Scope creep

Scope creep is the gradual growth of a project beyond what was agreed, usually without a matching change to the budget or the deadline. It rarely arrives as one large request. It accumulates from small additions that each seem reasonable and together consume the margin.

What causes scope creep?

A brief that leaves room for interpretation, a client relationship where small requests are easier to absorb than to discuss, and the absence of a figure showing what each addition costs. The last one is the most common: nobody objects because nobody can see the total.

How is scope creep different from a change request?

A change request is scope growth that has been named, priced and agreed. Scope creep is the same growth without those three steps. The work is identical. The difference is whether anyone is paying for it. Scope creep rarely arrives as one large request. It accumulates from small additions that each seem reasonable.

How is scope creep detected early?

By comparing recorded effort against the effort the project was quoted at, per phase, while the project is still running. A phase drifting past its planned hours in week three is a conversation. The same drift found at the final invoice is a write-down.

What does scope creep cost?

It is paid out of margin. A project quoted at 180 hours that takes 215 has consumed 35 hours that were never sold. At a cost rate of 90 euros that is 3,150 euros, on one project, and it is rarely only one project.

troi compares planned and recorded effort per phase. See project estimation.