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Scope has a lot of different meanings. To a mariner, it means the amount of anchor line let out to keep a vessel from dragging in a storm. A good ratio is 7:1. It would have to blow pretty hard to put a boat on some rocks if that much scope is kept out.

To a submariner, scope is short for the device used to look above the water while staying submerged. It’s one of the ways to look out for hazards.

To those of us in the project management world, scope is the extent of the project that we are creating. Keeping that scope under control is always a challenge because it is always changing. The nature of a project is change. A vacant plot of land becomes a hospital; a river suddenly has lanes of traffic over it. Defining scope is tricky. The project sponsor may have a scope in mind, but by the time a team prepares to add finishes, perhaps it has morphed. Defining scope is as much art as it is science.

Scope is more than a qualitative description; it is a budget and a schedule as well. What may be complete to one stakeholder may be only the beginning to another. Negotiating a good scope statement is one of the key cornerstones of a project’s success. However, trying to accommodate everyone’s needs is a fool’s errand. The art of project management comes into play as work is spent gathering everyone inside the tent. There is no rule, social media, quantitative formula or gizmo that will guarantee an outcome – just good, old fashioned horse trading.

The experienced project manager understands that as a project rolls out, scope continues to change. It is impossible for a team to be able to anticipate every detail at the project’s outset. There is one thing, however, that remains constant: the sponsor’s expectations. Those who are successful and skilled in this profession understand how to meet the sponsor’s expectations while still maintaining the critical needs of the execution team – such as authority, profitability, excessive risk. The team that is most successful and adept at managing these varying needs is the one that is called back.

The knowledgeable owner understands this as well. The project team is very much a two-way relationship. As much as the owner is evaluating the execution team, the execution team is evaluating the owner. Everyone has worked for the “impossible” customer. Such a client has unrealistic expectations, disputes every payment and fails to organize its own efforts. Those are the first customers who don’t get the best price or perhaps even a callback.

Managing the scope to the sponsor’s expectations and to the needs of the execution team is essential to a successful project. Such skills are learned and honed during many years of experience. That’s why a veteran captain knows how much scope to let out to keep a ship from dragging up on the rocks during a storm.

Christian Steinbrecher is the president of Ukiah Engineering Inc. and a senior consultant at Capital Project Consultants. Contact him at [email protected].