Contents
Contents
Before you begin
v
How to work through this learner guide
v
Assessmentvi
Resourcesvii
Introduction: Managing project scope
1
Chapter 1: Conducting project authorisation activities
7
1.1 Developing and confirming project authorisation with an appropriate authority 8
1.2 Obtaining authorisation to expend resources
15
Discussion topics
19
Chapter summary
20
Checklist for Chapter 1
20
Assessment activity 1: Conducting project authorisation activities
21
Record your employability skills
22
Chapter 2: Conducting project scope definition activities 23
2.1 Identifying the scope of a project
24
2.2 Establishing measurable benefits and outcomes to evaluate the project’s
performance
31
2.3 Reaching agreement of the project’s outcomes with stakeholders
34
2.4 Developing and implementing a scope management plan
39
Discussion topics
42
Chapter summary
42
Checklist for Chapter 2
43
Assessment activity 2: Conducting project scope definition activities
44
Record your employability skills
45
Chapter 3: Managing the application of scope controls
47
3.1 Implementing agreed scope management procedures and processes
48
3.2 Managing the impact of scope changes to meet project objectives
56
3.3 Reviewing progress and recording results to assess the effectiveness of
scope management procedures
60
3.4 Identifying, documenting and passing on scope management issues and
improvements 64
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BSBPMG502A Manage project scope
Discussion topics
66
Chapter summary
66
Checklist for Chapter 3
67
Assessment activity 3: Managing the application of scope controls
68
Record your employability skills
70
Final assessment: BSBPMG502A Manage project scope
71
Employability skills
75
Appendices77
Appendix 1: How the learner guide addresses the unit of competency 77
Appendix 2: Employability skills
79
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Introduction: Managing project scope
Introduction
Managing project scope
As project manager, you are clearly and solely responsible for the management and
leadership of a complex project. You may be an employee of the organisation or an
external consultant appointed for the duration of the project.
Projects are clearly defined activities that organisations embark on to achieve a desired
outcome; for example, implementing a new system or organising a conference. Projects
are usually temporary, though some may continue for many months, and have a
beginning, middle and an end.
Successful projects begin with a clear definition of what is required; that is, the scope of
the project. This helps the project manager identify what they must deliver. It also helps
clarify tasks that are not their responsibility and so avoids what is referred to as scope
creep – additional activities being incorporated into the project without considering the
impact on other aspects of the project.
In this learner guide, you will learn how to obtain authorisation for project activities,
define and document the scope of a project, develop a scope management plan and
manage project scope controls throughout the project.
Managing a complex project
A complex project is one that encompasses a number of disciplines or areas within an
organisation. The project may be of medium- to long-term duration, and may involve
multiple stakeholders (who may be internal or external to the organisation), a large
budget and a range of activities that need to be conducted and managed concurrently.
A complex project is defined as a project that involves:
ƒƒ a comprehensive and multifaceted project plan that clearly identifies all the activities,
tasks, resources and time frames associated with the project
ƒƒ a formal internal or external communications strategy to inform key stakeholders
on an ongoing basis for the life of the project
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Introduction: Managing project scope
Stage 1
Identify organisational need
Stage 2
Define the project
Identify the purpose, scope and objectives of the project.
Stage 3
Develop the project plan
Identify how the project outcomes will be achieved.
Stage 4
Administer and monitor the project
Undertake and monitor activities to ensure the project
is progressing to plan.
Manage difficulties that arise.
Stage 5
Finalise the project
Organise approvals and sign-offs.
Prepare a project report identifying the project benefits.
Stage 6
Review the project
Review the project outcomes to identify that the project
achieved what it set out to.
Identify lessons to be applied to future projects.
Scoping a project
The scope of a project is everything a project contains or needs to achieve. In a complex
project, the scope may be considerable and may include a time line of several months,
a number of stakeholders and project personnel, a range of resources and an extensive
budget.
Clearly defining what is in the scope helps project managers stay focused on their
required deliverables and avoid taking on additional responsibilities. As mentioned,
scope creep occurs when additional deliverables are added to a project without
considering the impact on available time and resources.
It is also crucial to define what is not in the scope of a project, as stakeholders may
have different ideas of what the project is about unless it is formally discussed, agreed
on and documented. Managers of complex projects must consider a broader range of
requirements than managers of simpler projects, so it is essential that all aspects are
clearly identified and documented so no-one assumes that something will be included
or not included.
