Consider yourself in the middle of your most anticipated project, with weeks of planning and preparation already in place, when all of a sudden a stakeholder requests a "small tweak" to what you've previously done. What approach would you take? How "little change" is "small change"? Is this "small adjustment" really just that?
You may have a lot of questions right now. But let's first look at what we need to know before you continue with your thoughts.
The amount of work you must complete for a certain project is known as the project scope. It is important...
To prevent scope creep
It can be a "minor modification" that takes days to fix. This could affect the timeline of your project —meaning there could be “delays”.
To manage expectations
Expectations from stakeholders must be recognized and handled. Though it may seem obvious, it is crucial for us to consider both how to carry out our plan of action and how to ensure client satisfaction.
To have clear success criteria
Everyone involved in the project has an idea of what success looks like. This influences how you approach a project and will enable you to track your progress. It has the power to make or destroy your project's success or failure.
Reaching project goals including delivering the product or service to users and ensuring customer happiness, among others, is important. Keep in mind what the initiative promised to achieve when evaluating this kind of success.
Be clear on what you are selling (products, services, etc)
Create a scoping or discovery guide to not miss any questions
Create a library of estimates and keep track of them
Choose the appropriate person to handle the scoping task
Conduct A/B Testing on your scoping efforts to know what works and doesn't
Therefore, it is crucial that all project specifics are well conveyed and specified before work ever starts. Both sides will be aware of what to anticipate from a project in this way. Don't let the scope prevent your project from being a success.