You're facing scope creep and tight project timelines. How can you keep client expectations in check?

Scope creep is a practical reality. It is more prevalent in new product launches vs product enhancements given the nature of ambiguity of the new product. Unless a scope is imperative to a successful launch it must be identified as a roadmap item tagged to next iteration or release. Clients expect the best, and even Apple launches a new version every year to keep pace with client expectations and/or to drive revenue growth. Setting expectations and boundaries or what can be accommodated and staying on top of deliverables committed will build confidence and street credibility with stakeholders.

I observed teams struggling with ambiguity and uncertainty in the early phases of product and project definition. Customer requests naturally evolve as they gain more clarity on expected outcomes. One way to reduce uncertainty is to document assumptions and trigger a change request when an assumption proves incorrect. Another approach is to negotiate previously promised features in exchange for new ones, ensuring the total time investment remains unchanged.

Transparency and intimate communication lay the foundation for customer intimacy and trust. This sets the stage for credibility provided by robust project management (documented scope, cost, schedule) that clearly identifies change. Lastly, providing the customer options shows you're a partner looking to find the right solution.

There are minimal surprises on anyone or any scope creep when one develops the OKRs, KPIs, and the task list with RACI assigned to individuals with the client's involvement from day one. Sharing progress weekly in an open platform provides transparency. Sharing it with the C-level executives and board members once a month aligns the teams top-down and sideways. Scope creep hardly happens with this process. I've experienced the client paying for the extra work since they can see the benefit. It's incremental work rather than scope creep since both sides agree.

The very first thing I would do is to understand the changes due to the scope creep. It has two essential fires to fight, understanding the impact and potential domino effect on related areas and secondly, reallocation or resources and budgets if necessary. All of this has to be communicated to all the affected parties transparently and swiftly, including the stakeholders as this will give us time and utilities to set up or review a more efficient Change Request Process. Effective Communication is key you managing client expectations and prevents any further scope creep.

Project delivery is never linear. Client expectations and scope changes even after conducting a detailed discovery is normal and no need to fight it. Communicating ''openly'' to manage expectations is the key. Often the project managers start jumping the guns with ''Change requests'' aka translates to money is not a conversation to be had without a trusted relationship and openness with the client. Offering workarounds and seeking Project sponsor help to manage user expectations to get to the initial goal post (Go-live) by working out an enduring solution post the initial Go-live is the way to go.

Communication is pertinent in managing expectations. This is achieved by regular updates on project progress and any roadblocks that might distort the timeline of the project. This transparency allows clients to understand the situation adjust their expectations accordingly and build rapport and trust with your stakeholders.

Early communication is not enough. Consistent and clear communications to all stakeholders and sponsors throughout the entire project lifecycle is critical.

The challenge I faced is less on "when" I communicate but "what" I communicate. Transparency alone might not be enough if the client doesn't understand your technical jargons. Remember to present your roadblocks as challenges that are in the way of you delivering value to your clients. How does it affect the quality, time and cost of their project or product?

To reiterate my previous points based on experience 1. Ensure regular workshops, align stakeholders on core features, discuss trade-offs. 2. Ensure periodic scope check-ins to catch creeps early. 3. Create impact assessment tools to objectively negotiate and present consequences, trade-offs and any justifications.

Prioritizing at the task level is not a good Product Management practice. This is counterintuitive to what I said under 'Define Scope' above. Don't plan for the scope to expand. If something like this happens once in a while, better to do it afresh on the whiteboard till the lingering uncertainty is addressed. If this happens frequently, something else needs to be fixed. Define goals and let the execution teams figure out how to best achieve the goal by prioritizing the tasks with ownership, which comes with better control and autonomy on execution tasks.

Com prazos apertados, é essencial priorizar as tarefas mais críticas que trarão maior valor ao cliente. Use técnicas de priorização, como MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have), para focar no que realmente importa. Envolva o cliente no processo de priorização para garantir que suas necessidades mais importantes sejam atendidas.

When deadlines are looming and the project scope starts to expand, prioritizing tasks effectively is crucial. From my experience, you need to determine which features are critical to the project's success and which can be postponed. This focus helps maintain alignment with the project's goals and ensures value delivery to the client. It prevents getting sidetracked by less important additions that could cause delays. This approach has helped me keep projects on track and meet deadlines without compromising quality.

Acredito que organização seja a palavra-chave na gestão de projetos. Priorizar as tarefas e fazer uma checklist, com certeza ajuda para executar o trabalho com mais eficiência, dentro do prazo. Ao priorizar as tarefas, conseguimos ter um planejamento do tempo e, portanto, uma melhor visão de como cumprir a lista no prazo esperado. Existe um provérbio sul-africano que diz mais ou menos: “para comer um elefante que está no seu caminho, faça-o partes por partes”.

I've learned the importance of prioritizing tasks, especially under tight deadlines. When the scope starts to creep, it's vital to distinguish between what's essential for the project's success and what can be deferred. This focus helps in steering the team toward delivering core value to the client while keeping extraneous tasks at bay. Such prioritization not only keeps the project on track but also safeguards against burnout. It's a strategy that has repeatedly proven its worth in my career. #ProjectManagement #TimeManagement #ManageTask

As a product manager, it’s crucial to set and enforce boundaries to prevent scope creep from derailing your project’s timeline. Being assertive about what can realistically be achieved within the given timeframe and budget is key. When additional requests arise, evaluate their impact thoroughly and communicate any necessary adjustments to the schedule or costs. This proactive approach helps manage client expectations effectively and ensures the project remains on track.