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Chapter 1: Conducting project authorisation activities
1.2 Obtaining authorisation to expend resources
Defining and executing a project requires a range of resources, including personnel,
contractors, equipment and other materials. Project managers must identify the
required resources and secure authorisation to expend them.
Identifying required resources
Resource requirements vary depending on the project. Project managers form a detailed
understanding of resource requirements when they define the scope of the project and
prepare the project scope (project scope activities are discussed in full in Chapter 2).
The following table outlines commonly required resources and questions you might ask
to identify your requirements.
Resource
Personnel
Factors to consider
What expertise is required?
Where will resources be drawn from?
Will we have to contract external people or second people from other
departments?
How long will we need them for?
Equipment
What equipment is required to execute the project?
What equipment do project members need to complete their work?
Have we the necessary equipment or do we need to buy, hire or lease it?
Materials
What materials are required to execute the project?
What materials do project members need to complete their work?
Facilities
What facilities are required to execute the project?
What facilities do project members need to complete their work?
Funding
What funding is required to pay for the resources?
Who will provide the funding?
Will all funding be provided at once or in stages?
Time
What are the project deadlines?
How long will it take to complete the work?
Are there any significant project milestones?
Will more resources ensure time lines are met?
Identifying when resources are required
Resource requirements vary throughout the life cycle of the project. In the early planning
stages, the project manager may work alone or with relatively few team members.
During the execution phase, project members increase, and so does the use of facilities,
equipment and materials. As the project is finalised, team members are reallocated and
resources are reduced.
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Chapter 1: Conducting project authorisation activities
Assessment activity 1
Conducting project authorisation activities
Your trainer or assessor may require you to complete this assessment activity and will
provide you with instructions as to how to present your responses. They may provide
alternative or additional assessment activities depending on the circumstances of your
training program.
The following table maps the assessment activity for this chapter against the element
and performance criteria of Element 1 in BSBPMG502A Manage project scope.
Part
Element
Performance criteria
A
1
1.1, 1.2
B
1
1.1, 1.2
C
1
1.1, 1.2
Part A
1. What are the possible consequences of commencing work on a project without
confirming the project authorisation?
2. What is the role of the project sponsor? How can the project sponsor help you gain
authorisation for a project?
3. Describe procedures for obtaining authority to expend resources for three different
items; for example, hiring a new employee or purchasing a major item. For each
procedure, identify:
ƒƒ who provides the authority
ƒƒ what documentation is required
ƒƒ what forum grants the authorisation.
4. Why do project managers often have authority to spend up to a certain amount of
money on items without needing to undertake authorisation procedures each time
they need to purchase something?
Part B
Read the case study, then answer the questions that follow.
Case study
Tough Kids is an online children’s clothing retailer. They are preparing to launch their new summer
clothing line. The marketing manager, Renee, is responsible for the advertising campaign. She
and Marc, the product manager, are excited about a revised marketing campaign. They will
provide free samples to influential media commentators including radio hosts and Internet
bloggers. They have decided that the traditional printed catalogue will also be available on
their website with provision for ordering online, although this has not yet been agreed to by
Russell the business’s owner. Renee and Marc haven’t started on the catalogue yet as they are
so excited about the new media strategy.
continued …
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BSBPMG502A Manage project scope
2.3 Reaching agreement of the project’s outcomes
with stakeholders
Project managers must ensure that all key stakeholders agree to the desired project
outcomes at the planning stage. This helps prevent any later confusion or conflict about
what the project was intended to achieve. It also helps build stakeholder support for the
project, which helps the project manager and team members during project activities.
Identifying key stakeholders
Stakeholders are any individuals or groups who have a vested interest in the project.
Some stakeholder groups will be the same for all projects, such as team members or
project sponsors. Other stakeholders may vary depending on the nature and scale of the
project; for example, the finance manager may not be actively involved in the project
but may make decisions about the budget available for the project.
In general, stakeholders include:
ƒƒ team members
ƒƒ clients
ƒƒ project sponsors
ƒƒ internal and external parties, such as other managers, contract workers and suppliers
ƒƒ decision-makers, such as a company’s owner, its managing director, board members,
a steering committee and senior management
ƒƒ people who are affected by the project outcomes; for example, general staff members
or people in the community.
