Analyzing Scope Creep
Bridal Shower Scope Creep Drama
I assisted my best
friend with the planning of a bridal shower this past summer. I wish I had
known about the responsibilities and duties of project management to better
prepare us for the vast amount of scope creep that we endured from the bride
and her family members. Scope creep is defined as the natural tendency of the
client, as well as project team members, to try to improve the project’s output
as the project progresses (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, &
Kramer, 2008).
Dorisa and I
initially sat down with the bride and agreed upon a theme, budget, guest list,
and location for the event. The budget seemed to balance with the bride’s
expectations in the beginning of this project. As the planning and organization
tasks progressed, the task list seemed to get longer and longer. First, the
bride wanted to increase her guest list on several occasions. Of course, the
more people you invite the more food, seating, and decorations are needed. In
turn, this will cause an increase in the budget. The bride didn’t have extra
money allotted in her budget for the increase she demanded, so of course we had
to deviate funds from other sub tasks to please the bride.
Looking back on
this experience, we could have pulled in more stakeholders who would have been
willing to assist in the financial department. We should have consistently
communicated with the bride and her family members on the progress and updated
remaining funds throughout the project. We also could have pre-planned to use
alternate inexpensive food choices and decorations to accommodate for any
possible risks. Risk is the possibility that a project might not achieve its
product, schedule, or resource targets because something unexpected occurs or
something planned does not (Portny et al., 2008). The next time I’m asked to assist with
planning a bridal or baby shower, I feel that I’m well equipped with project management
tools to successfully complete the project and maintain/decrease scope
creep. Scope creep will happen in any
project you take on, but as the project manager (PM) you have to plan for the
worse and hope for the best.
Reference
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J.,
Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., &
Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project
management: Planning, scheduling, and
controlling projects Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Tab I can only imagine what you went through planning a bridal shower. There is a great deal of scope creep that happens with these types of projects. I can also see how the task list seemed to get longer and longer. In my blog I also talked about having to deal with this type of project however, I was dealing with the floral arrangements. There could be a great deal of scope creep with this a well. Also, Stolovich (n.d.) states that communication with the client throughout the project is very important. Whenever I think of scope creep with a wedding I also always get a picture in my head of the reality show “Bridzilla”!!
ReplyDeleteTabitha
ReplyDeleteSounds like an exciting adventure! Planning a shower, in my opinion, is something that scope creep is almost unavoidable. While it seems as though you were able to monitor the scope creep throughout the ordeal, most often than not scope creep accumulates so slowly one doesn't realize it is happening until it is too late (Butler, 2012). Since in the events of a shower or wedding it is often the case that RSVP cards are not returned, or they are returned but the person is a no-show, precise planning is almost impossible, making risk management even more of a challenge! Yes, in the end, the bride and those involved are generally happy, as this is a happy occasion, but the stress felt during the process as the "project manager/party planner" can take away from the rewarding results.
Butler, C. (2012, April). Why scope creep is your fault and what you can do to prevent it. Retrieved from http://www.newfangled.com/why_scope_creep_is_your_fault
Tabitha,
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting to read the postings of others and discover how different aspects of any given topic involve instructional design and project management and you have provided a great example of scope creep. I believe weddings and showers are projects where it would happen frequently. I was a florist for twelve years and many times the bride to be/family would continue to add flowers to the wedding to accommodate the growing guest list. While a wedding generally has a set time frame the resources and effort that goes into one continues to expand causing scope creep unlimited. When creating and reviewing the task list it allows for the schedule, labor request and cost estimates to be accounted for (Greer, 2010). Scope creep, when not monitored effectively, can cost the project manager and stakeholders time and money.
Reference
Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate customed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.
Teresa DeArk