Scope creep is often discussed in terms of project management, but it can happen in labs in many smaller, everyday ways. A new request, an added deliverable, a tighter quality expectation, or a change in method can all expand the work required to achieve a result. Viewed this way, scope creep is really a decision-management issue. It happens when decisions about timelines, priorities, deliverables, budgets, methods, workflows, equipment, or other expectations increase the lab’s workload without a corresponding discussion about the resources needed to support that change. This article will help you recognize when those decisions are expanding the work and address the trade-offs with stakeholders before the lab is expected to absorb them. 

How scope creep happens

Scope creep occurs when we make decisions that expand the work without talking about the impacts of that expansion. It rarely occurs as a single dramatic decision. It usually occurs as a series of small and reasonable requests, such as: 

• While we’re doing that, could we also do…?
• Since we’re already involved with exploring X could we also look for Y?
• Could we improve the measurement accuracy by adding more tests?
• Could we add a few more samples to the project?
• Could we consider adding capabilities that could be useful in the future?
• A little additional customization could improve the useability?
• Transitioning from a scheduling issue to an overhaul of the workflow.

One additional request doesn’t seem significant at the time, but a series of them can lead to impactful changes in the timeline, budget, cost, staffing needs, technical complexity, and risk.

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What scope creep looks like and how to prevent it

What this looks like in practice is a lab being asked to stretch its existing capacity further: more work for the same team, more demands on the same budget, and more to accomplish within the same amount of time. The best way to prevent it is to define clear boundaries and expectations ahead of the work. This requires effective communication skills and a clear understanding of what it takes your lab to deliver these types of outcomes. You can use the following questions to clarify and document five key areas of the project:

1. Objective:
   1. What is the intention of the project?
   2. What specific problem are we solving? 
   3. What key questions are we answering?

2. Deliverables:
   1. What scientific work will the lab complete?
   2. What specifically needs to be delivered?
   3. What will exist when we’re finished and how will we communicate the results?
3. Boundaries:
   1. What resources are available to get the work done—staff time, equipment, instruments, budget, consumables, space, etc?
   2. What are the expected timelines and deadlines?
   3. What level of quality or validation is required or expected?
   4. What specifically is not included in this project?
4. Decision authority:
   1. Who is responsible to do the work?
   2. Who can approve any changes to the project?
5. Success criteria:
   1. How will we know when we’re done?
   2. How will we know if the stakeholder is happy with the result?

At the beginning of the work, the answers to these questions provide the boundaries defining the project. The clearer the answers to these questions, the better defined the project and its scope will be.

It can be helpful for some lab activities like instrument purchases, software implementations, method development, and process-improvement projects to also address the differences between must haves, useful but not essential, and future opportunities.

This approach can be short and simple. Document the answers to these questions in a one-page document, rather than in a large project management document.

Addressing scope creep

Scope creep is not evil. It represents unplanned work that might be very important to pursue. The key is to stop and reassess the situation as new information or requests become available. The mistake is to just plow ahead without considering the impact of the additional work on the lab. First, compare the current direction of the project against the original scope. Then, quantify the impact of the change. Determine how much the key elements of the deliverables, like quality, cost, and timelines, will be impacted. 

Engage the key stakeholders, which may include your line management, in an explicit conversation about the trade-offs. The right answer to scope creep may not be “no.” It might sound more like “yes, but.” I find that lessons from improv comedy are especially useful in these situations. The conversation might sound like: “If we add the additional samples and testing to this project, we will need to add more budget, reduce a different project, extend the deadline, or accept additional risk.” Getting the responsible parties to agree to the changes in resources to address the changes in scope is the key.

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Decide deliberately

Once the conversation has occurred and the budget, time, quality, and risk dimensions are understood, the stakeholders need to make a clear decision and communicate it promptly to the impacted lab staff. The choices generally look like, 1. accept the change(s), 2. defer, 3. remove something else to balance resources, 4. increase resources, or 5. reject the change. Everyone benefits from a clear decision.

Lab manager responsibilities

Lab managers cannot prevent new requests, discoveries, or problems from appearing during projects in their labs. You can, however, control how the lab responds to these requests for changes. You can make scope a clear part of lab decision-making and encourage everyone to recognize how changes can impact the lab’s operations. Picturing projects as being bounded by resources, time, and deliverables will help you balance requests for more outcomes and discuss what will be needed to accomplish those extras. 

In the end, good scope management is good decision management. It’s about doing the right things for the right reasons with resources and expectations aligned with the outcomes.