Introduction
Scope management can be considered to be a plan that outlines the individuals tasked with different responsibilities during the implementation of a given project. In addition, the plan acts as a path for effective management and control of the scope. Often, any project scope management involves a process comprising of five steps including Collection of Requirements, definition of scope, Creation of WBS, and Control Scope. This paper provides an overview of the Scope Management Plan for Dubai Metro.
Scope management in a project refers to the procedure following during any given project for purposes of ensuring that every single task of the project is carried out as expected. The project’s scope management ensures that all work outside the project’s scope does not interfere with the completion of the other tasks (Hvidt, 2009). As such, the scope management is very important in providing a detailed overview of the definition of the project’s scope, development, as well as its verification.
Thus, scope management can be considered to be a plan that outlines the individuals tasked with different responsibilities during the implementation of a given project. In addition, the plan acts as a path for effective management and control of the scope. Often, any project scope management involves a process comprising of five steps including Collection of Requirements, definition of scope, Creation of WBS, and Control Scope. These five steps are highlighted below.
Collect Requirements
The collection of requirements is the initial step in the project scope management. In this step, the requirements for the project are defined and documented to guide in the achievement of the objectives of the project. The collection of the requirements is based on the statement of the scope, as well as the stakeholder register. By looking at the stakeholder register and the statement of the scope, the project team is in the position to identify the primary business drivers, along with the possible requirements for the solution needed.
Furthermore, such information is necessary for that it gives the implementation team the opportunity to brainstorm the details of the project and highlight the requirements needed to meet the objectives of the project. Such details are very important in conducting subsequent interviews, follow-ups discussions; as well as provide clear documentation on the consistency of the project’s expectations. Clear documentation of the requirements is very instrumental in the definition of the project’s scope (Reporter, 2015).
Define Scope
The process of defining a project’s scope is very important in the success of the project since it takes into consideration all the processes needed in the actual development of a detailed project (Hvidt, 2009). As such, defining the scope of any project takes into consideration the necessary assumptions to be made, the expected challenges, and the deliverables. Such consideration is done to ensure that there is a clear framework that can be used as the foundation of the project (Smith, Ho, Chiarello & Smith, 2011). With the right framework in place, it becomes easy to create a work breakdown structure for the project.
Create Work Breakdown Structure
The creation of a work breakdown structure builds on the provisions of the project as defined in the previous step. In this step, the project deliverables outlined above are broken down into smaller components that closely related to each other for purposes of effective management. Such components when considered are the lowest level of the project is termed as work packages. By breaking down the deliverables into progressively small work packages the team is able to plan, allocate the necessary costs, monitor, as well as control the project without a lot of difficulties.
Verify Scope
The scope verification stage is the step in the management of any project in which the project team is given formal authorization regarding its deliverables with respect to the requirements of the customer and/or sponsor (Atkinson, Crawford & Ward, 2006). As such, the scope verification stage is very important since it helps in ascertaining whether or not the deliverables are in line with the requirements of the user and/or the sponsor.
Control Scope
The control scope defines the process during which the team monitors and/or controls the scope of the project, along with the management of the scope baseline taking into consideration any necessary changes (Atkinson, Crawford & Ward, 2006). Even though changes in a project are very important, it is important to ensure that they remain under control and integrated for purposes of preventing creep in the scope (Atkinson, Crawford & Ward, 2006).
Dubai Metro Project
The Dubai Metro is one of the major and most advanced urban transport systems in the world. Since it is the only advanced transport system in the region, the Dubai Metro will offer a suitable platform in which most of the residents can gain access to different regions since mobility will have been enhanced upon completion of the entire project. In addition, the project will play a significant role in the country’s growth. This is a mega infrastructural project. The project’s main stakeholders include the Government of Dubai represented by the roads and transport authority, the main contractor is the Mitsubishi Corporation, and Mitsubishi heavy industries while the key engineer is the Systra Parsons, the designers are the Atkins. The project is divided into two, the Red Line, and the green line. In each line, there are sub-projects..
