Understanding the Role of Scope Definition Document in BPI

637 Words2 Pages

If you have experience managing a project you know the importance of the Project Initiation Document (PID), but did you know the importance of a similar document when starting a Business Process Improvement (BPI) effort? While you may not consider a BPI effort as large a project as a system implementation, you do require the same type of information if you want to stay on track and avoid scope creep. In BPI work, I call this document the Scope Definition Document (SDD) and consider it the most important step towards successful process improvement. Whether you lead a regular information technology-type project and use the PID or a process improvement project and use the SDD, you should consider these reference documents key tools that you …show more content…

The boundaries may seem obvious to you, but once a project team starts talking about where the process begins and ends, you will appreciate the clarity the SDD brings to the work. There is no right or wrong answer to where a process begins and ends. It all depends on the project team's discussion and the sponsor's approval of the process boundaries, so that you can stay on track. The "boundary" decision becomes evident when you move to mapping the process. Measurements of Success: When identifying the measurements of success, focus on the client/customer needs and identify measurements that address those needs. At this point, focus on what you should measure, not how you will measure it. Save the "how" for later (step 7 of the 10 steps). If you spend time at the beginning of a process improvement project on how to measure something, the project team will get sidetracked worrying about the difficulty of the metric itself. The Scope Definition Document should fit on a single piece of paper so that everyone can use it as a quick reference guide. The temptation to add a second page will surface, but the effectiveness of the document is its apparent brevity while actually providing considerable

More about Understanding the Role of Scope Definition Document in BPI

Open Document