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Squelching Project Creeps
Squelching Project Creeps
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<h1><font size="4" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Squelching
Project Creeps</b></font></h1>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><i>by Verlane
Edwards</i></font></p>
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<td width="65%"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">We've
all been there. The Project that never seems to end and then (finally!)
ends badly. Unfortunately, the all-important post-project analysis
is a step that's often left off the "to do" list, so how can you head
off another project disappointment? Let's face it. Project plans are
theory, so they can be picture perfect; project planning, however,
is practice, and practice must take into account the inevitable changes
that will occur throughout a project.</font></td>
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<div align="center"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#003333"><b><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono">"Plans
are worthless; <br>
planning is invaluable."<br>
— Dwight Eisenhower</font></b></font></div>
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<p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">As a
technical communicator, you can contribute greatly to dealing effectively
with those inevitable changes that threaten the ability to deliver a product
on time and within budget—in other words, according to the project
plan. But you can't do it alone, so before you begin, or even if you're
in the middle of a project, round up the team and discuss a key culprit
that can sabotage even the best project plan: scope creep. Scope creep
comes in several guises. At a minimum, plan to squelch these three creeps:
<a href="#santa">Santa Creep</a>, <a href="#perky">Perky Creep</a>, and,
most dangerous of all, <a href="#bluesky">Blue Sky Creep</a>. </font></p>
<h2 align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"><a name="santa"></a>Santa
Creep </font></h2>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Santa
Creep is an intriguing phenomenon that is found particularly in systems
development projects. Programmer analysts, generally creative and sometimes
generous souls that they are, are the initiators. The customer didn't
ask for it, but Annie Analyst decides she can easily add this little something
extra, a feature that puts some sizzle in the soup, and she figures the
customer will likely appreciate having another option included "gratis."
Problem is, that innocent little "gift" can be costly to the project's
success. </font></p>
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<td width="70%"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Possible
ripple effects: It's not in the system requirements documents, and
it hasn't gone through a change process review. So it's not in the
testing procedures, the systems documentation, the user documentation,
or the training materials for programmers or end users. That carefully
balanced project triangle is about to turn into a polygram. And what
will happen when the users discover it and ask for changes to this
feature nobody else has even anticipated? Ho, Ho, Ho, indeed. </font></td>
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<p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Squelch
Tactics: </b>Reviewers and authors are the co-dependent elves in the Santa
Creep scenario. During usability testing or quality assurance or even
a quick look-see review of a developing system, subject matter experts
often request added functionality or multiple style changes, unaware of
the effort involved or the myriad dependencies inherent in any project
involving more than two people. Too often documentation authors and systems
developers comply with request after request, taking time from tasks that
are defined in the project plans, and thinking it's so trivial it doesn't
need to go through the change process. Think again. Make sure you have
a communication plan in place for your project, and then use it. Share
widespread communication of all requested changes among all shareholders,
so everyone has a chance to think about the impact even seemingly minor
changes can have. </font></p>
<h2 align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"><a name="perky"></a>Perky
Creep </font></h2>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Pete
and Pollyanna Positive are good people to have around, right? Nobody wants
to work with a "nattering nabob of negativity." So when you ask Pete if
he will get his material to you on time, he gives you a great big smile,
a "can do" nod, and a firm affirmative. Problem is, he's just <i>hoping</i>
he will get it to you on time. If you're the Project Manager, shame on
you if you don't check the accuracy of all those weekly status reports.
If you're the worker bee, shame on you for denying reality until it stings
the entire team! (If you don't keep status reports, do not pass go; it's
time to start this ill-defined project over again.) </font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Squelch
Tactics:</b> Perky Creep initiators are not inherently evil; they just
need to squelch the inner voices whispering through the optimism haze,
"you will catch up; you will catch up." Right. Slippage tends to grow
exponentially, despite our best intentions. How long does it take you
to write a comprehensive paragraph on a given subject? Create a Help topic?
A graphic with call outs? Do you poorly estimate the rate of effort to
output in project after project? Rectify that. There are all kinds of
tools and tips for estimating time. Learn at least two of them.</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> And
if every week's status report records progress but the amount remaining
doesn't seem to decrease proportionately, stand up and wave a big red
flag high and wide (metaphorically speaking, of course).</font></p>
<h2 align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"><a name="bluesky"></a>Blue
Sky Creep </font></h2>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">After
the project has been defined, the graffiti from the kick-off party has
been swept away, and everyone on the team is heads down diggin' in and
doin' it, the Big Daddy (or Mommy) Scope Creep initiators move in. Management
or marketing or some sales whiz kid promises the customer a pie-in-the-sky
functionality (or two or three), seemingly with nary a thought to the
effort involved.</font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Are they
insane? Well, that's a possibility beyond the scope of this article. More
than likely, however, they're riding the coat tails of some misguided
"give the customer what they want" mind set. Everybody wants to please
the customer. But for those who are actually creating the product, it's
downright painful to try to deliver on someone else's ill-informed promises.
