Out of Focus: How Scope Creep Blurs Your Project’s Objective
Whether you’re a new business owner or a team member, truly inspiring work tends to lead to big ideas. In many ways, this is a positive thing: passion for your work makes it enjoyable, and creative thinkers can dream up incredible solutions and ideas that drive success. The challenge arises when big ideas lack structure, and the plan to implement them becomes unclear, overly broad, or simply frustrating for those involved in the rollout.
According to the Project Management Institute, “[s]cope creep is one of the most prevalent causes of project failure (Larson, 2009),” which means it is a term worth knowing and keeping top of mind when planning your next project. “Scope creep” occurs when a great idea lacks definition. What seems like a simple plan suddenly has too many or the wrong people involved, or midway through the process, the goal changes entirely. Sometimes, the entire direction becomes unclear, and suddenly the people involved no longer understand what they are working on, why, and when the project can be considered complete.
How can you avoid scope creep and ensure your business plans and projects are set up for success?
First and foremost, before the work even begins, set your goal and define a clear objective. SMART goals, which stand for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (Day, 2026), help project leaders define those objectives and clearly outline what is being accomplished, how to measure success or impact, what is actually achievable or who needs to be involved, how the project is relevant to overall business goals, and when the results will be delivered.
For example, a vague goal that leaves room for scope creep could be:
“We need to start emailing our customers.”
Of course, there is nothing wrong with the idea of launching an email marketing campaign, and email can be a great way to promote your business. The trouble with this goal is that it is not specific enough. It is unclear why the business wants to send an email, who they are sending it to, what they want to achieve, how they can achieve it, when they can expect to see results (and what those results would be), and who is responsible for managing the different steps involved in developing and sending the campaign.
This risks sending information that does not resonate with, or even annoys, your customer base, or sending something incorrect or to the wrong group of people. It also significantly risks confusion for the team involved, because the intention is unclear.
A SMART approach would look something like:
“Our email campaign plan:
We want to generate brand awareness to attract more customers.
We will create an email campaign highlighting our recent work and include a time-limited coupon code valid for one month after we send the email.
The email will target our existing subscribers.
We do not have a company email address that works with our website’s email tool. We will need to determine who can set that up, or hire someone to help set up the email program and design the email.
We can create the discount code using the discount tool on our website. Employee A will generate that, schedule the promotion, and provide the discount code to the person who creates the email (need to determine).
We hope to get at least 5 new purchases by the end of next month from the email campaign.
We will aim to send the email and set the promotion live by the end of the month.”
While this goal still has some open questions, like who is responsible for setting up the email capabilities, it is much more defined than the original. Defining goals, stakeholders, and deadlines is important, even if the initial conversations include defining open questions. This SMART goal highlights the goals, a clear timeline, a concrete measure of success (5 new purchases), and outlines a need to identify someone to handle certain responsibilities. This plan ensures that everyone involved is aware of their role, what is needed, and when it is expected, reducing confusion, limiting input after the project begins, and setting up the project for success.
How Do We Ensure the Project is on Track?
Once your scope is defined and any outstanding questions are answered, the project work begins. Clear communication, which includes defining what “clear communication” looks like for your business or team, ensures that the project stays on schedule and that any issues are flagged promptly.
What that means for your business or project is flexible and depends on your needs, budget, and long-term plans for tracking work. Communication can be as simple as a project spreadsheet or presentation that is updated with the status by a certain day each week. It could be a line item in a standing status update meeting, or as simple as, “I’ll send confirmation by email once it goes out, and I will reach out if there are any issues.” A more robust tracking system could be project management software, like JIRA or Monday.com, with a full workflow and alerts baked in.
What If I Have a Great Idea to Add Mid-Project?
This is a very real experience. In our example, a team member might have the idea to start a simple referral program, where customers can share a unique coupon code with friends and earn a discount for themselves as well. It’s a great idea, and could definitely contribute to revenue, so why not pivot and add this to the existing email plan?
Adding an entirely new component to the existing project introduces several risks. First, the timeline has changed significantly, with more work due by the end of the timeframe. This could mean errors in production, or a delayed timeline overall. Second, without proper discovery beforehand, the requirements for the new campaign idea are unknown, which further increases the risk. Are there rules or restrictions for referral campaigns that you may not be aware of? What if the referral codes are shared widely, and you can’t support the financial impact? Do you have a plan in place to limit usage? Without proper planning, the risks to team morale, success of the project, and reputation are real.
Treat your new idea as a new project, with the same goal-setting exercise. In our example, the original email campaign could be used to hopefully drive up sales, but also provides valuable data to compare against; the referral campaign idea could be tested against the original email campaign, or built into a long-term email strategy that credibly provides positive results for your business.
SIP Consulting is here to help with your consulting needs, whether you need support with setting up your marketing programs, project management, or help developing business processes. Reach out to request a consultation today!
Sources:
Day, B. (2026, June 12). The ultimate guide to S.M.A.R.T. goals – Forbes advisor. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/smart-goals-1/
Larson, R., & Larson, E. (2009). Top five causes of scope creep ... and what to do about them. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2009—North America, Orlando, FL. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.