"One of the first things I do is consider scope creep before a project even begins. I strategically develop the project plan to allocate time and money for revisions and new scope requests. Things shift regularly in the creative process and building a plan that embraces a reasonable amount of change helps things to run more smoothly.
I also like to use a priority-based approach to scope creep when a project is in flight. I ask the client and the team to help develop the concept of must-haves versus nice-to-haves. When a new request comes in, we prioritize it among the others must-have items. I find that clients are usually willing to let some things go if it means including a new must-have feature that adds a lot of value to the project.
Finally, I ask the team to focus first on developing minimally viable products where it makes sense. We deliver a rough cut, gather feedback, and then scale the remaining work appropriately. From there, we typically end up only adding what is absolutely necessary to complete the project, and we identify major changes as early in the process as possible."
