Scope Creep:
Damned if I Do, Damned if I
Don’t
l a b 6 5 1 . c o m
j u s t i n @ l a b 6 5 1 . c o m
Justin Grammens
Founder + CEO | Lab651

• Who am I
• Define Scope Creep
• Discuss the What, Who, Why and When of Scope Creep
• Explore techniques to help mitigate it
• Homework
• Q&A
W H A T
W E W I L L C O V E R

W h o
A M I ?
• F ou n der, Lab651 – Ve t t e d S o f t war e & P r o je ct S t af f in g S e r v ice s
• F ou n der, Recu rs ive Awes om e – M ach in e Le arn in g Co n s u lt an t s
• Ho s t an d C reat or of t h e “ C on v ers at ion s on Applied AI P odcas t ”
• Adju n ct P r o f e s s o r – Te ach in g g radu at e le v e l co u rs e o n I o T & M L
at t h e Un iv ers it y of S ain t Th om as h ere in S ain t P au l
• C o-f ou n der of Em ergin g Tech Nort h & Applied AI – 501(c)(3) n on-
prof it : M on t h ly m eet u ps & con f eren ces on Art if icial I n t elligen ce

W h y
M e ?
• D e veloped Sof t ware f or 25 ye ars in m an y s e ct or s & t ech n ologies
• F in an cial
• Ret ail
• C on s u m er
• S calable M obile & C lou d Applicat ion s
• I oT D evices & M ach in e Learn in g
A l l have thi s s ame probl e m of Scope Cre e p!

W H A T
I S S c o p e C r e e p ?
Scope creep (also called requirement creep, or kitchen sink
syndrome) Refers to changes, continuous or uncontrolled
growth in a project’s scope, at any point after the project
begins… It is generally considered harmful.
Source: Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scope_creep

W H A T
I S a n E n g i n e e r ?
The word engineer is derived from the Latin words ingeniare
("to create, generate, contrive, devise") and ingenium
("cleverness").
Source: Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer

W H A T
I S T h e C o r e P r o b l e m ?
As e n g in e e r s we ar e paid t o f ulf i ll f unct i onal ob je ct i v e s
B u t en gin eerin g is act u ally e m ot i onal:
• Wan t t o pleas e t h os e as k in g u s t o do t h e work
• S h ow t h at we are cle v e r. No problem is t oo t ou gh !
• Lo ve a good ch allen ge
• Hu m an s are t e rrible at e s t im at in g t im e*
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow

https://medium.com/superokay/why-are-humans-so-bad-at-estimating-4b4290f83716

“Damned if I do, Damned if I don’t”

W H A T
A r e t h e S i g n s
• C on s t an t ly s lippin g s ch edu les
• Goin g over bu dget
• D e live rin g u n docu m en t ed / u n re qu e s t e d f e at u re s
• Rewrit in g code, docu m en t at ion or t es t s
• Addin g t as k s af t e r t h e S pr in t h as s t ar t e d

W H O
A r e t h e G u i l t y P a r t i e s
• E veryon e!
• C -S u it e
• S ales
• P rodu ct & En gin eerin g M an agem en t
• E n gin eers
• Q u alit y As s u ran ce
W e are all s t ake ho lde rs i n t he s ucce s s o f t he p ro duct !

W H Y
S c o p e C r e e p H a p p e n s
• M arke t con dit ion s ch an g e
• No t in volvin g clien t / pro je ct s pon s or or u s ers t h ro u g h ou t
• No t h avin g a good u n ders t an din g of t h e project s cope
• Wh at does “ don e” look lik e?
• Wh at f eat u res are/ are n ot a priorit y f or t h is releas e ?
• Wh at are t h e k ey im plem en t at ion t as k s ?
• Lack o f a rigorou s s ys t e m an d pr oces s

W H E N
D o e s S c o p e C r e e p H a p p e n
• An y t im e !
• S een it h appen at t h e k ick of f m eet in g
• P oorly def in ed requ irem en t s
• S een it h appen in t h e f in al bu ild
• Us ers f in ally s eein g t h e produ ct f or t h e f irs t t im e - yikes !
• S een it h appen all t h e way t h rou gh
• Ho w h ard is it t o add X? How abou t Y ?

W H A T
A r e S o m e S o l u t i o n s ?
• Rem em ber: I t ’ s em ot ion al
• Likely w ill requ ire a cu lt u re s h if t wit h in you r organ iz at ion
• Ho n es t con v ers at ion s wit h e veryon e on t h e t eam
• M u lt iply by X.XX you r t im e e s t im at e s
• I m plem en t : “ D on ’ t call m e, I ’ ll call you ”
• C reat e a t em plat e f or each t as k / body of work t h at m u s t be
com plet ed

W H A T
A r e S o m e S o l u t i o n s ?
• Te m plat e f o r t as k cre at io n
• E xam ple at Lab651
• P recon dit ion s
• S t eps
• E xpect ed Res u lt s
• E rrors
• Loggin g
• No t es

W H A T
A r e S o m e S o l u t i o n s ?
• C learly def in e t h e pu rpos e f or each f eat u re
• Gives you a gu ide m arker if requ es t s s t ray f rom it
• As y o u ar e t h e E n g in e e r - Y O U k n ow t h e t ech n ical det ails :
• S u gges t alt ern at iv es !
• Rais e y ou r h an d wh en an as k is creat in g s cope creep
• C om m u n icat e, C om m u n icat e, C om m u n icat e

W H A T
A r e S o m e S o l u t i o n s ?
• Alway s h av e a S pr in t r e v ie w / r e t r o s pe ct iv e
• D e m o workin g code
• B u rn down ch art s
• S h ows es t im at ed v s act u al f or s prin t
• D is cu s s wh y if ext ra t im e was s pe n t on a f e at u re
• C an t h is ch an ge be m ov ed t o a f u t u re releas e?
• Us e t ags / labels t o m ark it em s f or f u t u re

W H A T
A r e S o m e S o l u t i o n s ?
• D e f in e an d con t in u ally revie w t h e P ro je ct C h art er
• D e f in es bu s in es s problem s an d n e e ds
• P roject object ives
• Ju s t if icat io n an d m ark e t adv an t ag e s o f co m ple t in g t h e pro je ct
• D e liverables
• Tim e lin e s an d k e y m ile s t o n e s
• F l owchart how Y O UR organiz ation wil l handl e change s !

W H A T
A r e S o m e S o l u t i o n s ?
https://www.pmdrill.com/change-control-step-by-step/
Implement a
Change Control Board (CCB)!

W H A T
H a v e W e C o v e r e d ?
• D is cu s s ed t h e W hat , W ho , W hy and W he n of S cope C reep
• E n gin eerin g is em ot ion al
• Un ders t an d t h at S cope C reep in evit able
• E xplored t ech n iqu es t o h elp m it igat e it
• P roces s & P rocedu re driven
• E m ot ion ally driven

W H A T
I s t h e L e s s o n ?
When understood and
managed properly…
“Damned if I do,
Damned if I don’t”

W H A T ?
H o m e w o r k ?
• Tag m e o n s o cial m e dia @ j us ti ngra mme ns
• S h are way s Y O U m it igat e s cope creep wit h m e
• S h are if an y of t h es e t ech n iqu es work ed f or y ou
• Us e h as h t ag #S copeC reep an d #O S N2022

H O W
T O R E A C H M E
Justin Grammens
Founder + CEO | Lab651
justin@lab651.com
Twitter & Linked In:
@justingrammens