PROJECT MANAGEMENT BUDGETING WITH SCOPE CREEP 1

Project Management Budgeting with Scope Creep

Ryan J. McClung

Department of Rhetoric Comprehension, Appalachian State University

RC 2001: Intro to Writing Across Curriculums

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Abstract

Due to budgeting problems within project management due to scope creep, a policy should be set

forth to minimize the budget associated with fixing these problems. A project's scope is basically

the definition of the desired outcome of a project and what steps are going to be taken to achieve

such a desired outcome. Scope creep has to do with the unplanned changes in a project's scope

that must be dealt with without any real preparation. Problems within scope creep can arise from

a variety of causes including adding a cheaper alternative to producing or manufacturing a part

of a product or having a piece of a project fail due to whatever reason. Specifically, this means

extra steps must be taken that were not originally planned in the project scope which will result

in more time, money, and resources. In this paper I will go into a deeper description of budgeting

problems due to scope creep and examples of possible and real life ways scope creep has arisen

and been dealt with. Since going over budget while executing projects is such a big problem in

today's world, I have come up with a policy known as the “Creep Step” policy. This policy will

efficiently and affordably reduce the amount of time and money spent on problems arising from

scope creep based on previous cause and effect data, time and budgeting constraints, and general

estimates of the possible outcomes.

Keywords: scope, scope creep, creep step, project management, budgeting

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Project Management Budgeting with Scope Creep

There are various problems that occur every day within the field of project management

ranging from the lack of clear goals to improper risk management. In this paper however, I will

be discussing budgeting issues within projects due to problems with scope creep, specifically

projects going over budget. Before understanding problems that surround scope creep, you will

have to understand a little more about project scope. Defining the project scope is the first step in

collecting information for a project. It is defined as “a way to set boundaries on your project and

define exactly what goals, deadlines, and project deliverables you’ll be working towards”

(Martins, 2021, para. 3). Using this definition we can better understand scope creep which is

“what happens when changes are made to the project scope without any control procedure like

change requests. Those changes also affect the project schedule, budget, costs, resource

allocation and might compromise the completion of milestones and goals” (Ray, 2021, para. 3).

My plan for establishing my policy to fix this problem will have to do with the most efficient and

affordable methods for working through scope creep. This policy is the “Creep Step” policy and

its overall goal is to reduce the amount of money and time needed when encountering scope

creep.

Most people think a project's execution and budget can be documented on a timeline with

a beginning, an end, and steps in between to achieve the project's goal while staying under or

adding up to its total budget. Although this is a realistic and understandable assumption which in

some cases becomes reality, projects often endure scope creep which causes a projects scope to

expand over time due to changing requirements, specifications, or priorities. As a result of these

things, more money will be spent which often leads to a project going over budget. This issue is

so serious because it can be very costly and there is no real preparation for it. In addition to this,
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“Scope creep is one of the most common project management risks” (Ray, 2021, para. 3). An

example of a scope creep problem that could occur during the project management process is if a

manufacturing error occurs at a facility where cars are being put together. Specifically, let's say

engineers discover the gas tank on a certain car model being manufactured could be in a safer

location on the car than it already is. Since this was not planned, scope creep occurs and the

project's scope is expanded without warning. Now line operators have to stop working on the

cars and wait until a solution to this problem is found and put into place. All models of this car

that have been completed will have to be recalled and put back into the manufacturing process so

their gas tanks can be relocated and secured. In addition to this, more time and money may have

to be spent changing the design of the undercarriage for the gas tank to be secured. Overall, as

you can probably tell, the problems and setbacks associated with the scope creep in this scenario

are catastrophic to the project management and budgeting process. Although this is a theoretical

example of scope creep that I made up, it can still very likely happen in the manufacturing and

engineering of cars.

One of the biggest real life examples of problems resulting from scope creep that

occurred in the past took place during the creation of the Denver International Airport.

