Scope Creep: Halloween Edition

What better time to discuss Scope Creep than around the holiday known for mysterious spirits, unseen ghosts, sneaky goblins, chainsaw touting villains, and pale, dark haired vampires who want nothing more than to suck the budget out of you. Setting an accurate scope in web design and development, and not exceeding that scope, can sometimes feel like trying to run away from Michael Myers. Even though you’re running at top speeds and he’s walking in a deliberately slow fashion, that bastard is always on your heels about to kill your ass.

In our experience, the times we hit a scope most accurately are when the clients have a very good idea of what they’re looking for and what the project budget will be. Whether they already have a website with most or all of the functionality they need, or have done extensive research to develop a comprehensive RFP, client knowledge and know how makes for a great place to start.

Although when that doesn’t happen, which is quite often the case, its important that you take the lead and set expectations very clearly. Here are a few steps to help ensure that even if you get slashed this Halloween holiday, your budgets won’t.

1. Start the clock, give them your hourly rate and give them updates every month or so. I’ve never been able to sell a project this way, but I imagine it would be pretty much the best way to effectively stay within scope and get paid for all of your time.
2. Provide the client with an estimate of hours or blocks of time.
3. Propose handling the Discovery phase and setting a project price associated with that piece. The delivery of the Discovery document should then include a full scope of the deliverables of the project, the platforms you’d be using, recommendations and strategy, and a more definitive price and timeline for the project.
4. Do not take the job without a real defined scope, a limited budget and high expectations, and cross your fingers. I’m going to tell you from experience... this one doesn’t work, ever.

Setting expectations from the beginning is always going to be a key component in setting and staying within a scope. Project managers are the key masters when it comes to this, making sure they are as transparent as possible regarding the intricacies that go into each piece. Creating custom, enterprise solutions can be incredibly tricky, especially if and when you are dealing with 3rd party vendors. And trust us... going down that path with 3rd party vendors can be like falling asleep when you know Freddy’s going to track you down and finish you.

So this holiday season make sure, whether you’re the client or the vendor, that you choose wisely and that each of you have a very clear understanding of what’s in and what’s out of scope. Because just when you think this is Child’s Play, that little bastard Chuckie will pop up out of nowhere and take you down. Happy Halloween! Feel free to share your scope creepiness with us as well.