Project Scope Planning – Defining and Outlining Project Success

Undertaking an eCommerce or web project is complex, especially when defining what size it will be. How do you get the right size for a successful project? 

The best course of action is to make a project scope statement, which allows you to manage time efficiently, assign the necessary tasks to each project team, manage resources and budget, and better anticipate all the deliverables. Today, learn the most important things to define and outline your project scope for your eCommerce. 

Read on and get to work!

Project Scoping: Definition 

The project scope is the set the work breakdown structure to complete a project successfully. It includes the definition of the objectives, the deadlines for each task, and the expected results. Its purpose is to help project managers to create a more efficient action path for achieving the objectives since it allows aligning tasks, people, and resources with the results, to avoid delays or overloading the project team or scope creep.

eCommerce Web Design Project Scope

You must define your project scope for website development, i.e., launch a new product or service or create a new marketing campaign, optimize the sales cycle, set new payment methods, etc. Why? 

If you’re a project manager, it allows you to make a work breakdown structure of your web design project to avoid any setbacks. You will be able to define what you expect to achieve, assign tasks to be executed, establish a budget, set deadlines for the completion of the project and, of course, the results, 

The web design project scope allows eCommerce owners and project managers to understand better their risks and limitations and what goals are feasible.

Is Project Scoping Important?

PMI found that 44% of projects fail due to a lack of alignment between business and objectives.

The project scope management plan manifests with a detailed and precise description of the characteristics, requirements, and functionalities that the project will have to develop. It helps a project manager to evaluate the variables that may favor and be attentive to changes that may hinder the development process.

A project begins with an idea, but to make it happens is essential you define the following:

1. Project goals are the general expectations you expect to produce once you complete your project, i.e., generate more leads, and increase sales.
2. Project objectives: these are the concrete, specific and tangible facts you expect to achieve with the project, build your eCommerce site, create a new product line, set a new functionality, and create a blog.
3. Project requirements: these are the parameters or conditions required to execute the project tasks, for example, SEO-friendly content strategy, responsive website, app, or mobile version. 
4. Project deliverables: what you expect to obtain at the end. A project scope example of deliverable could be a new content marketing campaign, new features for your website, a new product or service, and more potential sales.
5. Organization: the project scope must set every development phase task corresponds to each team so that all the elements and stakeholders are in tune with the project goals for efficient work: 

• Key Stakeholders: the project manager must identify the necessary people involved in the work.
• The project schedule: set the time needed for each task for efficient project management.
• The budget: your scope statements must include how much money you can invest in development projects.

All this aims to create a document that compiles everything you need to create an execute viable project management based on your resources, time, and pace of work.

Good Project Scope Management Plan

The first thing to consider for defining and outlining your project scope is the actions you want to take and the resources (people and money) you have for efficient project management. The idea is to align all those efforts to a specific goal; you must communicate with your project team member what you have at hand; data and progress reports can help you better explain the proposed objectives, deadlines, and results.

Remember to be aware of your resources, strengths, and limitations in defining objectives. You should also be mindful of any changes to add to project planning.

For example: if your goal is to position your eCommerce in the first place for a keyword, a change in the search engine algorithms, including new positioning metrics for your web content, could affect you.

What Should Your Project Scope Statement for The Website Include?

When writing the project scope statement for the website, you should focus on including only the information that is vital for stakeholders to understand what you want to accomplish and how you will do it. The primary sections you should write in the scope of your project are: 

Introduction

Start your project scope statement explaining the reason for the project and the necessary motivation to implement it. For example, creating a blog SEO-friendly content to increase awareness of your eCommerce, generate more visitors, and increase your search engine rankings.

Project Scope

In this section of the scope statements, you should set the parameters or guidelines of your project:

• Set the general objectives of the project
• Create a schedule of activities and deadlines
• Assign the task to each team member

For example, your scope statement might be: “the project includes the design, creation, and implementation of blog articles with SEO content to generate more traffic to the website by the marketing team in charge of…”.

Project Deliverables

In this part of your scope statement, you will include the final deliverable you will present at the end of all the planned activities. A project scope example may be: “the presentation of 15 blog articles with SEO structure, related to the products and services of your eCommerce!

Acceptance Criteria

They should be clear, concise, and understandable, leaving no room for interpretation. Acceptance testing of your scope statement should produce a clear yes or no. 

See an example: 

Title: Order payment process.

Requirement: Streamline the payment process for product and service orders.

Acceptance criteria:

1. Upon completion, the customers can manage their purchase in less than 5 minutes. 
2. The customer can make the purchase process without assistance.
3. There are favorable reviews from buyers.

Wrong Project Scope in eCommerce

80% of organizations report spending at least half their time on rework, explains Geneca.

So if you have created your scope project statement, you should follow the requirements, conditions, and elements you have planned unless unexpected changes require you to rethink your strategy. If you start adding details, scope creep occurs as you look at your project vision.

Scope Out the Project Out of Control

To maintain control, you cannot begin to include new objectives or aspire to achieve more extensive results while maintaining the same budget, timelines, and resources.

Scope creep when: 

1. You have not planned enough to estimate project activities and needs.
2. You have not defined the project requirements in depth.
3. You try to include more objectives without expanding the budget and resources.
4. You have not organized and prioritized the tasks.
5. There is no assertive communication between teams and project managers.
6. You start working without a clear outlining of your project scope statement.
7. You do not foresee the possible limitations of your project: Limitations are all those elements or conditions that prevent your eCommerce project from reaching a successful completion:

• Unexpected changes
• Delays in communication
• Technical impediments.

What to avoid when Defining Project Scope

There are three mistakes that eCommerce owners or their marketing experts often make: 

Lack of Agreement

The project stakeholders are not on the same page, so they work independently, which means a continuous waste of time and money. You must be very specific in your project scope statement, so all parties know what to expect in the end.  

Poor Communication

When team members, the project manager, the business owner, or other interested parties do not ask enough questions about the project, its activities, and elements and do not continuously report on each other’s ideas and expectations.

Making Assumptions 

As a consequence of the previous one, not asking the right questions during project scope defining leads to assuming who will do what activity, how they will do it, and how much it will cost without an accurate estimate. 

Sometimes they’re right, but often they’re wrong. A good project scope statement eliminates any assumptions. The best way to develop a good project scope is to ask the right questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

That’s all for today!

Performing a good definition of the scope of your project is essential to ensure efficient project management of the activities to launch your new venture. The scope is the starting point to establish the basis and requirements of new projects and what it entails for your business and your teams. If you don’t have the proper definition, starting a new venture can end up with an unnecessary waste of time and money in which you only end up frustrated because you don’t achieve what you expected.

Did you find this article helpful? Do you want more project management ideas?

Let me know in the comments.