Unfixing the fixed scope project: using agile methodologies to create flexibility in project scope

Abstract

Although it seems to be common knowledge that it's impossible to succeed in a project with fixed time, quality and scope, we often continue to try anyway. This experience report discusses our successful failure at running fixed time and scope projects. We say successful failure because we actually failed to fix scope but arrived at an acceptable way to vary scope and deliver on time in an environment not normally amenable to variable scope. We discuss the methods used and make recommendations on how we might unfix scope in our development environment.