Project Scope

Project Scope involves getting information required to start a project, and the features the project would have that would meet its stakeholders requirements.

In project management, the term scope has two distinct uses- Project Scope and Product Scope, with the former consisiting of the work that needs to be accomplished to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions.


An essential element of any project, project managers use the project scope as a written confirmation of the results your project will produce and the constraints and assumptions under which you will work. Both the people who requested the project and the project team should agree to all terms in the project scope before actual project work begins. In order to appeal to the main stakeholders, it should usually include the following information:


    Justification: A brief statement regarding the business need your project addresses. (Save the more detailed justification for the project charter.)

    Product scope description: The characteristics of the products, services, and/or results your project will produce.

    Acceptance criteria: The conditions that must be met before project deliverables are accepted. In order words, your project should follow standards before the stakeholders receive the end result of your project.

 Deliverables or objectives: The products, services, and/or results your project will produc.

Project Exclusions: Statements about what the project will not accomplish or produce.

Constraints: Restrictions that limit what you can achieve, how and when you can achieve it, and how much achieving it can cost.

Assumptions: Statements about how you will address uncertain information as you conceive, plan, and perform your project.


Notice that Project Scope is more work-oriented, (the hows,) while Product Scope is more oriented toward functional requirements. (the whats.) (save it for last)



Project Charter vs Project Scope:


At first glimpse both project charter and project scope seem to address the same thing. Both provide a baseline for managing and executing a project while showcasing the schedule and resources. However, bear in mind that it's the Project Charter that acknowledges the existence of a project. This means that if you only turn up the project scope without an accompanying Project Charter, your Project Scope won't be be taken seriously. Your stakeholders have to approve your Project Charter before you get ahead in the project. Moreover, without a project charter, your customer may mistakenly assume you're responsible for petty issues that are otherwise beyond your responsibilities. In order to establish in a clear way what you're supposed to do and what the project is supposed to accomplish, you should specify so in the project charter, which should be designed by the corporate executive or sponsor. The project deliverables and its objectives are statd in the Project Scope, which can only be drawn up AFTER the approval of the Project Charter.
The project scope is developed by the Project Manager with his team members.


http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/what-to-include-in-a-project-scope-statement.html

http://www.cio.com.au/article/401353/how_define_scope_project/