{"id":36794,"date":"2020-03-05T10:55:25","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T10:55:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/blog\/?p=36794"},"modified":"2025-12-04T09:33:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T07:33:23","slug":"scope-creep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elementor.com\/blog\/scope-creep\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Scope Creep in Project Management?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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What Causes Scope Creep?\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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What if something could cause the death of an ambitious website project<\/a>? Your first thoughts might be that this something could be procrastination, lack of planning, or inexperienced designers, but there\u2019s actually something that\u2019s even more dangerous: scope creep<\/strong>.<\/p>

When projects overstep their initial goals, more and more tasks keep getting piled on, until the deadline is missed and everyone loses steam. Once this starts happening, it can be difficult to ever recover.\u00a0<\/p>

Are you scared of you or your organization succumbing to scope creep? With planning, communication, and tempered expectations, you can stop it in its tracks.\u00a0<\/p>

Let\u2019s learn how to identify and avoid scope creep \u2014 before it happens.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What is Project Scope?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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When you decide to tackle a new project, the first thing you do is create a plan. Project scope is part of project planning and involves writing down the goals, project deliverables<\/a>, costs, and other points related to the project.\u00a0<\/p>

In a project scope, you outline everything, from the deadlines, the responsibilities of different members, quality control measures, and the total cost of the project.<\/p>

The scope of a project is, in essence, a guide to the project for the team and the clients, and is often included in the contract<\/a>. It helps everybody to be focused on their tasks and gives clients a tangible schedule for the completion of the project.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What is Scope Creep?\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Scope creep is when a project\u2019s requirements and deliverables stretch beyond the initial vision. In project management<\/a>, scope creep is one of the leading causes of failure. It occurs when new requests flow in that involve additional revisions, remakes, re-designs, and additional requirements.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

There are numerous reasons why scope creep arises, most notably poor communication between project stakeholders, and a lack of initial identification of what\u2019s needed to secure the project objectives.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Example of Scope Creep<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Here’s an example of scope creep in action: <\/strong><\/p>

Imagine that you and your team are working on a WordPress launch site for a client. The site needs to have a homepage, an about page, and a small online store<\/a>. The deadline for completing this is just three weeks. Although this is a short deadline, nonetheless, you and your team are confident that you’ll have the website up and running in time.\u00a0<\/p>

After all, you’ve created WordPress websites in the past and you know exactly what and how long you’ll need to complete the project. There are no glaring challenges and you have all the necessary tools and resources that you’ll need, based on the project scope that was initially determined<\/p>

However, a week into the project, the client requests more features and additional functionalities on the site. At first, they’re just asking for a small adjustment that you’re able to incorporate within the existing project scope. But, they then ask for larger changes, such as an expanded store, adding a blog to the site, customizing their logo, SEO services, and creating more pages that weren’t included in the original agreement.<\/p>

Before you know it, the project scope has gone from a ‘small WordPress site with online store’ to a full-blown site with tons of features and pages. Unfortunately, you’re no longer able to complete the project before the three-week deadline.\u00a0<\/p>

That’s the sinister thing about scope creep: it usually starts small, so you don’t notice until it’s too late.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What Causes Scope Creep?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Here are several common and avoidable causes of scope creep:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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1. Lack of Planning<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Not planning for additional requests is one of the main causes of scope creep.\u00a0If the original contract stipulated how to handle these new requirements (i.e. increasing the deadline, increasing the cost, hiring additional personnel, etc.), then these won\u2019t pose a problem, and cannot be considered scope creep.<\/p>

But, assuming that the project will proceed without changes inevitably results in not being able to handle them when they do occur.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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2. Lack of Communication<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Lack of communication is another significant cause of scope creep. Sometimes a project is just between you and a single client. Other times, the client is an entire company, and that means there\u2019s a lot of higher-ups who will want to have a say in the design.<\/p>

Whoever you may be working with, poor communication often leads to expectations getting out of control. Even if you\u2019re just doing this by yourself, it\u2019s good to figure out what you want and lay it out clearly as a set of tasks with a deadline.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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3. Too Many Revisions<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Piling on too many revisions can kill a web design project. Every site is going to need a few changes as you try to capture the client\u2019s vision, but when it goes too far, it can completely bog down the schedule<\/p>

These mini-tasks are so small you might not even notice how much time they\u2019re taking, but they can do some serious damage if you don\u2019t keep them under control. This particular practice of working on a project past its point of diminishing returns is often called gold plating<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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4. Poorly Defined Project Scope<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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A poorly defined project scope could be fatal for your project\u2019s success. If your team members, project managers, and other stakeholders aren’t clear on the project’s requirements and deliverables, then it’s inevitable there’ll be a breakdown at some point.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Where to Expect Scope Creep\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Scope creep can occur at any point during a project, but there are a few stages where you should be extra vigilant<\/p>