glossary — plain english
Scope creep
Project work expanding without an agreed adjustment to the schedule, budget, or resources.
Small additions can seem too minor to re-plan around. A "while you're in there" request gets accepted, then another improvement follows. After several weeks, the team has more work to do but the same launch date.
Put the added work on the timeline before agreeing to it. That shows whether it uses available time or pushes a milestone later. The team can then discuss the cost of the request with specific dates.
You may need to move the date, add capacity where it will help, remove other work, or decline the addition. Comparing the current plan with the baseline helps you notice growth that hasn't been accounted for.
See it on a real chart
Describe your project in plain English and ganttchart.ai turns it into a Gantt chart you can edit and share. Or read the method first: the plain-English planning guide.