2 management - School of International Business and ...

Wolfgang Cronenbroeck
Optimizing the project scope
The scope of the project, i.e. the number of functions, product components and quality of the
result can be changed in many cases. For example, during planning, one often sees that for in-
dividual functionalities, the implementation effort can have a poor relationship to future benefits.
Such functionalities can be eliminated or changed. Ensure that the later benefits of the client take
priority over your own interests.
The following are some tips for optimization:
– Create a priority list together with the client: What are the must-haves and what parts are
non-binding wishes? You can eliminate some of these.
– Weigh reducing the project scope by pushing back requirements or not implementing
functionalities.
– Plan possible step-wise implementation of a project in order to be able to deliver some project
segments earlier. Implement fewer important functionalities at first, then add them later.
– Buy ready-made parts instead of having to develop and produce them yourself. Ask your-
self: Is this activity really a core skill in your team, or can you have it made by others more
simply, more professionally or less expensively?
– Weigh how you can reduce product quality in a targeted fashion. Keep the customer's
needs in mind
– Agree on every change of the project scope with the decision makers beforehand.
– Ensure that the scope to be changed is also adjusted in the orders or contracts or costs,
and is amicably agreed with the parties.
When carrying out plan optimization, project planning is for the first time carried out on a realistic
level, and the contextual implementation of the project can be started in its full scope with the
whole project team. The project manager can now start with the monitoring and controlling of the
value-adding project phases in relation to project management.
2.3 PROJECT MONITORING AND CONTROL
The basic rule always applies in the phase:
Trust but verify!
This phase is clearly the longest phase within the project schedule. If we make progress on a
project, a percentage estimate of the duration of the project phases can be made which might
look like this:
Project start 5%
Project planning 10%
Project monitoring and control 75%
Project completion 5%
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