Projectmanagementqualification.com submitted a blog describing the following:

The Denver International Airport is probably the biggest victim of scope creep in this

blog post. It’s a prime example of poor communication between parties and of impossible

timeframes and deadlines. The luggage handling system failed on a big scale principally

due to four warnings from various associated parties all being ignored. Plus, key

stakeholders, i.e. the airlines, weren’t involved in decisions. The set timeframes and

deadlines were never going to be achieved. (para. 9)

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These scope creep problems could have been at least partially avoided if the correct measures

were to be taken in the first place. First of all, the poor communication aspect of completing this

project is very bad and likely resulted in miscommunication and utter frustration. If good

communication was well enforced in the first place, the time frame of the scope of the project

would have been shortened by numerous days. Second of all, sort of going hand in hand with

communication, the luggage handling system failed due to warning signs from parties that were

being ignored. This scope creep incident could have been dealt with so much better if parts of the

luggage handling system had been designed/engineered piece by piece before putting it all

together. This, in addition to communication would have resulted in the project going more

smoothly if the warnings were heard instead of ignored. While in this situation scope creep

seemed to mainly be caused by poor communication, single or groups of stakeholders can also

contribute to problems with scope creep. These stakeholders include but are not limited to a

colleague, customer feedback, the project manager, and the client. In addition to these, top

management also sometimes contributes to problems with scope creep even while having the

best intentions. This idea can be summed up by Oliver Peterson, a content writer for Process

Street, who states “Sometimes, top management priorities may not align with the scope of your

project. For instance, they may want to please the client no matter the inconvenience it may

cause your project timeline, because they would rather preserve the relationship between your

organization and the client above all else.” At the end of the day these decisions made by top

management are oftentimes detrimental to the company and can cause a project to go over

budget.
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Policy Proposal

Overall I think we can all agree that budgeting projects can be hard, especially for very

big projects that take a considerable amount of time, detail, and effort. Like I said before, scope

creep has the potential to negatively influence a projects schedule, budget, cost, and resource

allocation. Having discussed these topics I would like to bring to the table the “Creep Step”

policy. This policy will be enforced within project management companies and it will efficiently

and affordably reduce the amount of time and money spent on problems arising from scope

creep. The “Creep Step” policy will add organizational steps and procedures when scope creep

arises using a combination of cause and effect data, time and budgeting constraints, and general

estimates. In detail, this policy is put into a handwritten or typed diagram with comparative

analogies and details associated with pulling them off. For instance, back to the car gas tank

problem, instead of following an original procedure to recall all of the finished vehicles and

remove the gas tank completely to move it to a new location, the project managers and those who

play a part in creating the project scope would follow the “creep step” policy. This means they

would come up with alternative methods to completely removing the gas tank and comparing

those alternatives to the original plan of finding a new spot and a new way to secure it. The

charts and diagrams this policy would enforce would allow the engineers and the project

managers to find the best possible outcome for the error. A possible option for this scenario

could be instead of moving the tank to another location, the tank itself could stay where it is and

be reinforced for safety measures. This way the team could save time instead of trying to find a

new location to put it and how to attach it to the car. Another way to think about this policy is to

picture it as a project in itself. Imagine a project where something needs to change about a

product or service and the goal is to figure out the most efficient, productive, costly, timely, and
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profitable way to. This project is due to the “creep step” policy and decisions within the project

will be made based on how important a piece of the project is summed with the amount of effort,

time, money, and resources it will require.

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References

Petravicius, Paulius. “What Happens When a Project Goes over Budget? Prevent It.” Insights

Spotter, Insights Spotter, 4 July 2021,

https://insightspotter.com/what-happens-when-a-project-goes-over-budget/.

Ray, Stephanie. “What Is Scope Creep and How Can I Avoid It? - Projectmanager.”

Projectmanager.com, ProjectManager.com, Inc, 21 May 2021,

https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/5-ways-to-avoid-scope-creep.

Project Management Qualification. (2019, March 7). Scope creep: manage scope wisely for a

successful project. PMP® Blog - Project Management Professional Training. Retrieved

March 23, 2022, from

https://www.projectmanagementqualification.com/blog/2019/03/07/manage-scope-creep/

Peterson, O. (2020, August 14). How scope creep negatively impacts project success (&

how to fix it). Process Street. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from

https://www.process.st/scope-creep/#:~:text=Scope%20creep%20can%20quietly%20snea

k,chance%20of%20your%20project's%20success.

Martins, Julia. “How to Write a Project Scope in 8 Easy Steps • Asana.” Asana.com, Asana, Inc.,

22 Jan. 2021, https://asana.com/resources/project-scope.