Analyzing Scope Creep

One of the things that came to my mind when I was thinking about this assignment was my family reunion in 2008.  My uncle asked the reunion committee if he could host it that year at his house. He had a huge back yard and could accommodate a lot of people. He told the committee that he would give them the price of the food once he was informed of the number of people that would be attending.  

While I was at the reunion things just seem to be off.  This reunion had a lot of mishaps.  On the day of arrival we were to check into our hotel.  The hotel, let us just say, did not want to cooperate with us.  The reunion committee was quoted one price over the phone and reserved the twenty rooms, however when we got there we were told that the rooms had accidentally been given to another group.  So we had to find another hotel that would accommodate us.  The food situation was not well planned.  The bulk of the food was being served the first night and hamburgers and hot dogs were on the menu for the full day also  no activities were planned.  It also seemed that the food:people ratio was not equal as more participants attended then expected.

Now how would I as a project manager or the host of the reunion, managed it better?

1.       I would have kept the lines of communication open with the reunion committee since they were in another state.

2.       As for the hotel accommodations I would have sent the reunion committee several different hotel options to look at.  As the reunion committee member I would have suggested that we talk to one main point of contact person at the hotel, get a quote in writing and secure it with a down payment as good faith between both parties.

3.       I would have planned the menu to fit the day.  For example on Friday’s meet and greet, since that is the day of arrival for the family coming from out of town, I would have done something along the lines of a fish fry and hotdogs for the kids.  On Saturday I would have had the big BBQ and all its fixing.  Activities for the kids such as jump castle and games such as three legged race, potato sack, water games like slip and slide.  I would also plan a breakfast for those who were leaving early on Sunday and a lunch for those who were leaving later that afternoon.

4.  I would have planned extra food as we all know, with a reunion or any event there is bound to be more participants then expected. 

"Project managers must expect change and be prepared to deal with it....The best approach is to set up a well-controlled formal process whereby changes can be introduced and accomplished with little distress as possible". (Portny pg. 346)

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.