Based on the above steps, outlined below is the Scope Management Plan for Dubai Metro. The plan offers the necessary framework for the project, with clear documentation of the approach, the duties of different personnel, definition of the scope, control and verification measures, control of necessary changes in the project’s scope, as well as the work breakdown structure of Dubai Metro. As such, any necessary communication regarding the scope of the project ought to be in line with the outlined Scope Management Plan. This is necessary since it makes the achievement of the project’s objectives easy.
The Dubai Metro project aims at implementing a new infrastructural base in Dubai which will be used as a source of economic growth in the region and its neighbors (Botelle, Zouzoulas, McSheffrey & Burchell, 2012). The goals of the project include:
- Ensure an advanced public transport and road network
- Creation of a railway system that will accommodate eighty-seven trains, operating in Dubai at a rate of 225 seconds
- Increase the number of passengers traveling in every hour to about 27,000 for each of the Green, Red, and Purple lines.
- Provide an integrated transport system to ease traffic congestion in Dubai
Scope Management Approach
Scope refers to the work that is expected to be completed during the process of project implementation. It entails putting in place boundaries for the project. According to Hvidt (2009), the scope includes the activities to be carried in the planning process up to the complete section of the project. Therefore, the project implementers are tasked with creating the outputs to identify and define the work that is required to be done. In order to manage the scope of the project, monitoring and controlling processes are put in place to help in tracking the project processes.
This is very critical because it helps the project manager to determine whether the project is running as planned. In case of parameters that are not being achieved, corrective measures can be taken in time. Dalcher (2015) noted that the lack of process monitoring and controlling processes can result in a project failing to achieve its mandate in the stipulated time. In addition, a clear definition of scope saves the project unnecessary expenditures. The scope of management should be comprehensive, it should include authorities tasked with the project and their roles, the definition of the scope, the scope measurement and verification procedures, guidelines for the scope change process and the acceptance and approval of the project.
In the case of the Dubai Metro, the scope management will be headed by a project manager. The role of the project director is to ensure that all the activities of the project are coordinated at a central point. According to Dinsmore and Cabanis-Brewin (2011), project managers oversee the various processes that are to be implemented in a project. The manager provides leadership and collaborates with the other key players to ensure all the processes function as planned.
For Dubai Metro, the project director will be involved in establishing the requirements for all the required documents. This includes the certification of the architectural designs, the environmental impact assessment processes and other crucial documents that are required for the project to be initiated. In addition the project manager will be involved in ensuring that there are documents for deliverables checklists. In collaboration with the operations stakeholders, the manager will ensure that the materials required for each process are received in the right quality, quantity and as per provided guidelines.
It worth noting that sticking to the guidelines and ensuring the processes run as planned avoids the possible deviations which may have negative implication on the subsequent processes and in the final project. Due to the nature of the Dubai Metro, changes should be made after consultation of the key engineer and architects. Upon request for change, it is the role of the manager to initiate the processes of evaluations. The process helps in determining the viability of the project. This aspects point to the need for clear stipulation of roles in order to ensure that there is no duplication of roles.
Roles and Responsibilities
Good management of project is based on clear definition of the roles and responsibilities of the various players in the scope management. According to Atkinson, Crawford, and Ward (2006) clear definition of roles eliminates work duplication and promotes teamwork. Therefore, all the people involved in the project scope should have definite roles. In the case of Metro, the people include engineers, project manager, architects, and managers for the various sub units managers, operations managers and any other stakeholder involved in the implementation of the project.
The other key stakeholder is the government. Adequate knowledge about the activities and the requirements for each stakeholder promotes teamwork. This plays a critical role in ensuring that project runs as planned in its lifecycle. The following table is represents the roles for the key stakeholders.
Scope Defintion
As outlined above, the definition of the scope takes into consideration the development of a detailed project in terms of the deliverables. For this reason, the definition of the scope largely depends on the requirements of the project. Therefore, in the definition process, the plan outlined the requirements management plan as well as the Requirements Traceability Matrix. These documents were very instrumental in the definition of the project’s scope.
In this section, the process that was followed in the development of the deliverables and description of the project is outlined. In addition, this section identifies o the documents that might have been used in the description of the project such as Preliminary Project Scope Statement, Project Charter, and/or Requirements Documentation. It is very important to ensure that the scope definition process ties back to the definition of the project requirements (Atkinson, Crawford & Ward, 2006). This is attributed to the fact that the scope of the project provides the necessary answers to the question of the project’s requirements.
