Project Scope Management A Practical Guide to Requirements for Engineering, Product, Construction, IT and Enterprise Projects

Incomplete or missed requirements, omissions, ambiguous product features, lack of user involvement, unrealistic customer expectations, and the proverbial scope creep can result in cost overruns, missed deadlines, poor product quality, and can very well ruin a project. Project Scope Management: A Practical Guide to Requirements for Engineering, Product, Construction, IT and Enterprise Projects describes how to elicit, document, and manage requirements to control project scope creep. It also explains how to manage project stakeholders to minimize the risk of an ever-growing list of user requirements.The book begins by discussing how to collect project requirements and define the project scope. Next, it considers the creation of work breakdown structures and examines the verification and control of the scope. Most of the book is dedicated to explaining how to collect requirements and how to define product and project scope inasmuch as they represent the bulk of the project scope management work undertaken on any project regardless of the industry or the nature of the work involved.The book maintains a focus on practical and sensible tools and techniques rather than academic theories. It examines five different projects and traces their development from a project scope management perspective—from project initiation to the end of the execution and control phases. The types of projects considered include CRM system implementation, mobile number portability, port upgrade, energy-efficient house design, and airport check-in kiosk software.After reading this book, you will learn how to create project charters, high-level scope, detailed requirements specifications, requirements management plans, traceability matrices, and a work breakdown structure for the projects covered.

