Scope management overview
the scope of the project is to achieve the project objectives and deliver products and services with certain characteristics, and the work specified by the project is to be done. project scope management is all about determining what work should be done and what should not be included in the project. a project scope is a more specific expression of the project's objectives. this article explains the basic concepts of project scope.
1, the project scope management is to do the scope of things, and only do the scope of things, neither do more nor do more. project scope management needs to do the following three aspects:
(1) clarify project boundaries
(2) monitor the implementation of the project
(3) prevent the spread of the project scope
2. similarities and differences between product scope and project scope:
(1) product scope: the functions that the product or service should contain
(2) project scope: in order to be able to deliver the product, the work that the project must do.
(3) SCOPE BENCHMARK: APPROVED PROJECT SCOPE SPECIFICATION, WBS AND WNS DICTIONARY.
the product scope is the basis of the project scope, the definition of the product scope is the description of the product requirements; the definition of the project scope is the basis for generating the project management plan, and the two scopes are different in application.
to determine whether the scope of the project is completed, it is necessary to measure the scope benchmark, and to judge whether the product scope is completed, it is judged according to whether the product meets the product description.
product scope description is an important part of the project scope specification, product scope changes, will affect the project scope, but does not mean that the project scope must change with the change.
3. the scope of the project comes from the clear project objectives or specific needs of the investor or customer. project scope management should not only let the project team members know the project objectives and the specific work to be done to achieve the goals, but also be clear about the interface and responsibilities of the relevant parties in the project in each work.
the six processes of project scope management are as follows:
(1) planning scope management - the process of preparing a scope management plan that describes in writing how the scope of the project will be defined, confirmed and controlled.
(2) gathering requirements – the process of identifying, documenting, and managing stakeholder needs and needs to achieve project objectives.
(3) definition of scope - the process of formulating detailed descriptions of projects and products, and preparing project scope specifications.
(4) CREATING A WBS – THE PROCESS OF BREAKING DOWN PROJECT DELIVERABLES AND PROJECT WORK INTO SMALLER, MORE MANAGEABLE COMPONENTS, I.E. DECOMPOSITION STRUCTURES.
(5) scope of confirmation - the process of formally accepting the completed project deliverables.
(6) scope of control - supervise the scope status of projects and products, and manage the process of changing the scope benchmark.
the following are the inputs, tools, techniques, and outputs for the six processes of project scope management:
project scope management affects the success of a project. in project practice, whether it is the customer's requirements or the innovation of project team members or the emergence of new technologies, it may lead to the loss of control of the project scope, so that the project is seriously affected in terms of schedule, cost and quality. therefore, project scope management plays a crucial role in the overall project management activities. the six processes of scope management will be described separately in the following article
Define scopes
The most important task in defining scope is to define in detail the scope boundaries of the project, which are the dividing line between the work that should be done and the work that does not need to be done. defining scopes increases the accuracy of project time, cost, and resource estimates.
1. the definition scope is the process of formulating a detailed description of the project and product, which is to clarify which collected requirements will be included in the scope of the project and which will be excluded from the scope of the project, so as to clarify the boundaries of the product, service or achievement.
2. ITO DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE DEFINITION SCOPE:
(1) product analysis: ask and answer questions for the product, form a description of the use, characteristics and other aspects of the product to be developed (there are acceptance criteria in the project scope specification so product analysis is done), product analysis techniques include product decomposition, system analysis, demand analysis, system engineering, value engineering (before the product is made) and value analysis (after the product is made)
(2) alternative generation: techniques used to specify as many potential alternatives as possible to identify different ways of performing project work.
(3) project scope specification: the main results of the definition of scope.
3. the project scope specification is a description of the project scope, main deliverables, assumptions and constraints. project scope specification content:
(1) product scope description: gradually refine the characteristics described in the project charter and requirements documents
(2) acceptance criteria: meet the conditions and acceptance process
(3) deliverables: including primary and secondary outcomes (reports, etc.)
