Week 3 Discussion Forum
The competency of a project manager has a significant influence on the success of a project. In this line, Khan (2006) opines that the management of a project’s scope stands as the most significant role of a project management officer. However, various challenges that arise during the process of project management may affect the outcomes of a project. Project initiation and scope change control are some of the areas of project scope management where issues may emerge.
Notably, project initiation marks the beginning of a project and involves activities, such as technical feasibility, economic feasibility, and financial feasibility (Khan, 2006). Some of the issues that may arise in this subdivision of project management entail the lack of a clear description of what a project constitutes and the approval of a project without a formal process. Notably, there needs to be a clear description of what a project is and what should be carried out in the usual activities of a business. The absence of a clear-cut definition leads to a situation where activities that ought to be administered as a project are being controlled as business as usual and vice versa (Ten Six Consulting, LLC, 2018). This confusion results in the lack of a clear role of the project manager. Similarly, the approval of a project without formal processes results in resourcing challenges (Ten Six Consulting, LLC, 2018). These issues may lead to a failed project initiation process. Furthermore, scope change control is the management of alterations in a project’s scope (Khan, 2006). The primary issue in this process is scope creep, which involves unauthorized changes in the scope. According to Kerzner (2017), scope creep is a hindrance to project success as it heightens the costs and lengthens the schedule of a project. It may also lead to forced project cancellation. Having a framework for managing changes in the scope can prevent scope creep.
Project managers experience various challenges in the management of a project’s scope. These issues may result in suboptimal outcomes in a project. However, anticipating and developing mechanisms for addressing these challenges can help in avoiding adverse outgrowths.
References
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards: A guide to measuring and monitoring project performance. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Khan, A. (2006). Project scope management. Cost Engineering, 48(6), 12-16.
Ten Six Consulting, LLC. (2018, September 12). Project initiation problems and how to fix them. Retrieved from https://tensix.com/2018/09/project-initiation-problems-and-how-to-fix-them/
