Scope Creep, the Quiet Killer — and How to Spot It
Scope creep doesn't announce itself. It arrives one tiny 'small ask' at a time. Here's the early-warning system.
Every 'small ask' is small in isolation. They never come in isolation.
Three signals
- Task count grew >20% since kickoff with no schedule extension.
- More than 2 'out of scope' items quietly moved into the active board.
- The PMO scope section hasn't been updated in 14+ days while new work landed.
What to do
Don't say no. Say 'this is a new scope item — let's discuss whether it replaces something or extends the timeline.' Owner of the request makes the call. The conversation lives in the project, not a Slack DM.
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