Scope creep is a famous expression for the situation many freelancers find themselves in: the client asks for more work without offering more money. One of the must-have skills of every independent professional is to know how to avoid scope creep as a freelancer without losing clients.
Here are some tips derived from my 21-year career as a software professional of which nearly 8 as a freelancer and solopreneur.
But first, let’s summarize those scope creep avoidance techniques that we all know and must never forget:
- Don’t start any work before having a contract signed by both parties with a definition of the project’s scope
- Have a clear start for the project, e.g. a kick-off meeting with the client, to make sure everyone is on board and knows what is going to happen
- Communicate clearly and don’t only settle for using a text chat even if it leaves a digital trail you can revisit later (voice or video calls and F2F meetings give you more information about the client’s state of mind)
These basic techniques will already save you from most of the trouble. But you’d also need to know a few more tricks that I use to avoid scope creep every time.
Scope definition is probably the most fundamental concept of project management. Don’t skip it!
No. 1: Select your clients very carefully
First and foremost, it is your choice of clients that produce the scope creep. The minimum passing skill you need to have (or develop super-fast) is to avoid working with bad client types completely.
You don’t start a project with the Shopper, Lawyer, and Googler types at all. You can leave the Flash, the Delegator, and Doctor Strange types alone too. Scammers you just need to recognize and immediately move on. The greatest danger lies with working for clients who don’t really need you in particular, they just need someone (cheap, usually). Skip all of those.
Instead, focus on a simple but effective client-screening process that eliminates you from getting into a business arrangement with folks who have no idea what their goal is. Work with those who know what they are doing and can scope the work with you with ease.
No. 2: Specify what is within the scope and out of the scope
This is perhaps one of the most effective means to work with clients to create a mutual understanding of what is included in the work you do and what is not included.
Every fixed price deal I make (typically software that I develop or a patent I invent) lists the deliverables as well as related things that are not part of the deal.
The ‘out of scope’ list is quite easy to develop. You can simply go through your ‘within scope’ list point by point and think of things that are related to each point but would be hard to add or change during the project.
A simple example of this from the software field is the hardware dependencies. Developing software specifically to function on a certain 3D sensor like Orbbec Persee or a mixed reality device like HoloLens means that changing the hardware later most likely results in redoing most of the work done so far.
No. 3: Do hourly-paid work for a very high price
One of the best protection comes from a high hourly rate. Let’s assume here for a second that it is possible to find high-value business niches in any domain.
When charging the client by 3-digit figures by the hour, the client is forced to consider every request for engaging the freelancer because it will have a direct impact on the client’s wallet. So direct that even a blind client would see it. 😉
This tactic is a nearly bullet-proof approach for consultants, advisors, coaches, technical experts of very complex fields, etc. whose rates are justified by the critical impact they make to the client’s business even if they charge hundreds of dollars per hour.
Even if your clients were millionaires, they would hesitate to flush money down the drain by assigning you work that doesn’t result in anything critical.
How to avoid scope creep as a freelancer: A bonus tip
In project management training we learn how to scope projects precisely and identify risks that would have a high impact on them. Even basic project management techniques can reduce the risk of getting into scope creep. An obvious way then is to educate yourself in project management or even get certified.
Years before I went freelance, I remember the first time anyone called me a good project manager. I was just moving to Sweden and had a job interview at ABB Corporate Research in Västerås, an hour away from the capital.
My then future boss asked about my project management experience and whether or not I am good at running projects, but he then quickly answered his own question: “Ah, but of course you are. You finished your Ph.D. in three years!”
ABB Corporate Research is a place where almost all managers have received their doctorate degrees from reputed universities and many work as adjunct professors at the local universities. So, everyone involved in the hiring process can recognize the organizational skills of a new hire by looking at their resumes, more or less. 🙂
As a mandatory part of the company’s onboarding process for every person in a leading role was getting formal project management training within the first year.
Having all that as an integral part of my background, it was easy to get to the management of small business daily operations. I remember both of my cofounders of the startups I had in Singapore giving compliments on my project-level foresight.
One of them keeps calling me “the best project manager I’ve ever seen” even years after working together. It’s the “think first, do after” mentality that helps in identifying all the risks and acting on them before anything is actually done. I always have a plan. Thinking is simply faster than doing, that’s why (unless your brain doesn’t function properly).
If you don’t have this kind of background from your earlier career, it might be worthwhile getting at least basic project management training for yourself. PMP certification may keep the scope creep away! 😉
Or if it feels too heavy or expensive, try to at least read a couple of books to grasp the basic concepts and techniques. Something is better than nothing in these things. Not being able to deliver what was promised on time and on budget is the most embarrassing failure of a freelancer.