In addition, this section provides a clear documentation of the tools as well as any other useful techniques in the definition of the scope of the project. Such tools and techniques include facilitated workshops, alternative identification, product analysis, and expert judgment.
The definition of the Dubai Metro was based on a process that involved comprehensive collection of requirements (Atkinson, Crawford & Ward, 2006). To begin with, an in-depth analysis was conducted on the current state of infrastructure in Dubai city in the United Arab Emirates. The analysis showed that over the recent years, the city has experienced a rapid growth both economically and physically which has led to a lot of congestion in road traffic. As such, based on the analysis, the involved team was in a position to document the project requirements, the plan outline, as well as the requirement traceability matrix based on the needs of the infrastructural design.
Secondly, the deliverables outlined and the description of the project was developed in line with the process of collecting the requirements, as well as any other ideas from engineers and contractors. The expert judgment aspect in this case was very useful in the success of the entire project in that it offered a guideline on the necessary feedback form the analysis of the current infrastructure in Dubai. Such guideline was very important in ascertaining the best ways to deliver on the objectives of the study.
Project Scope Statement
The project scope statement provides detailed description of the deliverables of the project, as well as the necessary work to help in the creation of the deliverables (Atkinson, Crawford & Ward, 2006). Often, any project statement ought to contain a description of several components. The statement of scope should have the Dependency Linkages, Project Constraints, Project Exclusions, Project Deliverables, Risk Assessment, Acceptance Criteria or Project Completion, and Product Scope Description.
In addition, this section presents the metrics useful in determining the success of the project, and the necessary project assumptions. Some of the needed measures can include tools to ascertain whether or not the project is user friendly.
The Dubai Metro Scope of Statement offers an in-depth overview of the project, the acceptance criteria, assumptions, exclusions, constraints and the project’s deliverables. In addition, the statement of scope of Dubai Metro project takes into consideration any work that ought not to be carried out for purposes of eliminating unnecessary changes in the scope of the project.
Dubai Metro involves the implementation of a new road and railway infrastructure, alongside creation of bored tunnels, landscaping, bridges and viaducts construction, depots, and route alignment. Based on the project description, Dubai Metro’s deliverables are a complete multidisciplinary transportation network and a driverless system that is automatic suitable for the reduction of traffic congestion and the subsequent improvement of mobility in Dubai.
The project will be completed once all laid out objectives are fulfilled including the completion of the Red, Green, Purple, and Blue lines. However, the completion of the project ought to feature the need for a system that eases congestion in Dubai City.
The Dubai Metro project does not take into consideration any form of ongoing development in road of railway systems. In addition, the project ought not to go past the budgeted £4.8 billion.
The objectives of the Dubai Metro include creating a railway system that will accommodate eighty seven trains, operating in Dubai at a rate of 225 second, ensure an advanced public transport and road network, along with increasing the number of passengers travelling in every hour to about 27,000 for each of the Green, Red, and Purple lines. As such, the project focuses on the provision of an integrated transport system to ease traffic congestion in Dubai. However, the project has several challenges that might interfere with the successful completion of the project.
The challenges associated with the project scope include integrating the knowledge and skills of Atkin’s international experts into the local presence of the project. In addition, the other challenge was to handle the project with a minimal emission of carbon.
The project assumes that the necessary support will be available from the necessary authorities including the government, contractors and the sponsors.
Work Breakdown Structure
In the scope management plan, work breakdown entails the division of the projects into the sub units in order to improve efficiency. The management of the sub-units is critical in the overall execution of the project. A failure in one element slows the project implementation process. Dubai Metro is an extensive project. It is divided into two lines, the red line and the green line. In each line there are specific designs that guide the implementation process. The two lines are the initial phase for the project. Purple phase is to be implemented after the first two lines are completed.
The sub-units in the red line include 42km viaduct, 5.5 km tunnels, 4 underground stations, 52 km route, 2 depots and 22 over ground stations. On the other hand, the green line is has 24 km route, 7 km tunnels, I depot, 12 over ground stations and 16 km viaduct. Each unit has its implementation schedule.