(4) exclusion of the project: what can not be done
(5) constraints: budget, delivery date, etc
(6) assumptions: processing under exceptional conditions that may occur
4. the role of the project scope specification is:
(1) determine the scope
(2) communication basics
(3) planning and control basis
(4) change basis
(5) planning basis
5. there is a certain overlap between the project charter and the project scope specification, the former includes high-level information, the latter is a detailed description of the project scope, the project scope needs to be gradually detailed in the project process, and the project charter is generally unchanged.
the most important task in defining scope is to define in detail the scope boundaries of the project, which are the dividing line between the work that should be done and the work that does not need to be done. defining scopes increases the accuracy of project time, cost, and resource estimates. the next section will further refine and decompose the defined scope, i.e. create a wbs (work breakdown structure), so stay tuned
Planning scope management
The planning scope management is the process of preparing a scope management plan that describes in writing how the scope of the project will be defined, confirmed and controlled, and its main role is to provide guidance and direction on how to manage the scope throughout the project.
1. the scope management plan is an integral part of the project or project set management plan, describing how the project scope will be defined, formulated, supervised, controlled and confirmed. the objective of the project is a basic basis for the preparation of the project scope management plan. scope management plans require the full involvement of the project management team.
2. the scope management plan is the main input of the project management plan process and other scope management processes, and the main content of the scope management plan:
(1) how to formulate a project scope specification - define the scope
(2) HOW TO REQUIRE A SCOPE SPECIFICATION TO CREATE A WBS - WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
(3) HOW TO MAINTAIN AND APPROVE WBS – WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
(4) how to confirm and formally accept the completed project deliverables - the scope of confirmation
(5) how to deal with the change of the project scope specification, which is directly related to the implementation of the overall change control process - the scope of control
3. the project scope management plan may be in the project management plan or as a separate item. depending on the project, it can be detailed or general, formal or informal.
4. DETAILED EXPLANATION OF ITO FOR PLANNING SCOPE MANAGEMENT:
(1) scope management plan. describes how the project scope will be defined, developed, monitored, controlled, and validated.
(2) requirements management plan. describes how to analyze, document, and manage requirements throughout the project lifecycle.
5, requirements management throughout the process, its basic task is to clarify the requirements, and make the project team and users reach a consensus, that is, to establish a baseline of requirements. in addition, it is necessary to establish a demand tracking capability contact chain to ensure that all user needs are applied correctly, and to have full control over the scope of impact when requirements change, always maintaining product and demand consistency.
6. the content of the demand management plan includes:
(1) plan, track and report on various demand activities
(2) resources that need to be used
(3) training plan
(4) strategies for project stakeholders to participate in demand management
(5) criteria and corrective procedures for judging inconsistencies between the scope of the project and the needs
(6) requirements tracking structure, that is, which requirements attributes will be included in the tracking matrix and which other project files can be traced to these requirements
(7) configure management activities
scope management plan and requirements management plan are two important output contents of this stage, providing a basis for subsequent scope definition, confirmation and control, so the formulation of these two plans will play a decisive role in the success or failure of the project, and the next section will carry out the collection process of requirements, so stay tuned.
Gathering requirements
requirements are the conditions or capabilities that a project must meet under a particular agreement or other mandatory specification, or that a product, service or outcome must have. requirements include the quantified and documented needs and desires of sponsors, customers, and other stakeholders.
1. the process of collecting requirements is to identify, document and manage the needs and needs of stakeholders to achieve project objectives, and its role is to lay the foundation for defining and managing the scope of the project (including the product range).
2. classification of requirements:
(1) business needs, that is, the needs of the organization at the senior level
(2) stakeholder needs, that is, the needs of stakeholder groups
(3) solution requirements, that is, the characteristics, functions and characteristics that are possessed to meet business needs and stakeholder needs, are further divided into functional requirements and non-functional requirements
(4) transition requirements, that is, temporary capabilities required to transition from the current state to the future state, such as data conversion and training needs
(5) project requirements, actions, processes and other conditions that the project needs to meet
(6) quality requirements are divided into three levels: basic needs, expected needs and unexpected needs
3. DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE ITO COLLECTION REQUIREMENTS:
(1) interview: talk directly with a stakeholder, formal or informal.
(2) focus group: stakeholders and subject matter experts are gathered together, guided by the moderator, and discussed in groups to get more valuable opinions, which is a kind of group interview
(3) guided workshops: cross-functional stakeholders come together to define cross-functional requirements and identify and resolve issues faster than in a single meeting
(4) group innovation technology: including the following methods:
brainstorming: brainstorming
nominal group technique: rank the most useful ideas by voting on the results of brainstorming for further brainstorming
delphi technology: experts conduct several rounds of feedback back-to-back or anonymously, and opinions gradually converge
concept/mind map (mind map): connect brainstorming ideas with simple diagrams to lead to new ideas
AFFINITY DIAGRAM (KJ METHOD): SUMMARIZE THROUGH ILLUSTRATION TO OBTAIN A UNIFIED UNDERSTANDING
multi-criteria decision analysis: multi-scenario evaluation with the help of decision matrix
(5) group decision-making techniques: evaluate multiple future courses of action that meet expectations. methods of reaching group decisions include consensus, the principle of majority, the principle of relative majority, and dictatorship.
