Project Management Articles from the Project Management Advisor™

Drawing scope lines is one of the most important foundational activities projects undertake.  It's easy for sponsors, PM's and project teams to get enamored with all the "cool" things that a solution could encompass.  As everyone gets whipped up into a lather about the coolness factor, the scope balloons and becomes either difficult to achieve or completely unattainable. 

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The project sponsor has a specific job here to keep and evangelize a "good enough" mindset.  The good enough mindset is all about including essential features to solve the business problem and nothing more.  As the owner of the business problem, the sponsor needs to be the final arbiter of what constitutes an essential feature and what is window dressing. 

At the same time, the PM has a responsibility to treat the good enough mindset with respect and not use it as a perpetual license to trim scope at every opportunity, particularly as budget and schedule start getting tight.  Good enough means solving the problem as efficiently and minimally as possible, not cutting so close to the bone that the solution no longer meets the need.

So here is my advice to both the sponsor and the PM: 

• To the sponsor - Preach good enough to fellow stakeholders, execs, and the project team.  Don't use the project as an opportunity to get things done which don't solve the project's problem statement.
• To the PM - Respect the good enough mindset and don't use it as an opportunity to cover up bad project management.  Keep the check and balance in place, just make sure the solution is still meeting the need and solving the problem statement.