REPLYTO CLASSMATE’S POST

When would scope creep or gold plating be acceptable for a project? (1 Page)

PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE WITH MY CLASSMATE RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS? (A MININUM OF 150 WORDS)
 
Both scope creep and gold plating should be avoided as they often cause project to be delayed and/or over budget. A project scope is essentially the boundaries or parameters of the project. These are determined during the planning phase. Scope creep occurs when the project grows beyond the original plans, which creates scheduling issues as well as budgetary issues, both can be disastrous and negatively affect the project’s success. Gold plating on the other hand is adding things to the project that are not included in the project scope without prior approval from the customer. 

Both of scope creep and gold plating are generally considered bad and should be avoided by project teams and their leadership. In my opinion, there are only a few times when I would consider either phenomenon as acceptable. First involves safety related issues. If during a project, a safety issue was either not planned for or was identified during the project, one could argue that these could be necessary reasons to increase the scope of the project. The second reason that either scope creep or gold plating would be acceptable is when the customer or client if fully aware of the issues and is willing to adjust the budget and/or schedule to accommodate the increased scope. It is up to the project team to identify any issues that could create scope creep or gold plating, however; it is the responsibility of the project manager to communicate the issues to the powers that be to ensure vital information is shared with the key stakeholders to they can ultimately make the final decision on how to proceed. 
 
A critical component of any project planning is to develop a plan that defines the projects scope by identifying the projects objectives, work breakdown structure and finally by monitoring and controlling the project’s progress. A mandatory role that the project manager plays is the role of scope manager because “Without scope management there is no project” (Turner, 2016, p.149).
                                                                             Reference:
Turner, R. (2016). The handbook of project-based management (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Education