Introduction to Scope Management: Who? What? Why?Historical Perspective: The Rusted Staple Story Why Write a Book about Project Scope Management? Current State of Project Scope Management Key Problems with Scope Port Upgrade: Container Terminal Construction Project Wireless Company: Mobile Number Portability ProjectDoes This Sound Like Your Life? Why Bother with Requirements? Developing a Shared Platform Glossary Chapter Summary History of Scope Management Introduction Brief History of Project Scope Management Twenty-Seventh Century BC: Sneferu’s Expensive Prototyping First Century AD: Building the Colosseum Fifth Century: Composite Bow Design Tenth Century: Story of a Viking Longship Twelfth Century: First "Do-It-Yourself" Book Fifteenth Century: Leonardo da Vinci Eighteenth Century: Industrial Revolution Twentieth Century: Software Engineering Twenty-First Century: Project Management Institute and the PMBOK® Guide Chapter Summary Writing Project Charters Historical Perspective: The Sheep and the Oil Dual Role of the Project Charter What Is a Project Charter? Portfolio Management Perspective Project Management Perspective What Is Included in the Project Charters? Problem and Opportunity Statements Mobile Number Portability—Problem Opportunity Statement Goals and Objectives ABC Software Systems Goals and Objectives Rough Order of Magnitude Budget and Schedule Stakeholder Register Project Feasibility/Justification Risk Management Constraints Risks AssumptionsChapter Summary Requirements, Customers, Users Historical Perspective: "New Account Opening" Project Requirements Taxonomy Types of Requirements Hierarchical Approach Engineering Approach Conscious, Unconscious, and Undreamed-of Requirements Approach Departments Involved or Domains Approach Systems Approach Target Audiences Approach Information Technology or Software Development Approach What Is the Requirements Engineering Process? Who Is a Requirements Analyst? What Does the Analyst Do? What Skills Would You Need? Requirements Owners: Customers, Users, and Stakeholders Introducing the Requirements Owner Who Should We Talk To? Why Do We Neglect the Customer? How Do We Find the Requirements Owners? Customers versus Users Discussion Partnership AgreementChapter SummaryHigh-Level Scope Elicitation Historical Perspective: University in the DesertSources for Requirements Requirements Elicitation Is Not EasyHow to Elicit Requirements Elicitation Methodologies Interviews Documentation Requirements Specs Problem Reports/Enhancement Requests Marketing Surveys/Focus Groups Market Trends Observing Users Scenario Analysis Events and Responses Psychology Brainstorming Competitive Products Benchmarked Reverse Engineering Cool Hunting Crowd Sourcing Targeting Unearthing High-Level Requirements Importance of Questions Structure for Defining Preliminary Scope Types of Questions to Ask Critical Thinking Some Cautions about Elicitation "Losing" the Stakeholders Listening to Only a Few Representatives Requirements versus Design Scenario 1 Scenario 2 "Don’t Ask Too Many Questions" Advice Chapter Summary Detailed Requirements Elicitation Historical Perspective: Burj Al Arab Detailed Requirements Elicitation Methodologies Wallpapers Wikis Brainstorming Revisited Flowchart Diagrams 5 Whys Method User Scenario Method JAD Best Trawling TechniquesRunning Efficient Meetings Importance of Communications How Formal Should One Get? Importance of Meeting Minutes What Are the Benefits of Meeting Minutes? How to Make Your Meetings Work Top Five Signs That You Are Done Collecting and Reviewing the Requirements Prioritizing Requirements Games Your Stakeholders Can Play Ways to Prioritize Requirements Must Have, Should Have, and Nice to Have Urgent/Not Urgent versus Important/Not Important Market-Qualifying Criteria Order-Losing Criteria Order-Winning Criteria Expected versus Unexpected Features Utilizing the Project Portfolio Management Technique Documenting Requirements Criteria for Good Requirements Introducing the Concept of Measurability Chapter Summary Documenting Requirements: Information Technology and Software DevelopmentProjects Historical Perspective: The Story of A2LL Requirements Specifications Template Functional Requirements What Are the Requirements Writing Guidelines? Words to Avoid Requirements versus Design Discussion Revisited Parking Lots Nonfunctional Requirements A Look at Nonfunctional Requirements Documenting IT and Software Development Requirements Introduction Document Purpose Intended Audience Project Scope References Section Product Description Product Features User Classes Operating Environment System Features System Feature—Traveler Identification—Passport External Interface Requirements User Interfaces Hardware Interfaces Software Interfaces Communications Interfaces Nonfunctional Requirements Performance Requirements Security Requirements Other Software Quality Attributes Appendix Section Documenting Requirements: Engineering and Product Development Projects Historical Perspective: Viking Longships Requirements Specifications Template What Are the Requirements Writing Guidelines? Documenting the Multidisciplinary Requirements Introduction Document Purpose Intended Audience Project Scope References Section Product Description Product Features User Classes and Characteristics Product Environment Product Features and RequirementsAppendix Section Documenting Requirements: Multidisciplinary Projects Historical Perspective: The Palm Jumeirah Project Requirements Specifications Template What Are the Requirements Writing Guidelines? Documenting Multidisciplinary Requirements Introduction Document Purpose Intended Audience Project Scope References Section Product Description Product Features User Classes and Characteristics Product Environment Product Features and Requirements F 1.0—Call Center Module Appendix Section Creating the Requirements Management Plan and Requirements Traceability Matrix Introduction When Does One Write the RMP and the RTM? RMP Benefits What Is Traceability? What Are the RTM Benefits? RMP and RTM Analysis Introduction Purpose Scope Definitions, Acronyms, and Abbreviations References Section Overview Requirements Requirements Planning Requirements Tracking Requirements Reporting Configuration Management Change Initiation Change Impact Analysis Change Tracing, Tracking, and Reporting Change Authorization Levels Requirements Prioritization Process Requirements Traceability Matrix Final Product Design Historical Perspective: The Katana SwordDesign Process Design Process Challenges How Complicated Can the Design Process Get? Design Process Detailed Clarifying Client’s ObjectivesFormal Methods of Design Process Morphological Charts Objectives Tree Method Pairwise Comparisons Three-Point VotingDesign Presentation Prototypes, Models, and Proofs of Concept Chapter Summary Creating Work Breakdown Structures and WBS Dictionaries Historical Perspective: The Great Pyramid What Is a Work Breakdown Structure? WBS Components Rules of WBS Creation A WBS Sample Generic WBS: Project Management Tasks Generic WBS: Starting Phases WBS DictionaryEstimation Using WBS Introduction: How to Improve Your Estimates Improving Your Estimate Accuracy with Wide-Band Delphi and PERT Wide-Band Delphi Wide-Band Delphi "Light" Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) Common Estimation Oversights Chapter SummaryTroubleshooting Scope Problems Historical Perspective: General Hadik’s Crucial Mistake Introduction Scope Elicitation Issues Lack of Communication between Project Team and Customers Lack of Access to Higher Authority Inability to See the Entire Project Absence of Requirements Prioritization What Can Be Done? Lack of Skills Issues Poorly Trained Requirements Professionals Technical Experts and Requirements Experts Lack of Stakeholder Education What Can Be Done? Project Management Issues Teams under Pressure Excess of Scope Quick De-Scoping at the End of the Project What Can Be Done? Documentation Issues Undocumented Requirements Vague Scope and Lack of Measurability What Can Be Done?Scope Management Issues Customers Have Direct Access to the Technical People Frequent Scope Creep What Can Be Done?Chapter Summary Scope Verification Historical Perspective: The Admiral’s Mistake Value of Scope Verification Customer Walk-Throughs, Technical Inspections, and Peer Reviews Review Process Preparing and Running the Reviews Customer Walk-ThroughsTechnical Inspections Peer Reviews Documents That Need Reviewing Questions and Checklists Chapter SummaryControlling Project Scope Historical Perspective: The Story of the Magenta Expectations Management About Stakeholder Expectations Management About Scope Changes Impact of the Changes Good versus Bad Changes Controlling and Managing Project Scope What Is the Best Practices Approach? Utilizing Change Requests Assessing the Impacts of the Requested Change Updates to the Documentation Chapter Summary References and Additional Reading Index

Jamal Moustafaev, MBA, PMP, president and founder of Thinktank Consulting, is an internationally acclaimed expert in the areas of project/portfolio management, project scoping, process improvement, and corporate training. He has completed projects for private sector companies and government organizations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, including the US Department of Defense (USA), Siemens (Germany), Petronas Oil (Malaysia), and TeliaSonera (Sweden), to name a few.Moustafaev is a certified Project Management Professional (PMPR). He holds an MBA in Finance and a BBA (Finance and Management Science) from Simon Fraser University. In addition to teaching a highly acclaimed Project Management Essentials course at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (Vancouver, Canada), Moustafaev also offers several project and portfolio management corporate seminars through his company: Practical Portfolio Management—Selecting and Managing the Right Projects Successful Hands-On Management of IT and Software Projects Successful Hands-On Management of Modern-Day Projects Project Scope Management