Keeping a launch on track as requirements keep growing: a scope-control behavioral story

Walk me through a project where the requirements kept growing after work had started. How did you handle the extra requests, and how did the project turn out? ```hint Show judgment, not just pushback Choose a case where you can name the specific additions, who asked for each one, and how you weighed each against the original goal and date. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Should the extra scope come from stakeholders outside the team, or can it be growth the team created itself, such as engineers expanding a design? - Is it fine to describe accepting some of the added scope, or should the example show the original scope being held? - Should the project have had a fixed external date, such as a customer commitment, or is an internal target enough? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - The original goal, scope and deadline, and how the additions surfaced. - How each request was judged against the goal, with the trade-off made explicit (date, quality, team capacity). - How decisions were made and communicated, including how people whose requests were deferred or declined were handled. - The outcome measured against the original plan, and what the candidate changed in their process afterwards. ### Follow-up Questions - A senior executive asks for an addition two weeks before launch. What exactly do you say? - Was there an addition you later regretted accepting or declining? - How do you set up a project so that scope growth is less likely in the first place?