Scope creep. Anyone in project management fears the added time and cost of scope creep. To add fuel to the fire, forty-four percent of projects encountered scope creep in 2016 alone.

Often nicknamed, “Kitchen Sink Syndrome”, scope creep refers to the changes and growth of a project not formally outlined in a contract.

In other words, the project you’ve signed up for has derailed and is no longer the project it started out to be.

Scope creep can range anywhere from minor tweaks in design features to complete functionality overhauls. And if you’re not careful, these tweaks can cost your business a substantial amount of extra money.

When having a website designed, it’s not uncommon for a client to come in without a fully-developed concept in mind. And in all honesty, we don’t expect them to!

Designing a website and having it developed takes an entire team on the clients end and ours. That’s the magic of this industry! Being an “extension of your business” and working on the perfect concept, together, makes for an amazing end-result!

So, what constitutes a scope creep?

One of the great benefits to a web project is that, in many cases, revisions can be changed fairly quickly. Unfortunately, this sets an easy stage for scope creep.

Often times, persons not included in the initial project discovery phase come up with new ideas they’d like implemented assuming they “take no extra time”. However, any ideas or features not outlined in a projects contract will be considered a scope creep.

Moreover, little project tweaks here and there turn into a trickle effect. While yes, there are many web changes that are simple and less time consuming, multiple “minor” tweaks can have a major ripple effect on your project. Changing one thing can break another and cause unforeseen technical issues. Technical issues equal time. Time equals money. All of this… scope creep.

Scope creep can happen in any phase of a project. Many of our web development projects transition into digital marketing projects. Scope creep can even happen here!

Any extra work (images, blogs, videos, posts) not agreed upon in the original contract of your digital marketing plan, is considered scope creep. That extra blog you want turned into a quick video? Scope creep.

Scope creep, if not caught in the warning stages, can snowball quickly! It’s important to understand your contract, feedback process and deadlines set with your web developer and digital agency. Not only for your own investment as a client, but for the agency as well.

Follow along with us on Wednesday to understand the best ways to avoid scope creep in your web development and digital marketing projects!