Stakeholders may be internal or external. For example, if funding comes from an external
source, such as a government grant, then the government department funding the grant
is a stakeholder. Depending on the rules of the grant, the government department may
also be a decision-maker.
Suppliers may also be external stakeholders. When developing a new product, for
example, component suppliers are a critical part of developing and achieving product
outcomes. Project managers must consult with suppliers about their capabilities before
committing to project outcomes.
You must be able to identify stakeholders in order to meet their requirements and
succeed with the project. Review organisational charts and discuss the stakeholders
with the project sponsor to identify all those involved. For complex projects, it is useful
to develop a specific chart of stakeholders and their roles and responsibilities within
the project. Further information can be found in Aspire’s learner guide BSBPMG506A
Manage project human resources.
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BSBPMG502A Manage project scope
Changes in scope are discussed further in sections 3.1 and 3.2.
In the following case study, the project manager develops a scope management
procedure, then communicates it to her team.
Case study
As part of defining the scope for the warehouse relocation, Kate drafts a scope management
procedure. In the procedure, she includes:
‚‚ examples of scope variation
‚‚ the authority levels required for different categories of variation
‚‚ the documentation required to support each category of variation.
Kate anticipates that the most likely variations will be to what she is asked to do as part of
preparing for the stock relocation. To prepare for this, she checks that she has clearly outlined
these requirements in her baseline scope description.
Kate reviews the chart of authorities for Benson’s Office Products and identifies that she can
authorise changes up to 10 per cent of the project budget without additional approval. She
includes this in the scope management plan.
Kate meets with the project sponsor and finance manager and explains her scope management
process. They agree that she will update them about any scope changes during the regular
progress meetings, or call a separate meeting if the issue is time critical.
Kate reviews the scope management procedure at the next team meeting.
Here is Kate’s scope management plan.
Scope Management Plan
Project: Warehouse relocation
Scope management approach
‚‚ Communicate scope to stakeholders.
‚‚ Regularly monitor scope and identify variations from scope when they occur.
‚‚ Assess the resource and schedule requirements of the variation.
‚‚ Update changes.
‚‚ Obtain authorisation for the scope variation.
‚‚ Communicate the variation to affected stakeholders.
Roles and responsibilities
Project sponsor: Theo Benson, Managing Director
The project sponsor is the approval authority for the initial scope and any variations to the
scope that may be submitted during the project. He is also responsible for overseeing the
project and accepting project deliverables.
Project manager: Kate Wesley
The project manager is responsible for scope management, including:
‚‚ reviewing and determining the impact of any scope change requests
‚‚ obtaining authorisation for scope variation from the project sponsor
‚‚ communicating changes in scope to affected stakeholders.
continued …
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Chapter 3: Managing the application of scope controls
Chapter 3
Managing the application of scope
controls
Modern organisations must be able to respond to change quickly and effectively.
Changes in the business environment also affect projects. Managing scope controls
effectively throughout a complex project helps project managers respond to change
without compromising the project’s objectives and outcomes.
It is important to learn from experiences, so it is crucial that any issues that arise in
relation to scope management are documented and applied to future projects.
Stages 4 (Administer and monitor the project), 5 (Finalise the project) and 6 (Review
the project) of the project lift cycle are addressed in this chapter.
In this chapter you will learn about:
3.1 Implementing agreed scope management procedures and processes
3.2 Managing the impact of scope changes to meet project objectives
3.3 Reviewing progress and recording results to assess the effectiveness of scope
management procedures
3.4 Identifying, documenting and passing on scope management issues and
improvements
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BSBPMG502A Manage project scope
3.2 Managing the impact of scope changes to meet
project objectives
Scope changes can affect project objectives in a number of ways. They may cause
outcomes to be reduced, revised or increased, depending on the nature of the change.
Project managers must manage scope changes to reduce any negative effects on project
objectives and maximise any opportunities. Developing sound analytical and problemsolving skills helps you respond to potential and actual changes, while the effective use of
negotiation skills is essential when communicating changes to scope with stakeholders.
Managing change control procedures
You may use a range of procedures as outlined in your scope management plan to
manage the scope change. As mentioned in section 3.1, this generally involves updating
project documentation and extending project monitoring activities to include any
additional or revised project elements. You need to establish a system for monitoring
the effect of the change on the overall project.
