Managing eLearning Scope Creep: A Comprehensive Guide for Project Managers

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Impact of eLearning Scope Creep A Project
Manager's Guide

• Fazilath Ahmed
• Article Insight
• The availability of the highest form of
  technology has made e-learning the most
  sought-after method to deliver training online.
  It's far more effective than traditional
  training. But as they say, e- learning doesnt
  just happen it needs vigilant design and
  implementation. It's always better to define the
  scope and goals of your project before you kick
  off.
• The success of most e-learning projects heavily
  depends on the preparation you do before you
  even start crafting the e-learning course. In the
  initial stages, the big challenge for you is to
  scope your e-learning project properly. Scoping
  a project can be a bit complex, but when you
  understand how e-learning project management best
  practices operate and put them into practice, it
  becomes effortless.
• Topics Covered
• What is the Project Scope?
• What is Scope Creep in eLearning?
• Role of the Project Manager in Scope Management
• Common Causes of eLearning Scope Creep
• Importance of effective communication with
  stakeholders
• Tools that can assist in managing scope changes
• How To Avoid Scope Creep In eLearning Development
• What is the Project Scope in e-Learning?
• The term e-learning project scope is used to
  define all the limitations, duties, roles,
  responsibilities, timelines, and deliverables,
  and it often covers the cost of the project as
  well.

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-scope-creep-guide-for-project-managers
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Impact of eLearning Scope Creep A Project
Manager's Guide
Benefits of setting a clear Project Scope
Gives you a roadmap This allows the team members
to refer to the project scope anytime during the
project to align with the project goals.
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A Project Manager's Guide Oversees stakeholder
expectations It's always a big challenge to
handle the requests and expectations of your
stakeholders, who may have different objectives,
outlooks, and beliefs than you. However, a clear
project scope sets the guidelines to make sure
that everyone knows the precise goals and
objectives. Helps in planning When you clearly
define the timeframe and constraints in the
project scope before you start, it helps you
plan things better. Prevents scope creep You
must be good at project scope management as it
sets the boundaries of your project and helps to
mitigate issues that may switch away the focus of
your project from the original plan. What is
Scope Creep in eLearning Projects When your
projects content and objectives deviate from the
original plan and increase beyond what was
agreed, and that too without meeting the increase
in resources or budget, this is called scope
creep. This can happen to any project and destroy
it in many ways. This usually happens when
project stakeholders constantly call for changes,
add new needs, or struggle to define the scope
of work at the projects outset properly. Scope
creep can trigger increased costs, setbacks, a
decline in quality, and dwindled client
satisfaction, making it all-important for project
managers to handle and govern the scope of a
proj ect productively.
Impact of scope creep on e-learning projects The
impact of scope creep differs substantially
according to the complications and size of the
project and certain conditions surrounding the
scope creep. Although there are some aspects of
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-scope-creep-guide-for-project-managers
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A Project Manager's Guide the project on which
scope creep has an impact. Labor costs shoot up
When the scope of a project becomes larger,
further resources may be needed and this leads
to higher labor costs. Setback The pace of a
project gets slow because of additional scope and
takes longer than planned to finish. The lag
caused by scope creep can raise the overhead
costs. Expansion of the project also leads to
decreased productivity among team
members. Effects material costs Changing the
project scope means you need extra materials or
equipment, and this triggers additional
expenditure. Additional resources and materials
provided for new requirements add to the budget
and your cost overruns. Quality decreases The
quality of the product dwindles drastically
because of high pressure to deliver. The raised
scope of a project doesnt have enough time and
resources to focus on quality and this leads to
lower quality outcomes. Drop in customer
satisfaction When the customers dont get what
they want, they may be dissatisfied and become
annoyed when the project takes longer and costs
more than planned earlier. This can also lead to
insecurity among team members. Cause
misunderstandings Changes in a project plan can
lead to misunderstandings and strife between
project stakeholders, and this affects e-learning
project success. Trials in execution and project
planning Planning and execution become difficult
because of changes in the scope of a project. As
the changes impact the timeline and budget the
cost of scope creep can be very high if a
project is big.
