What is Control Scope Process: Overview and Steps

In both personal and professional life, the presence of control is everywhere. From personal financial decisions to more organizational objectives, mastering the art of control is of paramount importance.

Now, you may ask queries related to the scope control process and how it works from a business perspective.

The control scope process refers to the efficient allocation of work necessary for the proper completion of a project. It means systematic activities monitoring, performance evaluation, and taking the help of remedial steps to ensure an organization's overall goal is met. The primary objective of control scope is to provide efficient alignment between planning and outcome that allows organizations to adapt to changing circumstances.

Effective control scope process in project management consists of various steps that steer an organization towards its overall goals and objectives.

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Keep reading to know more about prerequisites and tools used in control scope management within an organization and the steps to achieve them.

What is the Control Scope of a Project?

The control scope of a project is the process of managing and strategizing the scope baseline (a document that consists of the list of deliverables within a project). It is a recurring process that is the control scope of a project and can change at any given time till the completion of the project.

To know more about what control scope is in project management, you first need to have a clear understanding of the various inputs within the control scope process. They are:

• All project-related documents
• A proper project management plan
• Total number of changes implemented throughout the lifetime of the project
• The assets required for the project 

What’s The Goal of the Control Scope Process?

The control scope process is an integral part of managing a project to ensure that it is completed within the specified timeframe. 

Keep reading to learn more about the purposes of the control scope process, including maintaining proper control over an ongoing project, implementing changes when required, and delivering the project.

Some objectives of the control scope process include:

1. Verification: The main idea of implementing scope control methods is to ensure that a project can be delivered within the agreed time frame. This includes comparing the actual performance and efficiency with the project scope baseline (Work Breakdown Structures) to verify whether the project is running as per requirement.
2. Management: As a project progresses, it may face various issues that cannot be planned. An effective scope change control process evaluates these barriers to find out the exact amount of impact they provide on the project and reframes the scope baseline accordingly. Also, sometimes, there may be various types of requests from the team to change or modify any scope base, which is to be evaluated thoroughly before accepting or rejecting. Increase your managing skills with KnowledgeHut's Project Management online training led by industry experts.
3. Control: Another important goal of the control scope process is to constantly assess any type of deviations from the actual performance achieved and the planned performance and implement necessary remedial measures.
4. Communication: Proper communication is a vital part of the efficient completion of any project. Control scope ensures clear communication between stakeholders and team members for optimum transparency. This helps in reducing any type of communication gap and ensures an effective project delivery.

Prerequisites of Control Scope Process

There are 2 prerequisites for an effective control scope process. They are:

1. Clear Definition

The first and most important prerequisite for a proper scope control process is to make a set of clear and concise scope definitions. This is due to the fact that for proper variance analysis, organizations need to have a clear set of predetermined performance predictions. The organization then finds out the deviations from such said prediction and either modifies the said scope baseline or implements remedial measures as per requirement.

2. Work Completion

The second prerequisite of the control scope process is to ensure that the project is delivered to the client. It helps organizations to make a clear idea about the efficiency of their employees and implement necessary changes accordingly.

Steps of the Control Scope Process

Though various companies/ organizations follow different steps for efficient control scope management, the most followed step-by-step methods include:

1. Establishing Benchmark Standards: The control scope process in project management within an organization begins by establishing a clear set of objectives and certain standards against which performances are to be evaluated. These predetermined standards will help management identify areas of high efficiency. Opt for the PRIME2 Foundation and Practitioner training course and secure your managerial position.
2. Monitoring the Performance: Once the organization has set up a clear set of standards, it actively monitors performance to ensure it is at par with the plan. Organizations use various tools and assessments to collect data for analysis.
3. Comparing the Overall Performance with Predetermined Standards: After organizations collect the necessary performance data, they start analyzing them to look for any deviations from the predetermined standards. This helps the company/organization to implement necessary remedial measures in the areas of less efficiency.
4. Taking Necessary Corrective Action: After all the ongoing deviations are identified, the control scope process conducts necessary strategy implementation techniques to address the areas of less efficiency. Organizations may plan to implement corrective measures, revise their strategies, or provide extra resources as per demand.
5. Continuous Feedback and Improvement: Always keep in mind that control process management is not a one-time thing implemented by the organization. Effective scope validation and change control is an ongoing process that gets more efficient with proper feedback and improvements. These regular improvements help the organization to readjust its strategies and standards, thus enhancing its efficiency.

Inputs and Outputs of a Control Scope

For proper management, some of the control scope process inputs include:

1. Project Management Plan: A proper project management plan refers to creating the scope baseline after analyzing various project requirements. This planning process includes identifying the components that require any modification to calculate the performance measurement baseline.
2. Project Documents: Project documentation refers to recording all changes implemented and lessons learned during the completion of the project. For an effective control scope process, organizations must keep a record that helps the project manager locate any type of deviations from the proposed workflow and performance prediction.
3. Work Performance Data: Somewhat similar to project documentation, work performance data records the number of change requests received during the duration of the project, the number of said requests approved along with some of the partly delivered projects within a big project.
4. Organizational Process Assets: It refers to the number of policies, rules, and regulations, as well as work procedures created during the creation of the scope baseline.

Some of the control scope process outputs include:

1. Work Performance Information: It refers to the comparison between the predicted performance within the scope baseline and the actual performance. WPI also includes any changes within the scope baseline along with the subsequent results.
2. Change Requests and Project Management Plan Updates: It records any type of changes or performance-enhancing requests implemented within the baseline during the project. Project management plan updates include the changes regarding assets and resources allocated, as well as every change concerning the performance measurement baseline.
3. Project Document Updates: It consists of detailed information regarding how the project’s requirement meets the overall needs of the business.

Tools and Techniques of Control Scope

To ensure proper control scope management, some control scope process tools and techniques used by businesses are:

1. Variance Analysis: It helps managers to calculate the performance of any ongoing project. This method includes calculating the differences between the actual project execution performances and the baseline created.
2. Trend Analysis: This method evaluates the actual time-to-time performance of the project to check whether the performance is deteriorating or improving.

Conclusion

The control scope process serves as a critical management procedure essential for businesses, ensuring optimal resource utilization and project delivery efficiency. It enables businesses to discern the necessity for implementing novel workflow strategies to bolster efficiency.

By assimilating diverse inputs, organizations gain the ability to monitor outputs and execute requisite resource reallocations. Effective employment of variance and trend analysis within the control scope process empowers managers to vigilantly oversee their team's efficacy in accomplishing project objectives. This systematic approach not only enhances project delivery but also fosters a culture of continuous improvement within the organization, driving sustained success and competitiveness in the market.

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