(6) questionnaire survey: written questionnaire collection requirements
(7) observation: directly observe the work process and process of the stakeholders
(8) prototype method: quickly establish product models to facilitate communication
(9) benchmarking: compare actual or planned organizations with other similar organizations to identify best practices
(10) SYSTEM INTERACTION DIAGRAM: SUCH AS UML
(11) file analysis: analyze and mine existing documents
(12) requirements documents: a general term for a variety of documents that describe requirements
(13) requirements tracking matrix: a form that connects product requirements from sources to deliverables
4. the requirements document describes how each single requirement will meet the business needs related to the project. a requirements document can be either a simple document that lists all requirements by stakeholder and priority, or a detailed document with a content summary, detailed descriptions, and attachments. the content of the requirements document includes:
(1) business requirements
(2) stakeholder demand
(3) solution requirements
(4) project requirements
(5) transition requirements
(6) assumptions, dependencies and constraints related to demand
5. traceability is an important feature of project requirements, and verifiability is the most basic feature of demand. the requirements of each configuration item must be bidirectional traceable from the requirements of the product (or component) involved to it, including:
(1) forward tracking: refers to checking whether each requirement in the requirements file can find a corresponding point in the subsequent work product (result).
(2) reverse tracking (reverse tracking): refers to checking whether the work results of design documents, product components, test files and other work can be found in the requirements file
6. demand tracking involves five types (the arrow indicates the demand tracking ability contact chain, which can track the entire cycle of demand use, that is, track the whole process of demand suggestions to delivery):
(1) forward tracking from the user's original requirements to the requirements file
(2) forward tracking from the requirements document to the downstream working product
(3) reverse tracking from the requirements file to the user's original requirements
(4) reflection tracking from downstream work products to requirements documents
(5) logical correlation tracking between various requirements between requirements files, which is used to check for errors and omissions in requirements decomposition
7. the most common way to express the chain of links between requirements and other product elements is the requirements tracking (capability) matrix, which is a form that connects product requirements from its source to the deliverables that can meet the needs.
typical attributes recorded in the requirements tracking matrix include unique identification, a text description of the requirement, a reason for including the requirement, owner, source, priority, version, current status (status of the requirement: in progress, canceled, deferred, newly added, approved, assigned, completed), and status date.
carefully grasping and managing project needs and product needs plays an important role in promoting the success of projects. once the project has begun, these requirements should be acquired, analyzed, and documented in sufficient detail for later measurement. the next section will define the scope, so stay tuned
Creating a work breakdown structure (WBS)
creating a wbs is the management of project deliverables and project work that breaks down into smaller, more manageable components, and its primary role is to provide a structured view of what is to be delivered.
1. wbs is a deliverable-oriented work-level decomposition, and its decomposition object is the work implemented by the project team to achieve the project goals and submit the required deliverables. note: "work" in wbs does not refer to the work itself, but to the product or deliverable that the work results in.
2. the level of wbs. wbs decomposes the overall or major deliverables of a project into sub-projects or work packages that are easy to manage and easily controlled, and the sub-projects need to continue to be broken down into work packages until the entire project is decomposed into manageable work packages, and the sum of these work packages is all the scope of work of the project. it mainly includes milestones, work packages, control accounts, planning packages, and wbs dictionaries.
(1) milestone: marks the official completion of a deliverable or stage.
(2) work package: the lowest level of deliverables or project work components. the 8/80 rule recommends that the maximum amount of work that a person can complete in 80 hours, and the minimum is not less than 8 hours.
(3) control account: it is a management control point, which can be either a work package or an element at a higher level than the work package to measure performance (such as earned value comparison). a control account can contain multiple work packages, but a work package belongs to only one control account.
(4) planning package: under the control account, above the work package, the work content is known but the detailed wbs components are not yet missing, which are used to temporarily plan, and as they become clearer, the planning package will eventually be decomposed into work packages.
(5) WBS DICTIONARY: IS A FILE THAT DESCRIBES THE COMPONENTS OF WBS. EQUIVALENT TO XINHUA DICTIONARY.