The Role of the Project Manager in Scope
Management A project manager must set up a
definitive scope of work, review the content as
needed, and update it periodically. And try to
be proactive in the beginning and stop scope
creep from occurring. Define project scope The
project managers must define the project scope in
the beginning. Without solid objectives and a
well-drafted project scope, scope creep may occur
due to regular changes to the project's
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A Project Manager's Guide deliverables. The
project manager can easily handle the e-learning
content development challenges by adding
specifics to the project scope. The project
scope must cover specifics like Precise project
objectives Deliverables that must be
finished Specified timeline for project
completion. Milepost for every deliverable The
approximate value of the project The reason for
most failing projects is extreme scope creep.
They overrun the set budget and pass over the
deadlines because of regular changes in
deliverables. The responsibility of a project
manager is to direct the project scope control
for e-learning properly and avoid scope creep.
Common Causes of e-Learning Scope Creep Belated
scrutiny of poor content It happens sometimes
that the client provides the eLearning
development team with content that doesnt align
with training goals. This is a big issue,
particularly if no one observes the matter until
the storyboard is in the evaluation
process. Changes in content This is obvious,
clients usually approve the project content and
then decide to alter it later. This creates
problems because the development begins
immediately after the client reviews the
storyboard and ratifies the content. When you
change the content during media development it
leads to high-cost rework.
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-scope-creep-guide-for-project-managers
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Impact of eLearning Scope Creep A Project
Manager's Guide
Changes in content between media development can
impact things like Outline of the course
Storyboard Animation work Test questions Length
of the program Way of delivery and more. An
expanding review lineup Clients are usually
enticed to cast up more people to the review
affair as eLearning development progresses. Most
importantly, everybody has good ideas. And it's
not possible to execute these plans and respond
to dissent feedback after the storyboard is
ratified. Clients' setbacks Due to various
reasons clients sometimes pass over their time
limit in a project plan. They may have to
balance changing orders and experience setbacks
when pulling content for the developer. This can
seriously affect the project timeline.
Influence of stakeholders Stakeholders play a
very crucial role in eLearning projects. Whenever
they fail to define the scope of work at the
beginning of the project appropriately, it can
lead to scope creep. This triggers uncertainty
and misconception between the stakeholders and
the project team, causing setbacks, cost push, a
drop in quality, and reduced customer
satisfaction.
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-scope-creep-guide-for-project-managers
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A Project Manager's Guide Not only this but
modifying the scope of a project also influences
budget and time limits. As a result, planning
and executing the project effectively becomes
difficult. Importance of effective communication
with stakeholders It's very crucial to have
effective communication, as it helps to pin down
prospective scope creeps early on. This way, you
can take proactive steps and address them with
ease. Besides, adding all the stakeholders to
the communication process encourages a sense of
ownership and responsibility. This helps prevent
random alterations to the project scope. You can
establish clear lines of communication by
keeping everyone well-informed and having a
well-defined project scope that is regularly
reviewed and amended as needed. Importance of
Change Control Process The Change control
process is practiced for the entire scope of the
project. This is a part of eLearning project
management. The process is planned to ensure that
project launch (cost, quality, time, and
interests) will not be subject to any
modifications without proper agreement. Not
implementing the process accurately will most
likely lead the project to end with scope
creep. Scope Change Request Process A formal or
informal request from the clients to change the
project scope, requirements, or deliverables is
called a change request. A project manager must
handle this properly otherwise it will hurt the
project's quality and success. The change
control process is an exercise that helps you
handle the change request properly and makes
sure that they are even with the project's goals
and benefits. It consists of five steps, which
we refer to as the 5Cs
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-scope-creep-guide-for-project-managers
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Impact of eLearning Scope Creep A Project
Manager's Guide
Change Identification This involves recognizing
and documenting any changes that happen or are
requested in the course of the project. Change
Analysis This is all about evaluating the
impact, feasibility, and significance of the
proposed changes on the project scope, cost,
quality, timeline, and client satisfaction. Chang
e Approval This is related to assessing and
approving or denying the change requests by the
proper authority, like the project manager,
sponsor, or steering committee. Change
Implementation
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A Project Manager's Guide Change implementation
means carrying out the approved changes and
reforming the project plan and documents
properly. Change Evaluation Change evaluation
is the measuring and assessing process of the
result and benefits of the changes, and seizing
the lessons learned.
