Designing an effective website is very challenging. Obaidul Haque (2010) notes that “a great website can be defined as an idea designed for maximum impact.” (www.stayonsearch.com) Last year, I assumed the role of web curator for my school’s website. By definition, curating content on a website is centered on gathering, organizing and presenting online presentations (images, video, social media content) around a particular theme or topic. (whatis.techtarget.com)
I had it easy - my school was the established topic and most of my content was published on the existing webpage. As a novice to the entire web curation world, using Dreamweaver and manipulating various web pages was a significant challenge for me (seriously, define HTML?!?) . Fortunately, I had a wonderful support structure in place to assist with this task management.
The deeper I ventured into the existing site, the more I found that a change was in order. (Queue - David Bowie’s “Change”) After presenting a proposal to my principal for the site’s redesign, I was given the approval to begin the huge undertaking. The entire website’s color scheme, page layout, logo and school mascot were redesigned. The change also just happened to coincide with our school’s 75th anniversary which my principal believed would help to increase our web presence. The original project plan called for transferring the existing content into the new form shell. According to this proposed plan, once the new page was active to the entire web community (and the world), any fine tuning or slight modifications would be completed after the launch. But, that was 2015. I wouldn’t be introduced to the term “scope creep” until 2016 in my current project management course.
“Scope Creep” occurs when a change - an update or addition - to the whole or even part of the project has been requested when the project is underway. (Stachowiak, 2014) In my case, new features and advanced functionality were the items that shifted my focus. As the major stakeholder and primary target for community and district feedback (although my name was splashed on every page of the website), my principal initiated this series of “unfortunate events”. (Queue David Bowie) After reviewing other school websites, Facebook functionalities and having a desire for the best (which I could agree with) the original scope of this project started snowballing. And without a full understanding of the exact nature of the changes requested, I jumped in head first and agreed with the adjustments.
At the time, I did not understand that the “additional requirements needed to achieve the new objectives can overwhelm the capacity of the resources allocated to the project resulting in the project missing deadlines, budgets or complete failure.” (www.projectscopecreep.com) I can now see and understand, thanks to my current PM course, why scope creep cannot be prevented but why it must be managed. (www.projectsmart.co.uk) (Queue David Bowie)
Given the opportunity to turn back the hands of time, I would have been “vigilant from day one.” (Clark, 2014) By this, I would have stood as firmly as I possibly could to the original proposal. My original task was to place the old documents into the new shell and nothing else. After completing this original task, this phase would have been closed, as planned, and a new timeline established to welcome the new cosmetic changes.
As a novice to the web development world, I also didn’t fully understand what I was committing myself to. Clark (2014) notes a project’s complexity should not be underestimated. Establishing specifics related to the project’s original scope and what required resources are needed to achieve success is vital in the planning stages. I wasn’t fully prepared. I was eager to learn and excited with the overall project success. However, I failed to truly recognize the difficult nature related to these changes and the time commitments related to completing these changes along with my other job responsibilities. (Note: Many of the requested changes coincided with the start of a new school year which traditionally has always been my busiest time of the year.)
Scope Creep can be crippling. I was fortunate to have managed my way through the entire web rebuild and have received great feedback in the process. With a better understanding of the original plan, defining the plan objectives, and maintaining a strict discipline for completing said objectives, I truly believe these strategies will help to minimize scope creep in the future.
I am not the biggest David Bowie fan but the signature initial chorus line in the song “Changes” will always serve as a reminder to me during any project implementation. (Queue David Bowie - RIP)
MFABRAMS - ID ArchiTech
References
Clark, T. (April 28, 2014) How to manage scope creep - and even prevent it from happening [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://www.liquidplanner.com/blog/manage-scope-creep-even-prevent-happening/
Haque, O. (September 20, 2010) 5 biggest challenges you need to face in website creation. Retrieved from http://www.stayonsearch.com/5-biggest-challenges-you-need-to-face-in-website-creation
Definition: Content Curation (n.d.) Whatis.com. Retrieved from http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/content-curation
Definition: Project Scope Creep (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.projectscopecreep.com/
Managing scope creep - Don’t gold plate my project! (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/managing-scope-creep.php
Stachowiak, S. (March 19, 2014) Scope creep - The two dirtiest words in project management [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://teamgantt.com/blog/scope-creep-the-two-dirtiest-words-in-project-management/
Building instructional content, one byte @ a time.
