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Initiating the Project Week 4 Discussion

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September 12, 2022

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Initiating the Project Week 4 Discussion

1.

One of the most crucial processes at the start of a project is defining its scope. It can

be explained as converting and translating the stakeholder's needs and requirements into

specific instructions regarding the project's products and results. During this process, a scope

statement document is produced. For the project to be successful, the team must decide what

must be delivered to the project stakeholders at its conclusion and what must be delivered

along the way. (Kloppenborg et al., 2019)

Three steps make up the "Define scope" process. Establish the project parameters,

create a scope description, and list deliverables and acceptance criteria. Making a list of the

project's deliverables is the first step. The project deliverables are derived from the customer's

requirements. The project team is responsible for determining the standards for each of the

deliverables' acceptance. Setting up the project boundaries is the second step. By knowing

exactly which functions and components of the project are covered by the scope and which

are not, project boundaries can be established. (Kloppenborg et al., 2019)

The project team should carefully manage expectations for the project and only make

promises they can keep. The scope definition is created as the last step. It briefly outlines

every task that must be carried out to produce the project deliverables.

The scope of a project must be clearly defined because this will affect how the project

is planned as a whole. Only the customers' statement of what they expect from the project is

determined by gathering the requirements. Therefore, the project team views the scope

definition as responding to the client. Without a thorough understanding of all the work

involved in the project, it is impossible to estimate the budget, schedule, and resources

required. (Teye Amoatey & Anson, 2017)

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Scope creep typically happens for two reasons. First, when the project's scope is not

clearly defined, it is simple to add tasks or make changes, even though these actions may

impact the project's schedule and budget. The second scenario is when everything is going

according to schedule, but then the client demands that new work be added or make project

improvements. (Teye Amoatey & Anson, 2017)

2.

A project's deliverable can be developed and produced through specific actions,

referred to as activities. On the other hand, a work package can be considered the project

deliverable that is the lowest level or component. All control activities are built on work

packages. (Wang et al., 2020)

No work component should be excluded or skipped when the teams define activities.

For the team to be able to recognize the additional activities, it is crucial to have a team

member take on the role of the devil's advocate. Ensuring the team's ideas sound is the devil's

advocate's job. Examining the ideas' underlying assumptions will help with this. Making a list

of the things that don't need to be done is the best strategy because it prevents you from

forgetting the things that must be done. (Wang et al., 2020)

The activities are sequenced following the identification of the list of tasks to be

completed. And at that point, the forgotten tasks can be found. Later, more activities can be

added. However, rather than waiting until the entire schedule has been approved, missing

activities should be found during the project's later planning stages. Activities discovered

after the schedule has been approved result in extra expenses and time, which causes the

project to run over budget and schedule. (Wang et al., 2020)

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References

Kloppenborg, T. J., Anantatmula, V. S., & Wells, K. N. (2019). Contemporary project

management : organize, lead, plan, perform (4th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Teye Amoatey, C., & Anson, B. A. (2017). Investigating the major causes of scope creep in

real estate construction projects in Ghana. Journal of Facilities Management, 15(4),

393–408. https://doi.org/10.1108/jfm-11-2016-0052

Wang, H.-W., Lin, J.-R., & Zhang, J.-P. (2020). Work package-based information modeling

for resource-constrained scheduling of construction projects. Automation in

Construction, 109, 102958. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2019.102958