This week's assignment is to post a blog using the
following as a guide. Describe a project,
either personal or professional, that experienced issues related to scope
creep. What specific scope creep issues occurred? How did you or other
stakeholder deal with those issues at the time? Looking back on the experience
now, had you been in the position of managing the project, what could you have
done to better manage these issues and control the scope of the project?
Several years ago, I was working
for an early childhood program as a developmental therapist. Every year, the
program offered a graduation celebration to all children that finished the
program. Since we were inviting families with children that turned three years
during the school year of the celebration, the list of families rose close to 80. One of the biggest issues was the
financial part we were in a non for profit organization, and funds were always
scarce. It was my second year working for the organization when I was appointed
to lead the project. My job was to find donors willing to help with most of the
expenses in order to have a successful celebration. The funds available from
the program were very limited compared to all needs to have a celebration for
the families. The primary goal was to recognize the parent's participation
receiving therapeutic services for their children, and share information that
could be encouraging and meaningful other families. The activities were to
offer a breakfast for each child and primary caregivers participating in the
program. It was require to have a speaker to talk and motivate the families to
keep advocating for the children's needs and rights. Each was going to receive
a certificate for participation in the program, and two parents were going to
share their thoughts about the services received from the intervention program.
I was able to have the
celebration done with success. However, I could not sleep well for more than
one month, and at that point I, was very stress. I had support from ten co-workers
(team project members). Six team members did a good job completing their
assignment three did not complete their part, and one person resigned from her
position during the project. I had to complete the part from three team members
that did not complete their part using the lack of Spanish language as an excuse,
and take over the part of the person leaving the program.
Looking back, I can see how I
could avoid too many stress and a few hours of rest. Now I understand how
important is to develop a statement of work to outline the purpose, objectives,
constraints, and assumptions. I knew that some people were suppose to help me
(supporters) during the project, while others were just observers, and a few
were taking the role of drivers. I could have implemented the use of a work
breakdown structure. Absolutely the use of a linear responsibility chart could
be of considerable assistance. I spent too much time on tasks that could be
assigned to some other team members, and focus on the significant risks.
