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Researchers September 15, 2021
The Benefits of Integrating a Project Scope Management Plan with Your Team

It can be hard to keep up with all the latest gizmos and gadgets that are intended to help you and your team run your days more efficiently. The buzzwords change faster than most of us can keep up with, but the idea behind much of this technology is to streamline the job.

The need for organization with complex projects is a big deal, and when you’re working with a group of people, it can be hard to make sure everyone is on the same page at the same time. That’s where the term “project scope management” comes into play. Integrated project management just means that you are all working together to design the steps and procedures of the project, know who is responsible for what, and allocate deadlines to each step. Putting all of this into play before anyone even starts working on the project can save a lot of time, energy, and resources that will help the entire thing run more smoothly.

What is a Project Scope Management Approach?

The Project Scope Management Approach, also referred to as “integrated project management,” refers to all the processes and workflows that are part of the job at hand. Listing all of the elements that need to be performed for the project to run optimally helps to troubleshoot any potential issues and make sure everything is accounted for.

When you and your team take the strategic approach of designing a project scope management plan, you work together to establish the roles of all the stakeholders and participants in the project. You identify and manage the resources you have, list out the processes that have to be included and define them, and then assign the relevant people to each role and task.

Doing this with everyone working together eliminates the possibility of any conflicting objectives and allows for suggestions of alternative solutions if an obstacle occurs. Everything is organized and planned out, potential roadblocks are accounted for before they happen, and the whole team knows what their role is and what’s riding on their work if they don’t meet their deadline.

The Benefits of Using IPMs

Coming up with a detailed scope to manage your project is the way the whole team understands the goals and the objectives towards which they are working. Through the scope’s aims, the goals are listed, the deliverables are identified with deadlines, and the tasks and milestones necessary to get those deadlines met are all discussed, listed, and assigned. By doing this, everyone not only knows what is expected of them and when, but it’s easier to determine the overall cost of the project when it’s broken down into steps and the costs are figured out for each step.

Project management plans help establish the boundaries of the project so each team member knows the limits in which they are working. It makes it easier for them to understand what is feasible based on the financial limits, deadlines, and framework that must be followed. The process is delineated, each task is assigned, and the whole project is set up to work like cogs in a wheel system. All of this it put together in what’s called a “cornerstone document.” This is the final compilation of the processes and workflows that make up the project scope management plan. The managers of the project keep the document and refer back to it as necessary and at pre-determined intervals to ensure everything is running on time. Changes can be made to the plan, but they must be changes that keep the goals and deadlines running as planned for the project to be successful.

Project scope management plans can be established different ways. In some cases, the manager is the one who designs the workflow and then allocates the jobs to the relevant people. But when everyone is involved in the design and creation process, the buy-in is greater and you’re more likely to have all the conflict taken care of ahead of time before the project begins and resources are involved.

Implementing a project scope management plan has a lot of benefits, but requires a substantial amount of upfront time to ensure all the steps are accounted for within the resources on hand. It’s an investment in your time and energy that will more than pay off when your project runs more smoothly than you expected!

Tags Project Scope Management
About the author
Jason Collins- Writer
Jason is a writer for many niche brands with experience “bringing stories to life” for both startups and corporate partners.
Jason Collins
Writer
Jason is a writer for many niche brands with experience “bringing stories to life” for both startups and corporate partners.
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