PMP® Exam Prep Online, PMP Tutorial 20 | Planning Process Group | PM Processes | Define Scope <br />The preparation of a detailed project scope statement is critical to project success and builds upon the major <br />deliverables, assumptions, and constraints that are documented during project initiation. During project planning, <br />the project scope is defined and described with greater specificity as more information about the project is known. <br />Existing risks, assumptions, and constraints are analyzed for completeness and added or updated as necessary. <br />The Define Scope process can be highly iterative. In iterative life cycle projects, a high-level vision will be developed <br />for the overall project, but the detailed scope is determined one iteration at a time and the detailed planning for the <br />next iteration is carried out as work progresses on the current project scope and deliverable. <br />The project scope statement is the description of the project scope, major deliverables, assumptions, and <br />constraints. The project scope statement documents the entire scope, including project and product scope. It <br />describes, in detail, the project’s deliverables and the work required to create those deliverables. It also provides a <br />common understanding of the project scope among project stakeholders. It may contain explicit scope exclusions <br />that can assist in managing stakeholder expectations. It enables the project team to perform more detailed planning, <br />guides the project team’s work during execution, and provides the baseline for evaluating whether requests for <br />changes or additional work are contained within or outside the project’s boundaries. <br />The degree and level of detail to which the project scope statement defines the work that will be performed <br />and the work that is excluded can help determine how well the project management team can control the overall <br />project scope.
