Project Management Case Studies, 7th Edition

Part 14MANAGING SCOPE CHANGES

Scope changes on a project can occur regardless of how well the project is planned or executed. Scope changes can be the result of something that was omitted during the planning stage, due to changing customer requirements, or due to changes in technology that have taken place.

The two most commonly used methods for scope change control are (1) allowing continuous scope changes to occur but under the guidance of the configuration management process and (2) clustering all scope changes together to be accomplished later as an enhancement project. There are risks and rewards in each of these methods. The decision of when to select one over the other is not always black or white, but more so a gray area.

The Berlin Brandenburg Airport

Project managers are trained to expect the unexpected, and then to apply risk mitigation strategies when necessary. This type of training is included in most courses and most often discussed in all areas of knowledge in the PMBOK® Guide rather than just the risk management section.

On projects that are short in duration or well‐defined at the start, the project manager and the team usually have the expertise to mitigate the risks. The project manager may not possess all the technical expertise needed for all facets of the project, but usually has a reasonably good understanding to know what questions to ask to make a viable decision. If the team cannot make the decisions themselves, then they must rely upon the governance ...