Describe Scope And 4 Ways To Develop Project Scope

 

Hi Paul/John

I had a go at example question section 8 p159 – think I may not have written enough about developing scope (ran out of time)- Please can you comment on the answer and if possible give me an idea as a % as to the mark it might have got in the real exam. Many thanks for your help.

 

The scope of a project is the factor that governs what a project will aim to achieve or deliver. In the business case there will be a statement defining the business problem the project is set up to address. There will be some high level scoping work done in the initial concept phase of the project, but this is likely to be at quite a high level with some room for interpretation. As the project moves into definition phase the scope will be defined so that the scope of what the project will produce shall be quite tightly defined.  At the end of the definition phase the scope should be well defined enough that it maps onto a set of products or work packages that the project will complete in order to address the scope of the project. The scope should consist of a detailed and prioritised list of requirements and the products and work packages should include tests to show that when completed they address the requirements and so the project scope.

 

Pentagon diagram showing Time, Risk, Quality, Cost, Benefit at each of the vertices – with balance point in centre

 

The above diagram details the factors of the project concerned with its scope. The scope of the project is a compromise between these factors. It shows that increasing one factor may require more input from another factor. For instance if maximum benefits are to be achieved, more time and cost may need to be expended on the project.

 

The scope of the project may be determined by consultation with the stakeholders of the project, using workshops and brainstorming . Reductionist analysis of what factors are required to achieve the benefits of the project may help to determine the minimum requirements that the project may need to achieve. Considering the maximum time and cost that can be devoted to the project will also determine the scope.