Reducing Scope

The next step is the trickiest. If, as we expect, the features add up to 200 percent scope, then we must chop the baseline in half or more. Communicating this to customers requires both negotiation skills and a total commitment to the schedule.

The guiding principle in these negotiations should be “underpromise and overde-liver.” With scope negotiated to an achievable level, and with the customer’s “must haves,” the team will establish credibility by meeting schedules with quality, and occasionally with utility, that could not be committed to before.