Imagine a real estate agent helping a couple find a new home. One person wants to be located in Lakeview; the other is persistent on a spot in the West Loop. They want a 3-bedroom and have a long list of desired amenities, but their budget is unrealistically low compared to listing prices.
Will the real estate agent be able to reconcile their differences and find a house that makes everyone happy before their rapidly approaching move-out date?
Product managers will likely relate to the tricky management of expectations and varying interests that the hypothetical conundrum illustrates. Scope creep — balancing shifting stakeholder expectations, defining and adhering to timelines, and delivering a product that satisfies the agreed-upon features and needs — is an inevitable yet dreaded part of the role.
“The biggest mistakes I see other product managers make when it comes to scope creep is not defining the project well enough up front and then trying to appease their clients or stakeholders by saying ‘yes’ to whatever is raised after work has begun,” explained Enfusion’s Managing Director and Product Owner of Interfaces Kyle Kretch.
Kretch, like many product managers, is all too familiar with the frustrations and disruptions scope creep presents. But he’s adopted strategies to avoid these issues and shared insights into how he manages and keeps projects on track.
Fintech company Enfusion is an investment management SaaS that provides real-time, data-driven intelligence.
How do you monitor and evaluate the scope of projects?
The most critical component when evaluating scope is to understand the “why” behind the request. What problem is the client ultimately looking to solve? This is done by speaking to both internal and external stakeholders and understanding end-to-end workflow, including how the new feature or requirement will be utilized and what the expected output should be. Once you have defined the requirement set, it should be put in writing where both sides sign off on the project, scope, testing and acceptance criteria. This ensures the project details are memorialized by both sides and all stakeholders are aligned to help mitigate surprises later.
When you notice scope creep, what do you do to manage it? What steps do you take to keep the project on track?
Ultimately, you limit unintended delays if requirements are gathered well up front, communicated back to the relevant stakeholders and signed off by both sides. Scope creep is inevitable with any project, especially with complex projects in fast-moving industries. Based on this, it is best to mitigate scope creep as much as possible upfront, but when it comes up, be understanding, but firm, on the initially agreed-upon scope; understand why the client is adding or changing scope this late in the process and what value they would get out of that change.
It is best to mitigate scope creep as much as possible upfront, but when it comes up, be understanding, but firm, on the initially agreed-upon scope.”
It is also important to understand how critical it is to the project. If it is not mission-critical, think about addressing it as a phase two item or a separate project at a later stage. If it is mission-critical, transparency is key so the client understands the risk to the timeline and deliverables, and the impact this change will have on the overall project.
What mistakes do you see other product managers make when it comes to scope creep? What advice would you offer to those PMs?
The biggest mistakes I see other product managers make when it comes to scope creep is not defining the project well enough up front and then trying to appease their clients or stakeholders by saying “yes” to whatever is raised after work has begun.
While we always want to deliver quality products and services that exceed our clients’ expectations, many will appreciate honest transparency around how added scope delays timelines not only to this project for this client, but to the entire firm, including other client projects and roadmap items that benefit all clients. The advice I give to any new product manager is to dig into the details upfront, enjoy the process of back-and-forth problem-solving with your client and don’t be afraid to say no where it makes sense.
