Analyzing Scope Creep

The week six assignment is to post a blog using the following as a guide. Describe a project, either personal or professional, that experienced issues related to scope creep. What specific scope creep issues occurred? How did you or other stakeholders deal with those issues at the time? Looking back on the experience now, had you been in the position of managing the project, what could you have done to better manage these issues and control the scope of the project?

This project was about skirmishing illiteracy among adults in Ghana. According to the URL below, the project started as mass literacy campaign in 1951 as part of overall community development program. The primary aim of this project was to teach adult to read and write in their own languages as well as in English language. Efforts continued during the 1950s and the 1960s, and in the 1970s an extensive literacy campaign was launched under the direction of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare using mass education teams. Literacy classes for adults were also conducted by local units of the Peoples' Education Association, a voluntary organization founded in 1949. This group, which included teachers, graduates, students, and interested persons, had branches throughout the country (Ministry, L. S., 1994).

Despite such organizational efforts, it was estimated by the United Nations in 1970 that about 70 percent of the nation's inhabitants above the age of fifteen (57 percent of males and 82 percent of females) were illiterate. The 1970 figure was a 5 percent improvement over an estimated 1960 adult literacy rate of 25 percent. During the 1989 New Year School held at the University of Ghana, for example, the relationship between adult education and economic development was emphasized in a speech read by the then president, Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings. Also in 1989, reliable press reports held that the adult literacy rate in Ghana was about 40 percent of the total population; of the 60 percent of the population that was illiterate, 57 percent was female. Even though the 1989 figure was an improvement over that of 1970, the National Council on Women and Development still expressed concern and described the low percentage of literate adult females as alarming. The council attributed female illiteracy to high dropout rates in the elementary schools and called on the government to find ways to enforce compulsory education in the country (Ministry, L. S. ,1994).

In 1992, the project finally reached the village where I was teaching. I immediately became part of the grogram assisting in educating the adult learners because I am always passionate of making an impact in any society where I found myself. I believe in a title of a song I learned in my childhood “Brighten the Corner Where You Are”. The majority of the people in the project were women ages 15 – 55. The specific scope creep issue that occurred was that the government did not allocate enough funds for this project. This was a year long project however, when the project was half way through, there was an increased in participants with limited funds. The project could not continue nor were the people on the wait list able to get in the program. The stakeholders were upset threatening to demonstrate their right in equal education law.

During this time, the manager met with all stakeholders to explain the issue. It was not easy at all. There was anxiety amongst the stakeholders. We then decided to do some voluntary work to improve the scope creep. I volunteered more hours in addition to weekends. Other stakeholders did the same to deal with one part of the issue, to accommodate as many learners as possible. In order to deal with the second part of the issue to get more funds for purchasing materials for the project, most stakeholders decided to organize a communion labor to generate some funds to continue the project since the government could not afford it as planned. We were able to help farmers plowed, sowed, harvested crops during each season of the project. It was a challenge because the instructional time was decreased for community labor.

Portny (2008) asserted that avoiding scope creep is not possible. However, monitoring it, controlling it, and thereby reducing some of the pain is possible if the project manager follows a few guidelines (pg. 347). As I look back on the experience now, had I been in the position of managing the project, what I could have done to better manage these issue in order to control the scope of the project were to utilize Portny’s advice as follows:

Include a change control system in every project planned.

Insists that every project change is introduced by a change order that includes a description of agreed-upon change together with any resulting changes in the plan, processes, budget, schedule, or deliverables.

Require changes by approved in writing by the client as well as the representatives of senior management.

Amend and updates all project plans and schedules to reflect the change after the change order has been approved.

References

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., &

Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and

controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Ministry, L. S. (1994). Ghana-A Country Study. Accra: Government of Ghana.

Retrived on April 7, 2011

from http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-5253.html