Scope Creep: Historical Recreation

In my spare time, which there sadly isn't enough of, my husband and I are members of a historical reenactment group. The group focuses on historical recreations from Roman to Elizabethan eras.  Each person picks a particular era, location, and related activities in which to participate.  For example, my particular focus lies in Tudor-era France, stretching to Elizabethan.  Within that broad focus, I research and sew clothing that would be appropriate, along with all the accessories that would also be worn.  I also create bobbin lace, as would a lady during Elizabethan times.

Aside from some budget and time constraints (sewing things at the last minute), the scope creep could relatively be contained if I were the only stakeholder involved in the process.  Often, as with any volunteer group, the baton of leadership is passed from member to member to organize specific events or to coordinate activities for the whole of the group.  Such was the case with me about five years ago.  The organization typically holds the events over weekends outside.  The scope of the project would include security, some accommodations, activities, schedules, and an evening meal on Saturday night.

I was asked to organize a large event that would occur over 3 days in early November.  The regional heads of the organization had specific requirements.  My original bid for the event would safely land within budget and would meet most of the needs of the regional heads.  The original bid was accepted in early September. Then I was told that the original plan for the Saturday evening meal was not acceptable in late September.  This change in the dinner plan cause me to scramble for a new location for the event and readjust both the activities for the weekend, plus the event budget as the second venue was more expensive than the original.  The new location required their own security, plus payment for cleaning crews, and the dinner menu had to be changed (which caused the chefs who would have been preparing the food on site a large amount of displeasure as even the food and recipes are researched with to be historically correct, within safety guidelines).  Additionally, the regionally heads asked in October to change the schedule of activities for the weekend to include events that would require additional volunteers.  Other problems during the planning phase included the resignation of an assistant, a change in chefs, and volunteers changing positions and roles.

The majority of the issues during the project were related to the expansion the scope of the activities (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton & Kramer, 2008).  Some were related to inexperienced people assigned to tasks in planning, namely myself.  Although the event turned out very well, several things would have improved the process.  It would have been hard to anticipate the some of the difficulty (all of the kitchen cabinets were locked when the chefs arrived), some could have been handled better, with a lot less panic on my part.  I did not get a written confirmation of the original bid, for starters.  As Vince Budrovich expounded on in the "Practitioner Voices: You Can't Win Them All" video this week, receiving confirmation in writing for original project goals and for any changes is crucial (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.).  Secondly, the assistant who resigned was allocated the task of coordinating the building services of the kitchen and ceased to communicate in the middle of October with anyone (thus leading to the kitchen problems).  I should have been more involved with his contacts at the building for the event so that I could follow up on progress personally, rather than having relied on him.

I am glad that I took on the project, despite the problems.  I learned a great deal about the organization, and how to plan an event for the organization.  Sadly, though I have not had the time, opportunity, or the inclination to do so since.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (n.d.) Practitioner voices: You can't win them all. [Video]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1342057_1%26url%3D

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.