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Scope holds different meanings for different people – and for different professions.

To a mariner, for example, scope is the amount of anchor line let out to keep a vessel from dragging in a storm. Meanwhile, to a submariner, scope is a way to keep an eye out for hazards, a short-hand term for the device used to look above the water while your vessel is submerged in order to see what’s ahead.

To those of us in the project management world, scope holds yet another meaning – it is the extent of the project that we are creating.

Keeping the scope of a project under control is always a challenge, for it is always changing. The very nature of a project, in fact, is change. Where you may have had a vacant plot of land, you now have a hospital; where you may have had no access across a river, you may now have a number of bridges.

But defining scope is tricky. It’s as much art as it is science, especially because it means different things to different players in the building industry. The project sponsor may have a scope in mind. However, by the time the execution team interprets the finished product, the scope may have morphed.

For project managers, defining and maintaining scope are not just academic exercises. The project manager focuses on broad objectives and judgment may be withheld until all is done. The project manager’s skill is very dependent on those who are brought onto the team and will require handling of the details that must come together for a successful project.

In this age of tight resources, everyone is important and must do their jobs. There is no room for slackers. The front-line superintendents and craftworkers are dependent on all of the upstream players to do their jobs right – the first time. There is no time or money for a redo.

Scope management, however, is more than a qualitative description of a new IS system. It is a budget, a schedule, a team, expectations and a lot of other things as well. IS systems only trigger warning lights. It is the skilled project manager who knows how to put out the warning light. Those project managers who deny problems by using flowery words and who do not face the challenges head-on will more often than not pay the price downstream.

Negotiating a good scope is one of the key cornerstones of a project’s success, but trying to accommodate everyone’s needs can be a fool’s errand.  The art of project management comes into play as you work on getting everyone inside the tent.  There are no rules, social media, quantitative formula or I-gizmos that will guarantee an outcome – just good common sense, an understanding of the real limitations and maybe some old-fashioned horse trading.

The experienced project manager understands that as the project rolls out, the scope continues to change. It is impossible for a team to be able to anticipate every detail at the project’s outset. Those who are successful and skilled in this profession understand how to meet a sponsor’s expectations while still maintaining the critical needs – such as authority, profitability, and mitigating excessive risk – of the execution team. While the business world is often tough and not for the faint of heart, project managers understand the need to maintain the ongoing business viability of the entire team. They keep their fingers on the pulse. The team that is most successful and adept at managing these complex 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.

Managing the scope of the varying expectations and the needs of the entire team – from the owner, designers, contractors, vendors and suppliers as well as the eventual users – is today’s project management challenge and the path to a successful project. These are skills learned and honed over many years of experience. The easy parts are quickly learned. The more subtle signals that come out of a project and indicate how it is progressing are much more difficult to sense. Much as the seasoned captain of a ship knows instinctively how much scope to let out to keep the ship from dragging up on the rocks during a storm, so the experienced project manager knows to what extent scope can be changed before a project ends up on the rocks, or worse, in a courtroom.

Christian Steinbrecher is president of Ukiah Engineering. He is the author of ASCE Oregon’s report card on Oregon’s infrastructure and a past recipient of ASCE Oregon’s Engineer of the Year award. Contact him at 503-297-4827 or [email protected].