Scope Creep: When “Just One More Thing” Tries to Kill Your Project
If you’ve made it this far as a volunteer-told Project Manager, congratulations — you’ve built a plan, managed stakeholders, delivered status reports, and even pretended to predict the future with risk management.
Now, you’re about to meet your greatest nemesis: scope creep.
1. What Is Scope Creep?
It’s that innocent little phrase you’ll hear over and over:
“Can we just add one more thing?”
Spoiler: it’s never just one more thing. It’s the gateway drug of project chaos.
2. Why It’s Dangerous
- One change turns into five.
- Deadlines move, but magically… the budget doesn’t.
- Your project plan starts looking like a Frankenstein monster of requests, fixes, and “urgent” must-haves.
Scope creep doesn’t just stretch the project — it crushes morale and makes you wonder if you can change your name and move to a new city.
3. Learn the Power of “Yes, But”
Saying “no” outright can make you sound difficult. Instead, try:
- “Yes, but that will move the timeline.”
- “Yes, but we’ll need more budget.”
- “Yes, but something else has to come off the list.”
Translation: You’re not a magician. Choices have consequences.
4. Document, Document, Document
The secret weapon against scope creep is your change log.
Every new request goes there, with the cost, time impact, and who approved it.
That way, when someone says, “I never asked for that,” you can calmly pull out the receipts.
5. Get Stakeholders to Sign Off
Don’t be the sole gatekeeper. Put new requests in front of the decision-makers. Let them argue about what stays and what goes.
You just bring the popcorn.
6. Accept That Some Scope Will Creep In
Here’s the hard truth: no project finishes exactly as it started.
The goal isn’t to eliminate scope creep entirely — it’s to control it so it doesn’t swallow the project whole.
Closing Thought
Scope creep is sneaky. It starts small, but if you don’t manage it, it grows until your project looks nothing like what you started with.
Your job? Be the friendly but firm bouncer at the door of “just one more thing.”
This was Chapter Seven of The Bible of the Volunteer-Told Project Manager.
Stay tuned for Chapter Eight: “Communication 101: Translating Tech Speak, Exec Speak, and Team Speak.”