Probably the most important part of project management is getting the scope of the project just right. Ever get that project where everyone sounds like Peter Faulk as detective Columbo, saying “Oh, just one more thing…?”
One more thing. It’s not much, until they start adding up and suddenly your project looks like it will never see the light of day and your leaders are looking at you and asking why you’re behind. That’s why its important to get the scope right and keep it tight.
Effective project management is crucial for achieving success and scope management, which involves defining, controlling, and monitoring the project’s objectives, deliverables, and requirements all happen in that first step. The advent of artificial intelligence has brought a new set of tools and capabilities to project managers. But what are they and what can they do for you?
Scope Definition
Let’s start at the beginning. Scope management begins with defining the project’s objectives and boundaries. It involves determining what needs to be accomplished, what the project will deliver, and what is excluded from the project. Using AI, project managers can analyze historical project data to identify patterns and trends. Tools like IBM Watson and Microsoft Power BI can help project managers extract insights from large datasets to inform scope definition. This also includes analyzing Stakeholder perspectives. Then comes the language barriers. I don’t mean French vs. English; I have an old saying that my friends all speak English, but at times they might as well be completely different languages. Natural Language Processing Tools can help identify potential scope ambiguities or discrepancies and suggest clarifications, helping to eliminate trying to translate words from meanings. AI-driven requirements analysis tools, like Jama Connect and Helix RM, can help project managers collect, organize, and validate project requirements. These tools can detect inconsistencies and missing information in requirements documents.
Scope Planning
Once the scope is defined, project managers create a detailed scope statement, outlining project goals, objectives, constraints, assumptions, and deliverables. This plan serves as a guide throughout the project’s lifecycle. AI-driven project management software like Monday.com and Smartsheet can automatically generate project schedules and WBS based on initial inputs. This streamlines the scope planning process and ensures consistency. Tools like IBM Watson Analytics can analyze historical project data to provide insights into similar projects’ scope planning phases. This can help project managers estimate timelines, budgets, and potential risks more accurately. RiskWatch and Palisade @RISK offer risk assessment and mitigation suggestions. AI-driven cost estimation tools, such as Cleopatra Enterprise and CostOS can provide accurate cost estimates for project elements, helping project managers plan the project budget effectively.
Scope Control
Scope control involves monitoring project progress to ensure that the project stays on track and within the defined scope. Any deviations or changes to the scope should be documented, evaluated, and managed. In a perfect world, deviations from the plan do not happen. But we don’t live there. When scope changes do occur, AI can streamline the change management process. By using historical data and predefined rules, AI can quickly evaluate whether a proposed scope change is feasible and what adjustments are needed. This enables project managers to make well-informed decisions about whether to approve or reject scope changes and ensures that changes are implemented smoothly. Modern project management platforms like Asana, Trello, and Microsoft Project have integrated AI features that can assist with scope control. These features may include real-time dashboards, automated alerts for scope changes, and predictive analytics for tracking progress against the defined scope.
Scope Verification
Scope verification ensures that all the work has been completed correctly and that the project meets its stated objectives and requirements. This is typically done through inspection and customer or stakeholder acceptance. That also means that communications need to be in a place where a manger can easily go through and check. Depending on the size and the complexity of the project, simply filtering through emails is not enough. Document management systems like SharePoint, Dropbox, and Google Drive can help organize project documentation and make it accessible for verification for all stakeholders. AI-driven document management systems can use optical character recognition (OCR) and indexing to facilitate document retrieval and validation. Document management systems can help ensure that project documentation aligns with the defined scope and complies with regulatory requirements. Tools like DocuWare and M-Files offer document management features. While not an AI tool, blockchain technology can be used to create an immutable record of project activities and deliverables. This can provide a secure and transparent way to verify the completion of scope-related tasks.
The list of AI powered tool grows daily, and the feature sets are improving. While it may not prevent a rogue manager from adding unnecessary features, a project manager will be able to see just what that one more thing will cost, both in time and money, and give all stakeholders insights as to what they need, rather than what someone wants. It places the decisions back onto the customer, and with true actionable information, they can make decisions without the need for Detective Columbo.
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