Comments on: Scope Creep

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:21:30 +0000

True, Cathy. Without a contract, you're basically at the mercy of the client's wishes. There's no way to stop the scope creep at all. Another reason why contracts are essential business tools.

Same here, Sharon. If they know what the work parameters are at the start, there are no surprises later.

Paula, I've had that, and I've responded by saying "Sounds like a new project! Let's shelve this one and I'll draw up a new agreement for the new one."

Divya, if you have a contract, you have no worries. Make sure to do everything for your client under a written agreement. And yes, walk away when he drives you nuts. :)

By: Divya

Divya — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 10:20:34 +0000

Sometimes I'm afraid he wont pay for the work already done.I'm glad I found this here. I've always had problems handling such requests.

Love the last tip.

By: Paula

Paula — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:57:49 +0000

I've encountered scope change more than scope creep. You know, the client who assigns one thing but decides mid-way through they really want something entirely different. (What's worse is when they try to save face by pretending their new vision is the original one when all documented correspondence clearly proves them wrong.)

By: Sharon Hurley Hall

Sharon Hurley Hall — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:05:19 +0000

I agree with Cathy. While I don't always give it that title, I always send client an email with meeting notes incorporating the key elements of our agreement and ask them to reply to say explicitly that they agree with it. That saves arguments later.

By: Cathy Miller

Cathy Miller — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:55:45 +0000

The most important step, IMHO, is the contract or what I call the Statement of Work. It's surprising the number of freelancers who still work without one.

If you don't have a defined scope of services, it's difficult to tell a client that what they are requesting is outside your agreement (no matter if you talked about it or not).

I use some of your same tactics, Lori. I simply let them know I would be happy to give them a revised or separate quote.

One thing I noticed, the clients who are your anchors or better-paying clients don't seem to scope creep without the expectation that it means its own fee.