Project Scope Statement

QUESTION

Conduct online research about the characteristics of well and poorly written solution requirements: user, functional, project, and regulatory requirements. What did you find?

1. What are some of the features of well-written requirements?

2. What are some of the most common problems with writing requirements?

3. Did you find any Internet site(s) that you would recommend to others?

Your team is responsible for major deliverable XYZ. What are the sub-deliverables? What are the lower level sub-deliverables for each sub-deliverable? Are there additional lower level sub-deliverables? Let’s keep going, what are the work packages for each sub-deliverable? Who do you want me to work with to define the activities for each of the work packages? This question allows you to drill down and collect the deliverables and work packages from the project lead responsible for the major deliverable. It also enables you to identify who within the project leads group will be responsible for delivering the individual work packages as they will develop the activities.

3 .Part 1

1. What sections should the perfect scope statement contain?

2. Most projects find managing scope to be a challenge. What can we add to a scope statement that could help manage project scope better.

Part 2

Describe how the organizational structure impact the project scope.

ANSWER

Solution Requirements

A requirements document is a very important document in any project management operation. Various project and engineering errors in the process of completing projects arise as a result of problems in the requirements planning. Preparing a good requirements plan is the first step in the achievement of project success (QRA Team, 2019). A good requirements document has a cover page, a table of contents, section headings, and guidelines in every section. It contains explanations of management systems used in the control of changes made and contains well-arranged information. The information provided in the requirements document has to be unambiguous, verifiable or testable, easily understandable, correct or factual, and realistic (Heagney, 2016).

Some of the common problems associated with writing requirements include making ambiguous or unclear statements, using difficult terms and language, failing to make realistic targets and predictions, and improper arrangement of sections within the document.

https://qracorp.com/write-clear-requirements-document/

Part 1: Project Scope Statement

One of the key elements of project management is the scope statement. The scope statement is used by project managers as a form of written confirmation of the outcomes of the project, the constraints, and the assumptions made in the execution of the project (Khan, 2006). The owners of a project (those who requested it) and the project team have to agree on the terms in the scope statement before the commencement of the project work to prevent misunderstandings later on. A perfect scope statement has five major sections:

Product scope: a detailed definition of the features of the project’s outcome (Mirza, Pourzolfaghar, & Shahnazari, 2013).

Deliverables: a list of all the outcomes of the project and may be listed together with the product scope (Wysocki, 2011).

Acceptance criteria: a section that details the conditions in which the owners of the project will accept it or reject it.

What is not part of the project: this has to be included in the project scope to prevent disagreements on the deliverables and the scope of the project.

Assumptions, risks, and constraints: the various risks and constraints that may affect the project are also included in the scope statement. Constraints limit the project’s dimensions, and project planning has to be done based on the constraints and assumptions made.

Managing Project Scope

In order to remain within the set scope of a project, it is necessary to include the section that defines what is outside the limits of the project, in the project scope statement (Khan, 2006). This section provides information on the deliverables of the project and what is not expected. It, therefore, directs the project team on the necessary project work and ensures that time is not spent on items that are not within the scope (Mepyans-Robinson, 2006). In addition, it is imperative to define the objectives of the project clearly to minimize ambiguity. The goals of the project direct the team members and prevent them from participating in activities that do not contribute to the achievement of the project’s goals. All the tasks in the project should be written down in the project plan and detailed, together with a schedule showing the time limits and goals of each task (Wysocki, 2011).

Part 2: Impact of Organizational Structure on Project Scope

Organizational structure has an impact on all the activities of an organization. The structure of a company determines the availability of resources, the communication methods, and the implementation of a project (Mirza et al., 2013). In an organization with a functional organizational structure, the members of the project team complete the tasks assigned in the project in addition to their responsibilities in the normal departmental work. In addition, communication occurs within the same department or function. In an organization with a projectized structure, the whole organization is organized on the basis of projects, with the project manager being in-charge.

References

Heagney, J. (2016). Fundamentals of project management. Amacom.

Khan, A. (2006). Project scope management. Cost engineering, 48(6), 12-16.

Mepyans-Robinson, R. E. N. E. E. (2006). Project scope management in practice. Dinsmore, PC & Cabanis-Brewin, J., The AMA handbook of project management 2nd ed. New York: Amacom, 74-80.

Mirza, M. N., Pourzolfaghar, Z., & Shahnazari, M. (2013). Significance of scope in project success. Procedia Technology, 9, 722-729.

QRA Team. (2019, February 12). How to Write an Exceptionally Clear Requirements Document. Retrieved May 31, 2019, from https://qracorp.com/write-clear-requirements-document/

Wysocki, R. K. (2011). Effective project management: traditional, agile, extreme. John Wiley & Sons.