What does Scope mean?

When talking about 'scope' in project management, we're talking about what exactly needs to be done to finish the project. It's a list of all the work, tasks, or things that need to happen.

Let's go back to our Lego castle example. If the project is to build a Lego castle, the scope might include things like:

• Collecting all the Lego pieces we need.
• Building the castle walls.
• Building the towers.
• Making a gate.
• Maybe even adding a moat around the castle!

Each of these things is a part of the project that needs to be done. They are all part of the project's 'scope'. Adding something else, like a garden next to the castle, will change the scope because we're adding more work to the project.

Remember, it's crucial to have a clear scope for a project. It provides us a list to remember all the parts we wanted to build and makes us think twice before we add something we might need more time or pieces to finish. That's why project managers spend a lot of time planning and defining the scope before starting the actual work.