Validating Scope
This scope verification is used to describe how the deliverables will be assessed against the original targets and the formal acceptance. In order to ensure that the project proceeds as required and the customer accepts, there should be continuous review of the project processes followed by the customer approval. Good scope verification ensures that there is no holding back of some deliverables (Powell, 2010). In order to ensure acceptance, the project manager and the other key stakeholders should be involved in assessing how the various units are working.
Therefore, as Dubai Metro progresses, the key stakeholder, the government should be involved in assessing the completed deliverables and ensuring that they are done according to the plan. The project manager ensures that the project meets the standards as outlined. After the verification, the manager should prepare to deliver the project to the customer. In this case, the government is the client.
Before accepting the completion of deliverable, the government through its engineers has to carry independent verification in order to ascertain the compliance. If the deliverable meets the requirements the government accepts it. It is worth noting that the Dubai Metro is great infrastructural project with very specific designs. Thus, the verification is carried out by competent personnel in conduction with the government civil engineers. The table below is an example of a verification document for the project.
Scope Control
As outlined earlier, scope change refers to the actions involved in monitoring the state of a project’s scope. The scope control section in scope project management takes into consideration the process of implementing any changes in the scope baseline of a project.
In the case of the Dubai Metro, Project Manager will work in close association with the project team towards ensuring effective control of the project’s scope (Botelle et al., 2012). For example, the project team will base their operations on the analysis on the current state of infrastructural development in Dubai. For this reason, their performance will solely be limited to the work defined in the project scope charter. The managers therefore, will ensure that the work is done according to the outlined scope for purposes of adhering to the scope control process.
Scope Change
Any necessary changes in the scope of the Dubai Metro project will be implemented through the necessary channels. As such, team members and the sponsor have the mandate to ask for changes in the scope of the project. However, such changes ought to be in line with the objectives of the project. For this reason, all changes must be forwarded to the project’s manager in a clearly documented project change request, for review. Usually, project change requests are either accepted or rejected based on the effect that such changes can have on the project’s objectives and deliverables. If a case the request applies to deliverables and objectives of the project, the project manager can call a change control meeting for review and subsequent assessment of its impact on the project’s deliverables.
In a case the request is initially accepted, the change request is reviewed by the board in charge of change control, whereby the change is incorporated into the project’s scope if approved (Atkinson, Crawford & Ward, 2006). After, the change is accepted, all the project’s documents are updated and the necessary stakeholders briefed about the change. Such update is done to ensure that every stakeholder is aware of the changes for purposes of redefining their roles and responsibilities if needed. According to Atkinson, Crawford and Ward (2006), the success of any project management depends largely on the input of all team members. Based on such assertion, the team members working on the Dubai Metro will work together to ensure that any change in the project’s scope is updated as required.
References
Atkinson, R., Crawford, L., & Ward, S. (2006). Fundamental uncertainties in projects and the scope of project management. International Journal Of Project Management, 24(8), 687-698.
Botelle, M., Zouzoulas, P., McSheffrey, P., & Burchell, A. (2012). Dubai Metro: building the world’s longest driverless metro. Proceedings of The ICE – Civil Engineering, 165(3), 114-122.
Dalcher, D. (2015). Going beyond the waterfall: Managing scope effectively across the project life cycle. Project Management Journal 46(1), 1-22.
Dinsmore, P., & Cabanis-Brewin, J. (2011). The AMA handbook of project management. New York: American Management Association.
Hvidt, M. (2009). The Dubai Model: an outline of key development-process elements in Dubai. International Journal Of Middle East Studies, 41(03), 397.
Powell, M. (2010). Developing Verification Requirements to Assure Project Success. I International Symposium, 20(1), 2093-2147.
Reporter, A. (2015). Work begins on Dubai Metro project – Khaleej Times. Khaleejtimes.com. Web.
Smith, D., Ho, A., Chiarello, M., & Smith, T. (2011). Dubai Metro footbridge design. Proceedings Of The ICE – Bridge Engineering, 164(1), 23-39.