Scope, Requirements & the WBS

Scope is a boundary

Scope tells the team what the project will deliver and what it will not. Weak scope creates endless interpretation. Good scope gives stakeholders something concrete to approve and change deliberately.

From requirements to deliverables

What the WBS is for

A work breakdown structure decomposes the project into progressively smaller components until the work can be estimated, assigned and controlled. The point is not to create the longest task list; it is to create a useful model of the work.

Scope creep vs legitimate change

A new request is not automatically scope creep. If the request is valuable, evaluate it through the project's agreed change process. Scope creep is uncontrolled expansion without corresponding decisions about time, cost, resources or value.

Quality check