Set clear project boundaries, communicate frequently about progress and potential issues, and handle changes through a formal change management process. Transparency and prioritization are key to managing expectations and maintaining project timelines.

Estabelecer limites claros sobre o que pode e não pode ser feito dentro do prazo e do orçamento disponíveis é fundamental. Seja honesto sobre as limitações e negocie compromissos realistas. Isso ajuda a evitar expectativas irrealistas e a garantir que todos estejam na mesma página.

Setting and enforcing boundaries is crucial to prevent scope creep from derailing your project's timeline. In my experience, being assertive about what can realistically be achieved within the given timeframe and budget is key. When new requests come in, evaluate their impact and communicate any necessary adjustments to the schedule or costs. This helps manage client expectations and keeps the project on track.

when additional requests are made, evaluate their impact and communicate any necessary adjustments to the schedule or costs. This approach helps manage client expectations and keeps the project on track. Setting clear boundaries ensures you can deliver on your commitments without overextending resources.

Imagine you were a florist and had spent weeks making wedding flowers. The eve of the wedding, the bride demands you remake new flowers in the next 24 hours, what would you do? "No Way" infuriates the customer and instantly stops discussions. Offering alternatives is a stronger path. You could calculate the cost to redo all of the flowers as requested (overnight the flowers, overtime for your staff, etc.). They typically realize that is unrealistic, so you ask why they want to change the flowers. Drilling down the "5-whys" let's you understand the pain point and gives you the chance to negotiate a path forward where you deliver some high-value features in a timeline without sacrificing the overall project. Win-Win my fellow PM!

When faced with scope creep, offering alternatives can be a constructive way to handle client requests without compromising the project timeline. If a new feature is requested, suggest a phased approach where the feature is added after the initial launch. This keeps the current project scope intact and shows your commitment to meeting the client's needs long-term. By proposing phased implementation, you manage expectations and maintain control over the project timeline and budget, ensuring the core objectives are delivered efficiently while still planning for future enhancements.

Quando enfrentar limitações de tempo e recursos, ofereça alternativas viáveis. Por exemplo, você pode sugerir fases de implementação, onde funcionalidades menos críticas são adiadas para uma segunda fase. Isso permite que o projeto continue avançando enquanto ainda atende às necessidades essenciais do cliente.

Scope creeps are not ideal. But we don't live in an ideal world. A seasoned PM has to make sure that scope creeps are well contained by scoping out the Whats based on a strong Why. Once your team is on-board based on Why and What, the How becomes a natural outcome. Be very clear on what 'scope cut' is acceptable to accommodate the 'scope creep'.

A rather important but often forgotten point in the job of product manager (or any manager for that matter): you have to find logical, innovative solutions that suit everyone (or at least a large part of everyone). It's a bit like being a hacker. Sometimes the most suitable solution isn't the one you see. A good way to validate and reflect on these solutions is to involve these teams and steakholders. Different points of view are always relevant to finding solutions ;)

Reviewing regularly also promotes communicating early, but a review is just that - it is not an opportunity to allow for feature creep.

Revisões regulares do progresso do projeto são essenciais para manter todos informados e ajustar as expectativas conforme necessário. Realize reuniões de status frequentes com o cliente para discutir o progresso, identificar problemas e ajustar o curso, se necessário. A revisão contínua ajuda a manter o controle sobre o escopo e os prazos.

A truly collaborative approach to Product management doesn't include micro-managing but guiding from an overarching vantage point at regular checkpoints. If you follow this, a regular checkpoint and review of progress made so far is not a dreaded event but an acceptable intervention by the execution teams. We review the good, bad, and ugly experiences and agree to learn from them and better ourselves next time.

Project scope is first line of defense against scope creep.Project deliverables include the features, tasks, deadlines & specific outcomes that have been agreed upon on project's progress must be communicated to clients for updates the situations & sometimes work together to find out a common solution.Depending upon the projects goal & delivering value to the clients,it is essential to prioritise tasks effectively to decide which are critical for project success or maybe deferred elements.Realistic boundaries must be set to complete within timeframe & budget.This will help to manage clients expectation & keep the project on track.Project must be reviewed periodically against the objective is vital for keeping scope & timelines in check.

To effectively manage scope creep and tight project timelines, utilizing agile methodologies is one of the best approaches.These methods emphasize iterative delivery and continuous feedback, which aligns client expectations with project progress.By breaking down tasks into manageable sprints and adapting to changes through regular client collaboration,agile ensures flexibility & responsiveness.This approach not only controls scope creep but also enhances project transparency & client satisfaction through ongoing communication & incremental delivery.Any additional requirements which are contributing to the scope creep can be classified into show stoppers,must have & good to have features further being finalized into sprint deliveries.

I think our focus should also be on the impact analysis when we are offering for another alternatives, if the feature/ task is important which can't be pushed out and have a significant impact on the deliverables then through implementing proper change control it can be implemented and also need to document in lessons learned.

In addition to the strategies mentioned, leveraging agile methodologies can be a game-changer in managing scope creep and tight timelines. Agile frameworks like Scrum or Kanban emphasize iterative progress and continuous feedback, allowing for more flexibility and better alignment with client expectations. Additionally, using project management tools like Jira or Trello can enhance transparency and streamline communication, ensuring that all stakeholders are on the same page and that any deviations from the scope are promptly addressed.