Project Scope Management and Change Control in Projects (PROJ6002)

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This discussion post analyzes project scope changes and their management.

PROJ6002 Part A – Module 2 Discussion Activity

The projects have various constraints in terms of cost, resources, and schedules. No doubt
change in the project scope is inevitable and the project manager is required to not to avoid
the scope change but to manage it properly. According to Allen, et.al, (2014), the scope of the
project when varies, it affects the cost of the project by increasing it. In addition to this, the
schedule of the project is also extended and the organisations need to hire resources (workers
and machinery) for a longer duration. There are many factors that might change the project
scope, namely labour shortage, uncertainties, poor communication, impractical design, and
plans. To address these issues, the project manager carries out additional arrangements that
cause unnecessary delay in the project, thereby increasing the scheduled time of the project.
Apart from this, there are other project-related factors too causing a change in scope, such as
changing business environment, stakeholders’ requirement, and company’s directions. The
schedule of the project is totally dependent on the project scope and in any change in the
project scope would directly affect the schedule.
It is the duty of the project manager to convey the changes in scope and schedule to the
stakeholders. This would avoid any distraction or discrepancies from their side. For that
purpose, the manager is required to make them understand their roles and keep them updated
about each phase progress (Gido, et.al, 2014). In addition to this, they should understand the
objectives and outcomes of the project and involve them in the decision-making process for
building a trusted relationship.
Documentation
I am pretty much convinced with Raj’s statement that project scope is formulated in the very
beginning of the project, or to be very specific, in the planning phase. The scope is composed
after considering the cost, time, and resource constraint. No doubt the project manager cannot
control the scope variation as it is associated with a large number of variables, such as
changing demand of the customer or stakeholders, changing in government regulation and
policies, rapidly changing technologies, and political instability. Each one of them has the
capability to vary the scope that would ultimately lead to change in schedule. What I believe
is that it is quite better for the project manager to control the processes and procedures at each
stage. This is because controlling and reviewing at each consecutive stage would reduce the
chances of error and any discrepancies. Even if they are taking place, their impact would be
very meagre and managers can control them at their own level. I also found in your
assessment that changes in the project would ultimately affect the baseline of the project. The

project manager is required to understand the change and implement it in the change
management plan. If in case there is a need for adding any additional tasks, then this might
result in the delaying of the project delivery. Hence, tasks should be added only when there is
a strong need for doing so otherwise, one should avoid it.

References
 Allen, M., Alleyne, D., Farmer, C., McRae, A., & Turner, C. (2014). A framework for
project success. Journal of Information Technology and Economic Development, 5(2), 1.
 Gido, J., Clements, J., & Clements, J. (2014). Successful project management. Nelson
Education.