How to Prevent Scope Creep–A Writer’s Perspective

One of the signs of "arriving" as an independent contractor is receiving payment for every hour worked, and at your hourly or project rate—not some watered-down one because things took longer than you thought they would.

You need only one experience of watching your hourly or project rate diminish to a fraction of what it should be before you start paying attention to what will prevent that from occurring again.

Scope creep—projects that grow beyond the original statement of work—is a typical culprit for watered-down rates, along with underestimating how long tasks take to complete.

Over the years, I’ve been able to refine my quotes and contracts to lesson the likelihood of scope creep occurring. Knowing what causes scope creep and how to prevent it allows me to demonstrate my project management abilities. That adds value to my writing and editing skills.

Note: Most of the projects I work on involve three to seven people and span the course of a couple weeks to four months. Avoiding scope creep for long, complex projects might require more advice than what is discussed here. The way I prevent scope creep is to:

• write a good contract
• know how long it takes to complete specific writing and editing tasks

Write a Good Contract

I know independent contractors who use proposals, project summary letters, or formal contracts to seal the deal and officially launch a writing or editing project. Whatever type of document you use to formalize the business relationship with your client, address the three contract elements discussed below to help prevent projects from growing into hairy beasts. Doing so will help you fully scope your project and clearly define what should happen, and when.

1. Clearly Summarize the Project and State Project Deliverables
Define your project as your client understands it, with as much specificity as possible. Include a project summary and state each deliverable, with its due date.

If there are too many unknowns to do this thoroughly, or your client is dependent on third-party deliverables, knowing events that could add project time and cost (see 2. below) and defining project assumptions (see 3. below) will help you maintain your "real" rate.

The sample bulleted outline I provide below is based on a project I did to write web copy for a specific audience. I wrote the copy in MS Word, then reviewed and edited it once the copy was laid out in the website. Depending on what applications you use to publish content, your project might require a different outline.

• Project Summary:
  • project goal(s) and objective(s)
  • target audience
  • desired outcome(s) after publication
  • project delivery method (print or digital, and created with what application)
• Deliverables (broken down by tasks, each with a due date)
  • attend project kick-off meeting
  • research the audience
  • prepare focus group outline
  • facilitate focus group meeting
  • research industry or audience background, issues, and trends
  • prepare outline
  • write first draft
  • write second draft
  • deliver final draft to website developer
  • web content review 1
  • web content review 2

2. State Events that Could Add Project Time and Cost
If you’re in a project that seems it is about to unwind, take note of the events that are causing it to be that way. The next time you write a contract, include those occurrences as events that could add project time and cost. Examples:

• new content requirements introduced after the first draft has been submitted
• additional review cycles over stated amount (per your stated deliverables)
• task requests beyond those agreed upon (per your stated deliverables)
• substantial rewrite requests, where "substantial" means you have to chuck content sections and completely rewrite them because, say, your client wants a different perspective or doesn’t like what you wrote, even though you wrote to the outline

3. State Project Assumptions
Project assumptions establish the conditions under which you’ll work and complete your project. Any condition that ceases to exist could alter your project scope and schedule. If you notice a change in conditions and feel they could cause scope creep, discuss the changes with your client and adjust your contract if necessary. Example conditions under which you assume to work:

• your primary project contact
• person responsible for processing your invoices
• person who can approve changes to your contract
• expiration date of your contract, proposal, or project summary letter
• project team member roles
• which team member is responsible for what
• person who will conduct or provide the research
• requests for information will be provided in a timely manner (state expected turnaround, such as within 24 hours, or by the end of the business day)
• if invoices are based on project milestones, payments will be made on time (state what on time means, such as "upon receipt of invoice" or "30 days from date of invoice")
• late payments could jeopardize the project schedule

4. Know How Long Specific Tasks Take
Knowing how long tasks take to complete makes you smart, especially when someone on your team wants to change course. You can enter those project-change discussions armed with data that gives you 20-20 vision to the date of the project end-game, and whether it will occur on time or not.

In addition to making you smart, tracking your time will help you make more money. You will be able to provide more accurate project quotes–quotes that help ensure that you get paid for every hour you work, at your hourly or project rate, and not some watered-down one because things took longer than you thought they would.

If you don’t track how long tasks take, begin doing so with your next task. Use the time tracker provided with your accounting software. If you don’t use that software or it doesn’t have a time tracker, Google "free time tracker" to download one.

Rita Braun writes and edits B2B publications for people who research, teach, market, and sell. Take a look at her portfolio here, and contact her here.