A monthly newsletter by Workamajig

Profit and Project Scope  

How do you protect your team’s precious time when clients are pushing you to add ‘just one more thing’ to their project?

This month, we’re focusing on Profit and how that relates to project scope management.

We all know that projects have a tendency to run over time, over scope, and therefore over budget. But what if you could nip the problem in the bud by having a process that completely eliminates scope creep?

In our blog, What is Project Scope? The Complete Guide, we detail everything you need to know to do just that, and in What is Project Scope Creep (and the best ways to avoid it) you’ll gain the practical tools to steer clear of this ↓ bad guy, AKA The Scope Creep.

Of course, Accounting Software is integral to managing project scope as well - you need to know your financials before you can make any project scope-related decisions!

👩‍⚖️ Experts Speak

Here’s David C. Baker, Workamajig consultant’s take on scope creep:

Managing scope creep is as much fun as arguing with your conspiracy-prone cousin at the Thanksgiving table, but not managing it well is the surest way to lose money, and also a good way to introduce tension in a client relationship. Think of scope creep, first, as a lack of information. And to solve that particular problem, you need more information. That information can come from the client (by probing deeper) or from you (by thinking about their problem and how to solve it).

After probing for information, explain to a client that they have two options:

• Option 1: Time and materials until the clouds lift and the scope is clear.
• Option 2: Paid diagnostic or road mapping exercise, providing a real deliverable and spending a little bit of time and money now to get it right now to use the remaining budget and time effectively.

J. Mark Riggs of Pemberton is a Workamajig consultant with many years of agency experience. Here is his take on project scope management:

“Having worked with so many agencies over the years, the real truth is that over-servicing is what erodes AGI, which ultimately erodes the value of the agency and its ability to reinvest. Agencies must write defensible scopes of work and be able to defend those scopes. We cannot tell if we are allowing clients to consistently make requests that outpace our resources if we haven’t drawn a line in the sand. In order to be aligned and manage expectations, you must set expectations.”