And, of course, being the bearer of bad tidings if the promise cannot
be kept does not a career make. </font></p>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Squelch
tactics: </b></font></p>
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<td width="93%" height="48" valign="top"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Begin
by listening carefully to the excited pronouncement of this great
"addition" to the project (probably passed on to you by devoted underlings
glowing in the excitement of the new promise). </font></td>
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<td width="4%" valign="top" height="41">2.</td>
<td width="93%" valign="top" height="41"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Smile
and agree that the suggestion is a wonderful one. (If it is, this
is easier than if it is in actuality ridiculous.) </font></td>
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<td width="4%" valign="top" height="58">3.</td>
<td width="93%" valign="top" height="58"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Calmly
but firmly remind the bearer of these glad tidings that this is out
of the scope of the project, and you will need time to assess the
impact on the Project Plan. Tell them when you will get back to them.
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<td width="4%" valign="top" height="59">4.</td>
<td width="93%" valign="top" height="59"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Then
do it. Quickly. How bad is it? Will this change destroy the project
plan? Involve so many hours morale will suffer, people will quit,
and/or you will risk divorce or unacceptable mental health care expenses?
Or does the project risk versus the business value call for a "go
for the gold" response? </font></td>
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<td width="4%" valign="top" height="74">5.</td>
<td width="93%" valign="top" height="74"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Reply
promptly and positively. How can you be positive if you think the
request is unreasonable? Communicate to all involved that you can
certainly incorporate this change in scope. Then concisely and comprehensively
explain the impact on <b>time</b>, or <b>cost</b>, or <b>resources</b>
(tools and people) that define the scope and quality of the project.</font></td>
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<td width="4%" valign="top">6.</td>
<td valign="top"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">As
long as management is willing to accept the inevitable changes to
those three factors that make up the project, you can redefine the
project triangle, and move forward. Let the powers-that-be make that
call after you've provided them with the information they need to
exercise good judgment in evaluating the business value of that Blue
Sky promise.</font> </td>
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<p align="left"> </p>
<h2><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="3"><b>Immunization Against
the Scope Creeps</b></font></h2>
<p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Thousands
of books have been written on project management. Read at least three
of them; and attend at least one workshop (hands-on, not a talking-head
seminar). Methodologies may sound different, terminology no doubt will
vary, but on close examination, you will see that the underlying principles
are pretty consistent. Learn them. All of them. For now, though, you can
start with these core safeguards:</font></p>
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<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Define</b>
everything you know about the project up front before a line of code
is written, before a Help window is designed, before documents are
drafted, or memos are circulated. Gather all the stakeholders together,
and plan this puppy out. You can't possibly protect against scope
creep if you don't know what your scope actually is. And keep going
back to this document, so you don't lose sight of its original goals.
That doesn't mean it won't change, only that everyone involved is
starting with the same vision in mind, and everyone gets informed
when the vision takes a turn.</font></p>
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<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">And that means
don't forget to <b>put a formal communications plan in place</b>.
Keep management, sales, marketing, training—everyone who is in
any way impacted by this project in the communication loop. And solicit
formal management sign off on the initial project definition and any
major changes throughout the life of the project.</font></p>
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<li>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><b>Use the plan</b>
to monitor the project status. You're not done when you create a project
plan. It's a living document. Keep reading it, revising it, communicating
status based on it, breathing on it.</font></p>
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<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">In addition to
pre-planning, <b>establish an environment of trust and honesty</b>.
If your corporate culture is to "be positive" even in the face of
overwhelming "Danger, Will Rogers" arm flapping, you're setting up
your team for failure. Creativity and open communication can only
flourish in a punishment-free environment. Make it easy for Pete and
Polly Positive to tell you that they're worried they can't get their
assigned tasks done on time.</font></p>
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<li>
<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Leadership is
about people; management is about things. There are usually plenty
of good managers and seldom enough leaders. <b>Be a leader.</b> </font></p>
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<p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><i><a href="mailto:verlanevse@aol.com">Verlane
Edwards</a>, a writer at GuideOne Insurance, is our Perspectives! managing
editor and is constantly stalking creeps.</i> </font> </p>
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2011 Meet and Greet