Avoiding Website Development Scope Creep

How To Manage Scope Creep and Keep Development Costs Down

The final blog in this series “Staying on Budget in Web Development” is about managing website development scope creep. If your web team cannot manage scope creep, they will never end on budget.

Real World Example

About 3 years ago, I was working on a large web project (over 400 hours). My team and I were constantly receiving email requests as the client had new ideas. We had learned from years of making the same mistake, we needed proactively control the project. I began to categorize the requests into two sections: in-scope vs. out-of-scope. The in-scope requests were scheduled so the client new they could be added. The out-of-scope requests were followed by an estimate for the time and cost of development. The client had a clear understanding of why it cost more to add those features and was happy to either approve them or put them into their future wish-list.

If your web development team cannot manage scope creep, they cannot manage over 90% of web projects.

Sad Truth

Unfortunately, managing scope creep requires effective communication. How many web development companies or freelance developers do you know who are good at communication? From what I can tell, the list is very small. So, your job just became more difficult if you’re a project manager. Not only do you need to manage your roles, but you also need to manage your developer’s task-list. I’d propose finding a better web developer (hint, try DevSavvy).

Final Thoughts

In this series, I’ve covered the three main areas that help you stay on budget in your website development projects: keeping great documentation, communicating throughout the project, and managing scope creep. Your website development company should be building amazing websites and making sure you look like a rock star to your clients. The best way to make that happen is to finish on budget. Hopefully, you’ll consider DevSavvy for your future web projects!

About the author

Brian Jardine

Brian is the founder of DevSavvy, a digital development agency based out of Atlanta, GA. He has worked with agency partners like marketing strategists and graphic design firms, building their client websites. He also provides key insights to his clients, consulting in areas relating to ROI and website performance.