Preventing scope creep requires a careful management process. Not all scope creep is bad but all scope creep must be tightly controlled to ensure it does not have a negative impact on the project’s outcome. To do so, create a work breakdown structure and Gantt chart of your project requirements. Then, carefully write a scope change management plan. Finally, review and gain agreement from all stakeholders surrounding these documents and plans.

Here is a closer look at the steps to prevent scope creep:

1. Outline Project Requirements and Prioritize Project Tasks

A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a document that takes a large project and breaks it into manageable chunks or deliverables. Simply put, it documents the scope of the project, its resource allocation and its deliverables. For easier scope management later, deliverables are listed in the order they must be completed, then prioritized based on resource allocation and, finally, assigned work packages with tasks that must be completed to create each deliverable.

Write Your Deliverables

To begin creating your WBS, first list the primary milestones you must accomplish to ultimately complete the project. Then, convert each milestone into a deliverable instead of an action—”blog post published” instead of “publish blog post,” for example. Milestones in a sales campaign may be written as:

• Define the campaign’s audience
• Write and publish a targeted blog post
• Write and publish a targeted lead magnet
• Create an automated and personalized email sequence for lead conversion

Now, convert each action into a deliverable, such as:

• A defined audience
• A targeted published blog post
• A targeted published lead magnet
• An automated and targeted email sequence

Prioritize Your Deliverables

To prioritize each of these deliverables, mark the time or resource percentage each will use. For example, if the most important part of your marketing plan is the email sequence that funnels qualified leads through the sales pipeline, you might spend 50% of your time and resources on this deliverable, 20% on your targeted lead magnet, 12% on creating and publishing a targeted blog post and 8% on defining your audience.

Create Deliverable Work Packages

Finally, write the smaller tasks that go into creating these deliverables in a separate document (called a “work package”). Link the work package to its corresponding deliverable. For the deliverable “a targeted published blog post,” for example, the work package may say to interview key sources, research keywords to target, create an outline, write the blog post, finalize optimizing the post for search engines and, finally, publish the post.

Create a Visual Work Breakdown Structure

A WBS is most easily consumable if put into a visual chart. A simple way of doing so is through a free Canva account and many project management software offer WBS templates. To find a template via Canva, simply sign up for a free account, then search “Work Breakdown Structure” using the search bar titled “What Will You Design?” Click on your template choice and use the left-hand design menu to add your own content.

2. Create a Project Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart is a visual timeline of your project broken down into all the agreed-upon tasks your team must complete to finish the project. This chart is critical for managing scope because it clearly shows what the agreed-upon tasks/deliverables are and, by extension, what they are not. It also shows the deadlines your team must meet to complete the project on time. Going beyond these tasks constitutes scope creep.

The beauty of this chart is that it is visible and constantly referred to by all team members. With all eyes on this chart, changes are immediately visible. Any task deviations from this Gantt chart should be addressed as a scope change. After all, even a slight change in the end date of one task can mean a delay in the deadline or a change in the budget for the entire project.

Refer to your WBS to chart your project’s timeline based on individual tasks’ beginning and end dates, then, ultimately, the project’s beginning and end dates. Be sure to chart not just your deliverables but the tasks in the work packages attached to each deliverable. Color code or otherwise highlight milestones (deliverables), task priorities and dependencies (tasks that rely on the completion of other tasks to begin).

Pro tip: Use project management software to create your Gantt chart. When you do, you can tap into an intuitive interface to easily create your chart, then adjust the settings to clearly alert you to changes made to your chart as scope changes happen.

3. Write a Change Management Plan

A change management plan is a document that depicts the steps a team will take to identify a scope change request and manage it. It includes sections that outline how change requests will be submitted, the tools used to manage the process, a list of the people who are authorized to implement or deny requests, how change requests will be evaluated and then denied or approved, applicable fees and cutoff points for submitting change requests.

Answer the following questions to create your scope change management plan:

Roles

The following questions will help you select the people to serve on your change management control board:

• Who is involved in the change management plan?
• Who can submit change requests?
• Who will receive them?
• Who will review them?
• Who will approve or deny them?
• Who is not authorized to receive, evaluate and approve or deny requests?
• Who is to serve as consultants in the evaluation process?
• Who has the final say in indecisive moments?

Tools

Answer these questions to develop the tools to manage scope change requests:

• Which form will be used to ensure change requests are consistent and offer all needed information for the evaluation process?
• What (if any) fees will be applied to ensure only necessary change requests are approved?
• What change tracking log will be kept to record changes and their execution?
• What checklist will evaluators use to approve or deny a request?

Timeframe Parameters

Answer these questions to put parameters on your evaluation process and keep scope change requests processing efficiently:

• In what time frame must requests be evaluated, then approved or denied?
• At what point in the project is it too late to request scope changes?

Scope Change Communication and Collaboration

Explain the communication and collaboration process should scope change requests be approved or denied. To do so, answer these questions:

• How will approvals or rejections be communicated?
• How will team members collaborate to implement approved scope changes?
• How will the communication and collaboration process be made visible team-wide?

4. Get Scope Approval From Stakeholders

Present your WBS and Gantt chart to all stakeholders, project sponsors and/or clients to ensure you accurately captured the project requirements and timelines. Decision-maker stakeholders should come together to carefully review these documents and suggest changes as appropriate. Then, once a consensus is reached that the requirements and timeline are complete and satisfactory, all should sign and date the document.

5. Review Change Management Plan With Stakeholders

With a signed and dated WPS and Gantt chart, drive home the importance of sticking to the plan while leaving room for the flexibility any project needs to succeed. It is unrealistic to assume that no changes will be made to this finalized project plan. So, in the same stakeholder-wide meeting, present your scope change management plan.

Highlight the consequences for requesting changes and the process for evaluating change requests, then approving or denying them. Communicate that fees are applied so only necessary change requests are submitted, thereby improving efficiency and ensuring an on-time, on-budget and high-quality project completion. Walk stakeholders through how to use the change request form and how the evaluation checklist and change log will be applied.

6. Train Project Executors on Scope Change Process

Creating a change management plan is only helpful if those who must implement it know how to do so. In a separate, internal-team meeting, review your plan with team members while highlighting who is authorized to approve scope changes. Explain the risks posed by scope changes, including the negative impact to project success. Show them how to remind requesting parties of scope change risks, the approval process and your scope change fees.