Best Practices for Evaluating and Approving Scope
Changes You must stick to your best practices to
effectively handle project scope and change
requests. This comprises merging stakeholders
and clients in the scope definition and
confirmation process to make sure their needs
and expectations are clear and pragmatic. Further
more, a thorough project scope statement should
be generated and used as a reference for change
analysis and scope control. Besides, a direct and
formal change control process should be fixed
and documented in the scope management plan. A
change request form or system should be used and
duties and responsibilities for change
identification, analysis, approval,
implementation, and evaluation must be assigned
to record and trace change requests.
Asking clients about the change request and
explaining to them about the impact of changes is
also important. Finally, you must trace and
control the project scope and performance
regularly. You can do this by using the scope
baseline and project management plan as the
ground for comparison and deviation analysis.
The lessons learned should be fused into future
projects by documenting the evaluated results
and benefits of the changes.
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-scope-creep-guide-for-project-managers
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Impact of eLearning Scope Creep A Project
Manager's Guide
Tools that can assist in managing scope
changes When you manage an eLearning project,
most of your effort goes into keeping the project
on track. Managing project scope in online
learning is demanding. Many things can go into
pot in any project. But the most aggravating one
is when a client or subject matter expert keeps
trying to alter the project. To manage things
like what will be delivered, how many review
cycles the project will comprise, and how the
project will be implemented you can use an
eLearning project management tool to keep all of
these tasks on track and on time. To bring more
clarity to the course development process and to
make it easier for SMEs and contributors to see
the updated version of the course along with each
other's feedback, consider using a tool like
Articulate Review. This allows you to put
modifications into context in a fashion that
everyone can see. This way, by minimizing back
and forth, you can identify latent issues before
they result in project delays. You need a
decision-maker to step in when there is a
conflict between SMEs. You must be clear about
who's accountable for what and at what level of
involvement to provide you with a clear way when
an issue arises. An accountability matrix can
help you in this matter.
How To Avoid Scope Creep In eLearning
Development Scope creep is certainly a project
managers pet-hate. And there is this one
question that always comes to their mind how to
prevent scope creep in e-learning? It can be a
subtle issue that
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-scope-creep-guide-for-project-managers
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A Project Manager's Guide leisurely creeps into
your project and causes it to become more
demanding, over budget, and tardy. But you can
escape the net of scope creep easily by following
a few simple steps. You should take these steps
before your instructional designer commences
working. Three easy and applicable steps to
follow to avoid scope creep. Let's take a look
below. Outline the project thoroughly You
should know what you are up to. Make a storyboard
with all the eLearning project success factors.
Be meticulous about how many quizzes you will
make, how often a branching scenario will occur
if you have one, and whether will there be a
voiceover. Make sure to define where it will
come from, if not throughout the entire course.
When you state everything precisely in a written
format, it will be your companion when you fight
the scope creep. Call on written approval After
you finish writing all the details, analyze it
with your client and ask for his approval. Make
sure that your client acknowledges everything
and knows what you will be doing and wont be
doing. Assuming things will not help you, try to
be as clear as possible. Ask for written approval
from your client after he has understood
everything. They should know that you will start
working after getting their approval. And
importantly, any alterations after that will be
regarded as extra work. Figure out how many
feedback repetitions are in scope Usually, two
feedback repetitions are too much. The first-time
clients go through your work and mail you a
batch of feedback. Then you implement it and send
it back, now they get one more chance to analyze
it and see if it is now as they wanted it to be.
Now whatever comes after this is extra work and
added cost for the client.
Summing up It is important to set up a
transparent and well-defined scope of work at the
onset of a project. By regularly reviewing and
reforming it when needed, it can help you avoid
conflicting results. Project managers should
make sure that everyone is in agreement by
constantly communicating the projects goals,
objectives, and scope, and that alterations will
be made in a restrained and planned
way. Fathoming what scope creep is, its sources,
and how to handle it successfully is an essential
part of a project manager's job. Scope creep can
be managed by executing procedures like clear
project definition, clear communication with
stakeholders, progress monitoring, and change
tracking and documentation.
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-scope-creep-guide-for-project-managers
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Impact of eLearning Scope Creep A Project
Manager's Guide
These things can help alleviate the adverse
impact of scope creep and make sure the project
goes as planned to deliver its intended
objectives. When you manage scope creeps
properly, it leads to improved project
effectiveness, healthier client satisfaction, and
enhanced project end results.
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-scope-creep-guide-for-project-managers