Project Scope: Why is it Important?

Let me begin with my personal experience.
When I went to the grocery store to buy my monthly groceries, it was the first time that I bought only items I could recall at that moment. Although I felt that I was missing some essential items, I could not remember them. Although I was able to spend more money, I’m not sure how much. I realized that I had forgotten to buy basic items like butter, milk, curd, curd, and hair dye for my husband. I bought items that were already in stock at home. I couldn’t pay my monthly bills because I spent more money on unnecessary groceries. This is what happens if you don’t properly scope your project. If I had outlined the requirements and boundaries for my shopping project before I went to the grocery store, I could have avoided extra time, money, and rework.
Let’s now look at scope and how it is important for project management.
What is project scope?
Project scope is the most important step in Project Management. Once the Project scope has been defined, all other steps can be derived. The project scope is the process of defining the boundaries of the project by listing the features and concluding with the set if deliverables.
Why is it important for project managers?
PMI conducts an annual survey and publishes a report on the state and causes of project failures. Based on close to 3000 project, program, and portfolio managers from diverse industries, the result showed that only 62% of projects met their original scope. Scope creep has increased to a large extent.
Poorly managed or uncontrolled scope can have a devastating impact on your project. This includes missing deadlines, budget overruns, and even project failure.
Let’s learn more about scope and its contribution to the success of a project.
What is the scope of a project?
According to PMBOK(r), Project Scope refers to “The work required to deliver a product or service with the specified features and functions.”
Project planning covers project scope. It documents specific project objectives, tasks and deadlines.
Three processes are involved in scope project management
Planning
Abraham Lincoln: “Give me six hours to cut down a tree, and I will spend four sharpening my axe.”
We are all forced to work fast in a fast-paced world. Projects are no exception. We are expected to deliver faster results as project managers. We tend to include a few steps in project management to get faster results. The planning stage of a project is the most important. With 12 years of experience in project management, I know how difficult it is to spend much time planning. However, I also learned that investing time in the planning stage would reduce the time and rework.
Plan scope management involves the preparation of detailed project documentation that captures and defines all work required for the project.
Controlling:
The scope control means closely monitoring and controlling project changes. Avoidance of scope creep and gold plating is the main focus.
Closing:
Final step is to review the project deliverables in relation to the original plan.
Steps in Project Scope
Collection of Requirements
It is often more difficult to decide what needs doing than it is to get it done. The first and most important step in project scope management is requirementgathering and analysis. This step will help the project team understand stakeholder expectations and identifyproject boundaries. The high-level requirements will be included in the project charter. This step will involve the project team in detailed and comprehensive requirement gathering.
Methods to collect the required