Managing Project Scope

Overview/Description
 There is a story of 4 blind men, each touching a different part of an elephant and describing what they think an elephant is like--a snake, a tree trunk, a barrel, a water hose. This can be the same in projects where there is a vast difference in what you deliver and what the customer expects--both of you looked at the same thing, used the same words, but expected something different. A critical skill in managing projects is to understand what is needed and manage the customer's expectations as to what will be delivered. The first step is to set and define the project scope. Negotiating and working with project stakeholders to keep support for the project is also a large part of project management. By the end of this course, you will have the skills needed to determine, negotiate, and effectively manage project scope.

Target Audience
 Anyone working on a project team, including directors, supervisors, managers, project managers, and team leaders.

Expected Duration
3.0 hours

Lesson Objectives:

Setting Project Scope

  • recognize the benefit of setting and defining project scope.
  • identify the elements and outputs of scope definition.
  • specify the steps to planning the project.
  • specify the tools to develop a change process.
  • specify how to think systematically.

    • Negotiating Scope

  • recognize the benefit of developing negotiation skills.
  • identify the skills a project manager should exhibit when negotiating scope.
  • specify the correct ways to agree to scope changes.
  • specify the correct ways to set expectations when negotiating scope.
  • identify ways to address what will be included in the project.

    • Working with Key Stakeholders

  • recognize the correct way to work with stakeholders.
  • identify the roles of a project manager when working with stakeholders throughout the project life cycle.
  • identify the stakeholder's needs and influences on a project.
  • identify behaviors that generate communication with stakeholders.

    • Dealing with Scope Change

  • recognize the effective and ineffective ways to deal with scope change.
  • identify impacts of a scope change given the causes.
  • specify methods to communicate impact to customer.
  • identify the components of incorporating change into the project plan.

    • Course Number: PROJ0211