Change control procedures may include:
ƒƒ updating formal agreements such as contracts, sub-contracts or memoranda of
understanding to reflect the revised scope and any related requirements
ƒƒ updating project documentation such as the work plan, schedule and budget
to reflect the revised scope, as well as any statements, directives, guidelines and
instructions that are affected by the revised scope
ƒƒ overseeing the implementation of physical changes such as the redesign of a product.
For example, a project manager may decide to add a feature to a product specification
during the design and development stage. Once approved, the manager may need to
update the contract with the supplier to reflect the revised design. They should also
update the development schedule and project budget, then share this information with
the project sponsor and other key stakeholders.
Communicating scope changes and their impact on project outcomes is an important
part of managing change. In some cases, updating and distributing revised project
documentation will be sufficient for communicating the effect of change. In others, you
will need to meet with individual stakeholders or groups and explain the reasons for the
change and how it will affect each stakeholder.
Meeting time, cost and quality constraints
There will be times when you need to address scope changes within the existing project
constraint; for example, you might lose an existing team member, but still be required
to deliver the project outcomes within the specified time line.
You need to apply your analytical and problem-solving skills to minimise the effect of
scope change on the existing project constraints. This is an important part of planning
a response when the potential change is identified.
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BSBPMG502A Manage project scope
When evaluating scope management procedures,
it is often useful to discuss your findings with a colleague.
Documenting the assessment
The results of your evaluation are important for the project review and debriefing
procedures. Document the results of your assessment so they can be easily shared,
including information about the:
ƒƒ baseline scope
ƒƒ rationale for scope changes
ƒƒ effect of scope changes on the overall project
ƒƒ outcome of the assessment.
Different organisations may have different protocols for documenting assessment
results. You may be required to write and present a report summarising the performance,
or you may create graphs and other visual tools to compare performance against key
benchmarks. Use organisational templates if they exist.
Some organisations may request that you present a review of the overall project, in
which case the review of scope management procedures will form part of this larger
review. In this situation, you might keep notes about your evaluation and include them
in the formal project review.
Any document about evaluating procedures should be written in clear, simple language,
with minimal jargon. Structure your document so it is easy to follow and so it complies
with any relevant organisational templates.
In the following case study, the project manager meets with project stakeholders to
evaluate the effectiveness of the scope management procedures.
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BSBPMG502A Manage project scope
Case study
During her evaluation of the scope management procedures, Kate identified that the warehouse
supervisor, Vishal, did not have enough time to develop the warehouse fitout specification.
Kate is preparing a project report for the management team. This report includes her
recommendations for improving project management procedures. She arranges to meet with
Vishal to better understand what caused his concerns.
During their meeting, Kate realises that Vishal had retained most of his warehouse responsibilities
while he was working part time on her project, because there had been no-one available to take
over from him.
Together, Kate and Vishal develop a proposal recommending that any employees seconded from
operational positions to project roles, even part time, are replaced with temporary agency staff
wherever possible. They develop a preliminary business case and review it with the warehouse
manager, Les, ahead of including it in Kate’s project report.
Practice task 10
1. Describe the things a project manager needs to consider when preparing a report to
recommend improvements to the scope management process.
2. Identify an opportunity for improving the project scope management process at your
organisation. Write a short document (not more than two pages) recommending this
improvement to your manager. Present the document to your manager.
Discussion topics
Learners in a classroom can form a discussion group or have a debate. Those in the
workplace might like to brainstorm these ideas with their colleagues. If you are learning
independently, you might like to set up a chatroom with other learners or ask a friend
for their opinion.
ƒƒ Do you believe that monitoring project progress will provide a project manager
with enough information to monitor potential scope changes? Give reasons for your
response.
ƒƒ A project team member reveals at the team meeting that she has spent most of the
week working on something outside the project scope. How do you respond?
ƒƒ ‘Spending time on a project review is a waste – I want to get onto the next project.’
How would you respond to a manager who made this statement?
Chapter summary
ƒƒ Monitor project activities and compare them to the project planning documents to
identify areas that are outside the baseline scope.
ƒƒ Manage scope by identifying factors that influence changes to scope; determining
that a scope change has occurred or is about to occur; identifying and reporting
scope creep; implementing agreed scope changes; monitoring and reporting the
effect of scope changes; refining scope progressively throughout the project life
cycle; and seeking authorisation for changes to project scope.
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