There are a lot of hurdles to navigate when you’re developing software. Meeting deadlines, creating a balanced set of features to deliver and managing enduser expectations need to be juggled for a project to go well.
Nothing can throw this process out of balance faster than the snowball effect of scope creep. But what exactly is scope creep and how can you keep it from derailing your team’s software development cycle? Here is a concise guide to scope creep; how it develops and what steps you can take to avoid it altogether.
Scope creep occurs when a project begins gradually expanding during the project. A goal has been set, deadlines have been established, yet the project gains an unwieldy momentum as new functionality and more features are added to the design.
The phrase is often used interchangeably with terms like “requirement creep” or “feature creep,” but they all refer to the same end result. Enthusiasm for the project, or a lack of understanding for achievable goals, leads to something that sounds like it is an improved version of the original goal, but ultimately is less effective, more expensive, and fails to satisfy the client requirements.
The impacts of scope creep are often tough to see in the middle of a project, which is why they can have such a whopping effect at the end. If left unchecked, scope creep will increase the costs to the project. More development and testing are required to implement new features alongside completing the original objectives. The timeline’s phases will extend past the agreed-upon deadlines. Quality will suffer across the board as the team tries to accomplish too many tasks.
One of the most significant impacts of scope creep is it permanently changes the definition of “finished” for the project. The original vision of the project is compromised and the schedule becomes much more difficult to manage and track.
The ultimate success of the program may be called into question because the integrity has been compromised. This can be fatal to a project. One recent Forbes article described scope creep as “…without question the most common reason tech development projects fail.”
For an issue that can be so damaging to the timeframe of a project, scope creep often begins innocently enough. Someone – often the client or enduser – asks for “one little thing” outside the original agreed-upon design. That “one little thing” might be simple integration or an innocuous UX change, but the “little things” add up.
The project manager, eager to make the client happy, agrees to implement these new features into the current workload without considering the full impact of the new task. This is a lack of effective change control. The client now has an unrealistic estimate of how much work can be done during the current design cycle.
The project is now hamstrung by the failure to identify all of the client’s requirements in the beginning. Without a firm agreement and understanding of what the scope of the project is, scope creep will always be a worry for a development team.
HOW TO AVOID SCOPE CREEP
There are methods your team can employ to prevent scope creep.
The short answer to evading scope creep is for teams is to use agile development. The long answer is a little more involved. Here are three ways you can avoid scope creep:
1. Identify the Project Roadmap
One of the most important steps in safeguarding a project from overextending itself is to establish a project roadmap with the enduser. This document should identify all of the major functional areas that will be addressed in each release.
This is your team’s best opportunity to get all desired functionality in one place for all stakeholders to review. Give them this opportunity to ask questions and make requests before the project begins. That way, you can budget for additional time or resources necessary and then provide accurate timelines.
Putting this roadmap together allows the development team a better chance to communicate with the project manager about challenging requests. This can eliminate the project manager solving the problem alone to make the customer happy. The whole team can figure out the best solution to keep the project on-time.
2. Identify the Minimum Viable Product
Identifying the finished product is just as important as agreeing on a schedule for how a project will progress. You should have an agreement with the client describing the minimum viable product (MVP). In other words, when you reach Version 1.0 of the software, what features do they expect, and how do they want them to function?
Make sure you get this part right. It’s a critical component of controlling scope creep. Make it clear: Once the MVP is agreed upon, no further changes in the feature set will be accommodated. Firm agreements are necessary to allow a project to be completed on-time and within budget.
3. Use a Product Backlog for Any Release Past the Minimum Viable Product
Even with a signed MVP, it’s still common for stakeholders to make requests for changes, often to existing or for additional functionality at the end of each sprint. You need to have a way to accommodate the client’s request for modifications while maintaining the integrity of your agreed-upon timeline. This is where product backlog comes in:
When an enduser makes a request for changes, take those requests and create an estimate. Add them to the product backlog. Make sure your stakeholders understand that adding something to a sprint means something else has to be removed. You can offer them the option of delaying a future sprint – but make them decide what to prioritize.
If the conversation comes to a standstill, refer to the product roadmap you developed together. Ask if the new functionality works with the feature set already included. Would it be better-suited for a later version? This later version would already have all of the agreed-upon features working together, supporting the function they wish to see added.
Stopping scope creep before it affects your projects takes practice and discipline. You may not get it right the first time. Review how it impacted your project (lessons learned) and what could have been done to prevent it. By following project development best practices, you can conquer this problem and enjoy the benefits of a faster, leaner development schedule.
AndPlus is committed to implementing software development cycles to help avoid scope creep. Contact us today to learn more about how we can keep your software projects on track.
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