This paper was originally presented in 1987 at the PMI Northwest Regional Symposium, Portland, Oregon. It is copyright to Walter Wawruck© 1987-2006.
Published here December 2006.

PART 2 | Control Means Maintaining Baselines as the Scope Evolves
The Life Cycle Model | Evolution of Scope
Baselines and Freezes at Milestones 3 and 4 | Baselines and Freezes: Milestones 5 through 8
 Design Reviews | Managing Changes | Summary of Project Scope Management Principles

Editor's Note

In Part 1, Walter Wawruck reviewed:
The Meaning and Purpose of Project Scope Management

Introduction and Purpose of this Paper
The Definition of Project Scope
The Comprehensive Description of a Project
Work Done by the Project Management Institute
Scope Management - Important But Neglected

In Part 2, he reviewed
Project Scope Management in the Project Management Literature

Disparity in Treatment of Scope - Compared to Cost and Schedule
Possible Reasons for Neglecting Project Scope Management
The WBS is a Scope Breakdown Structure
Application and Use of the WBS

In this Part 3, he provides A Framework for Controlling Scope

Control Means Maintaining Baselines as the Scope Evolves

This Part 3 outlines a framework of principles and procedures for controlling the scope of a project. The control process is described in the context of a generalized model of the life cycle stages of a project. The stages are marked by the issuance of a series of progressively more detailed designs. Each stage is a further step in the evolution of the configuration of the deliverable end result. The progression is from a set of user or client requirements to a functioning product, system, or facility. The stages, in other words, trace the evolution of the project scope.

The process for controlling the evolution of scope centers on two sets of mechanisms.

  1. The first set ensures that the configuration of the end product, at each stage of its evolution, does not deviate from the client's requirements. An agreed upon requirements statement and a series of design reviews and freezes are the key tools in this case.
  2. The second set of mechanisms provides for amending the configuration in a disciplined fashion. Inevitably, changes arise, either because the requirements change, or because the design does not work. Procedures are described for reviewing and approving changes, and for incorporating them in the baselines.
PART 2  PART 2

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