As we live our daily lives, we constantly come across parameters we must stay within. Anyone who wishes to partake of an alcoholic drink in a public house must do so within the parameters of the current licensing laws. Similarly, if someone pays for a transaction using a debit card, then they must stay within the parameters of their agreed overdraft or a charge will be issued.

The project manager must also stay within set parameters in order to keep the project on track. Some of these parameters are fairly obvious, timescale and budget for example, but others are somewhat less clear. The scope of a project is a more difficult term to visualise, but staying within these parameters is as essential to the success of the project as sticking to budget.

Scope refers to the size of the project; the goals and requirements; what the project can expect to achieve, how long it will take and how much it will cost. Any factors that will cause changes to the scope of the project must be absorbed by altering the budget and timeline accordingly to redress the balance. Such when the altering factor is significant enough to be detected, but there is another threat to the scope that the project manager must be on the lookout for: scope creep.

Scope creep is a term given to the gradual changing of the original scope by minor factors that would not affect the project on their own, but which cause damage through their accumulative effect. For example, if a tailor scheduled a project to produce a basic suit for fifty pounds, and the customer then requested several minor alterations; a double vent in the jacket, four cuff buttons on each sleeve and turn ups in the trousers, the scope of the project would become meaningless.

Although these alterations are minor when considered individually, their combined weight, the creeping effect, could be enough to turn the tailor's profit into a loss. The new requirements will affect the budget of the project, and the time taken to complete it. The tailor's only option is to absorb these factors into a recalculated schedule, for a sixty pound suit to be ready a day later than originally planned.

And the same goes for projects large and small. If scope creep is going to affect your project, then you must seek approval to reschedule, re-budget or both in order to incorporate these new factors. Failure to do so will see the project come in with the effect of these factors unchecked. This could mean over budget, over time or both. And when that happens, all eyes turn to the project manager for an explanation.

The watch word is beware. Beware of anything that might affect the scope of the project, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Lots of insignificant changes can accumulate to make a significant one, so be sure to account for any minor changes in the scope by adjusting the budget or timeline to accommodate them.

The scope is one of the parameters that a project must stay within if it is to succeed. Unless the scope is actively managed, other resources, such as time and money, cannot be managed effectively.