessons Learned: apply validated scope management tools and techniques.
- Performance Measurement: maintain project performance monitoring against the scope baseline to take timely action and keep work within plans.
- Stakeholder Communication: engage with stakeholders regarding how the work is progressing and the impact of changes.
Conclusion
A Scope Management Plan helps keep the project scope within defined boundaries through the planning, controlling, and closing processes. A project manager needs to know the scope management plan’s purpose, components, and benefits to prepare for the PMP® certification exam and be a successful project manager.