Scope creep
Project Management Professional glossary · Project Management Professional
Definition
The uncontrolled expansion of product or project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources.
Scope creep in plain English
Think of building a house from a nested checklist: rooms break into walls, walls into tasks, and every child line has to add up to the parent — miss a line and something never gets built, add a random deck and you've snuck in unpaid work. Scope creep is how PMP keeps that checklist honest. Hold onto this precise job description: The uncontrolled expansion of product or project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources. On a stem, name whether Scope creep is about timing, ownership, measurement, or delivery style — then eliminate the answer that borrows a cousin concept from the wrong phase.
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