3. CHARACTERISTICS OF WBS STRATIFICATION:
(1) the sum of all the elements in each layer is the sum of the work of the next layer
(2) each work element should be specifically assigned a level, not to multiple levels
(3) WBS NEEDS TO HAVE A DESCRIPTION OF THE SCOPE OF THE WORK PUT INTO USE
4. DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE ITO FOR CREATING A WBS:
(1) decomposition: decomposition is a technique that breaks down project deliverables and project work into smaller, more manageable components.
(2) scope benchmark: approved project scope specification.
5. THE WBS DECOMPOSITION PROCESS (ACTIVITIES) INCLUDES:
(1) what to break down: identify and analyze deliverables and related work
(2) HOW TO DECOMPOSE: DETERMINE THE STRUCTURE AND ARRANGEMENT METHOD OF WBS
(3) decomposition: decomposition from top to bottom layer by layer
(4) CODING: DEVELOP AND ASSIGN IDENTIFICATION CODES FOR WBS COMPONENTS
(5) check: the degree of nuclear decomposition is appropriate
6. METHOD OF WBS DECOMPOSITION:
(1) the phases of the project life cycle are placed as the second layer, and the products and deliverables are placed in the third layer
(2) the main deliverables serve as the second layer of decomposition (if there is a partial outsourcing, it is best to decompose in this way, easy to manage)
(3) THE OUTSOURCING WORK SHOULD ALSO BE INTEGRATED AND DECOMPOSED, AND THE SELLER NEEDS TO PREPARE THE CORRESPONDING CONTRACT WBS
7. WBS IS NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF A PROJECT TEAM MEMBER, AND SHOULD BE JOINTLY COMPLETED AND CONFIRMED BY ALL PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS, USERS AND PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS. THE PROCESS OF CREATING A WBS IS SHOWN IN THE FIGURE:
8. THE WBS REPRESENTATION INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING TWO TYPES:
(1) tree structure: clear hierarchy, intuitive and structurally strong, but not easy to modify, suitable for small projects.
(2) tabular form: poor intuitiveness, but can reflect all the elements of the project, suitable for large projects.
9. WBS DECOMPOSITION PRECAUTIONS (8 ASPECTS):
(1) WBS MUST BE DELIVERABLES-ORIENTED
(2) THE WBS MUST CONFORM TO THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
(3) THE WBS UNDERLAY SHOULD SUPPORT PLANNING AND CONTROL
(4) ELEMENTS IN A WBS MUST BE RESPONSIBLE FOR SOMEONE, AND ONLY ONE PERSON IS RESPONSIBLE, ALTHOUGH IN FACT MULTIPLE PEOPLE ARE INVOLVED
(5) WBS, AS A GUIDELINE RATHER THAN A PRINCIPLE, SHOULD BE CONTROLLED AT 4 TO 6 LAYERS
(6) WBS SHOULD INCLUDE PROJECT MANAGEMENT WORK, BUT ALSO INCLUDE SUBCONTRACTED WORK
(7) THE PREPARATION OF THE WBS REQUIRES THE PARTICIPATION OF ALL PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS
(8) WBS IS NOT SET IN STONE AND MAY BE MODIFIED AFTER COMPLETION
10. THE PURPOSE AND FUNCTION OF WBS:
(1) clear and accurate description of the scope of the project
(2) clearly define the boundaries of the project
(3) determine the technical and human resources required to complete the project
(4) improve the accuracy of estimating time, cost and resource requirements
(5) lay the foundation for plan, budget, schedule and cost control, and determine project schedule and control benchmarks
(6) link project work and financial accounts
(7) determine the content and order of work
(8) help prevent the spread of demand
wbs is a deliverable-oriented breakdown of work levels, and each level of wbs drop means a more detailed definition of project work. through the above explanation, how to decompose will become traceable. once the wbs created is approved, it becomes official.
Confirm scope
the scope of the confirmation includes reviewing the deliverables with the client or sponsor to ensure that the deliverables have been successfully completed and formally accepted by the client or sponsor.
1. the scope of confirmation is the process of formally accepting the completed deliverables of the project. the scope of the confirmation includes reviewing the deliverables with the client or sponsor to ensure that the deliverables are successfully completed and formally accepted by the client or sponsor. the scope of the confirmation should run throughout the project.
2. DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE ITO OF THE CONFIRMED SCOPE:
(1) CONFIRMED DELIVERABLES: CONFIRMED CORRECT DELIVERABLES, TANGIBLE OR INTANGIBLE, IN ACCORDANCE WITH WBS.
(2) work performance data: performance data generated in the actual scope management work.
(3) inspection: inspection, also known as audit, review, audit, inspection, inspection, testing, etc., refers to the development of measurement, review and confirmation of activities to determine whether the work and deliverables meet the requirements and product acceptance standards.
(4) accepted deliverables: after the scope is confirmed, the deliverables that pass the acceptance.
(5) change request: if the requirements are not met during the scope confirmation process, and the changes are needed, a change request shall be made.
(6) job performance information: information that reflects the scope management indicators calculated using work performance data.
3. steps to confirm the scope:
(1) determine the time when the scope confirmation is required
(2) what inputs are needed
(3) criteria and elements for determining the scope of formal acceptance
(4) determine the organizational steps of the meeting
(5) organize the scope of the confirmation meeting and successfully complete the confirmation
4. problems that need to be checked when confirming the scope:
(1) whether the deliverables are deterministic and confirmable
(2) whether each deliverable has a clear milestone and whether the milestone has a clear and identifiable event
(3) whether there are clear quality standards
(4) whether the audit and commitment are clearly expressed
(5) whether the scope of the project covers all the activities carried out by the product or service that need to be completed
(6) whether the risk of the scope of the project is too high and whether the foreseeable risk can be reduced
5. stakeholders' concerns about the scope of the project:
(1) management: focus on the impact of scope on schedule, funding and resources
(2) customer: focus on the product scope, that is, whether the deliverables of the project are sufficient to complete the product or service
(3) project managers: pay attention to whether the deliverables are sufficient and must be completed, and whether the time funds and resources are sufficient
(4) project team members: pay attention to whether the elements of their own participation and responsibility are sufficient and whether there are conflicts
6. the difference between the scope of confirmation and quality control:
(1) the scope of confirmation mainly emphasizes the acceptance of the deliverable by the customer or promoter; quality control emphasizes the correctness of the deliverable and complies with the specific quality requirements (quality standards) set for it.
(2) quality control is generally carried out before the scope of confirmation, but also at the same time; the scope of confirmation is generally carried out at the end of the stage, and quality control is not necessarily carried out at the end of the stage
(3) quality control is an internal inspection, which is carried out by the quality management department of the executive organization; the scope of confirmation is inspected and accepted by an external stakeholder (customer or promoter) to inspect and accept the deliverables of the project
in the information system integration project, it is not easy to confirm the scope, and its difficulty is mainly reflected in the communication of users, especially for customized products. and this is often the case: although the scope of the project is formal, this does not mean that the scope of the project is monolithic, so the scope confirmation should run through the project and control the scope of the change is the top priority.
Scope of control
to control the scope of a project, it is necessary to ensure that all requested changes, recommended corrective actions, or preventive actions are processed through the implementation of an overall change control process. when changes actually occur, a scope control process is also employed to manage those changes.
1. the scope of control is the process of supervising the scope status of the project and products, and the change of the management scope benchmark, and its main role is to maintain the maintenance of the scope benchmark during the entire project period.
2. the reason for the change of scope: (mainly the change of the external environment)
(1) problems of government policy
(2) the planning of the project scope is not thorough and detailed, and there are certain errors or omissions
(3) new technologies or new solutions have emerged in the market or designers have been proposed
(4) the project implementation organization itself has changed
(5) customer requirements for projects, products or services change
3. DETAILED EXPLANATION OF ITO OF CONTROL SCOPE:
(1) DEVIATION ANALYSIS: USED TO EXPLAIN THE CAUSES, EFFECTS AND CORRECTIVE ACTIONS OF CV (COST DEVIATION), SV (SCHEDULE DEVIATION), VAC (COMPLETION DEVIATION).
4. focus of scope change control (main work):
(1) influence the factors that lead to changes in scope, and try to make these factors develop in a favorable direction
(2) determine whether the scope change has occurred
(3) manage the actual change when the scope changes occur (according to the change process)
in the information system integration project, change is inevitable, the scope of control process depends on the scope change control system, scope change control refers to the implementation of control over the change of the scope of the project, a series of processes for approving the change of the scope of the project, including written documents, tracking systems and authorizing changes. project scope management and schedule management, cost management is inextricably linked, can be described as a whole body, so in the follow-up article, i will explain the project schedule management in depth, so stay tuned ~
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