There’s a single common thread that exists between all of my clients, regardless of anything else. Above where they live, which school they went to, whether they formally studied or are self taught. It’s all the same when it comes to this one single element of business – they have difficulty managing the terms of their contract. If you’re an interior designer you probably are suffering from this as well.
In simple terms that means you are often working longer than anticipated for less money than anticipated.
And the reason is scope creep.
Even if you’re not familiar with the term scope creep you likely know what it is and maybe even experienced it first hand. It’s changes to the project work and it usually comes on little by little. Once it starts growing your project workload and timelines can be massively affected by it.
I don’t think it’s reasonable to think that interior design projects can ever be managed or controlled to the degree that we can eliminate scope creep. It’s useful though to understand what it is and spot it when it starts. When you’re attuned to the signs you can be ready to address it, rather than letting it take over.
COMMON TYPES OF SCOPE CREEP
As with anything important, the most important step is recognizing when you see it. Here are the most common types of scope creep that we see in interior design projects:
- There are additional revisions that you hadn’t anticipated.
- Additional material sourcing that wasn’t included initially.
- Additional renderings, elevations, etc.
- Client meetings that weren’t initially proposed.
- Meeting with trades and/or vendors that weren’t initially proposed.
HOW DOES SCOPE CREEP AFFECT TIMELINES?
It’s easy to guess the answer to this one. If you have requests for work that wasn’t initially included in your contract you haven’t allocated time in your calendar for this. Neither has the contractor or any of the trades either. By agreeing to include additional work without an addendum you may find your initial project running behind schedule. And the worst case scenario is that the trades leave before the project is complete because they have a project scheduled somewhere else.
Believe it or not, it’s easier to deal with scope creep when you’re super busy. The reason is that your schedule is so jam packed that additional work becomes difficult. The additional requests have to be addressed as soon as they start.
The worst scope creep I ever experienced as a designer was when I was just starting out. I wasn’t so busy that these new work requests couldn’t be managed. It cost me so much money and time but it was a turning point for me in terms of what I would accept in the future.
It took a lot of years for me to learn the signs, to learn how to address it and get paid for the additional work. Even if you have time to fit in additional work, make sure you’re dealing with these requests as “new” work. These new requests aren’t part of the initial work captured in your contract.
HOW DOES SCOPE CREEP AFFECT THE PROJECT’S BUDGET?
Although I hear many of you complaining that your clients do in fact understand what they’re doing, I don’t believe that’s always the case. Sometimes they’ll push to see how far they can go but often it’s just ignorance of the process that creates these demands.
If you know you’re dealing with scope creep, you’ve discussed it with your client and they agree this falls outside the terms of the contract, these additional work requests can be addressed in an amendment. This will act as a separate legal contract with the new terms of work and payment outlined. This of course will increase the project budget and the revenue for you.
If you address it with your client and they don’t agree to additional costs, you may have to review the budget and find a way to cut back somewhere.
If there’s no wiggle room left and your client isn’t going to approve an amendment you will need to complete the project without this additional work. This is a hard discussion to have with a client but it absolutely needs to happen. You can’t do more work than you signed up for without being financially compensated.
WANT TO CREATE A BETTER DESIGN CONSULTATION? READ THIS POST
REASONS FOR SCOPE CREEP
1. There was an improper analysis of the project
This might be the most common reason for scope creep and while it sounds like blame, it really isn’t. We definitely weren’t taught in school how to deal with this situation and only experience can help us overcome it. If you’re dealing with this right now, hang in there. It’s actually a great learning experience for your future projects.
SOLUTION:
Focus on asking better questions about projects during the discovery and consultation phases. It’s really just asking questions and pointing out to clients how things may unfold. Take a strong leadership position and explain the entire design process. Assume your clients know nothing about design and walk them through every aspect that may arise.
For instance, a kitchen design client who hires you doesn’t know that 2 rounds of revisions is standard in your business. During your initial meeting (before the contract is drafted) mention it. “Mrs. Jones, I just want you to realize that when I mention revisions that includes 2 rounds. If you need more it’ll be an additional hourly fee of $x. Some of my clients who have never had a designer before prefer to include 3 rounds of revisions.” This gives them the opportunity to learn about the project in full before it unfolds.
2. POOR COMMUNICATION WITH CLIENT AND/OR TRADES
When we’re deep in the work and we get a request to do something outside the agreed upon work you may be inclined to just do it. You don’t have time to discuss it and you don’t want to spend any time on admentments.
And then 1 becomes 2 and the requests pile up. You become resentful and your client knows something is wrong.
SOLUTION:
The best course of action every single time is to address scope creep as soon as it happens. It tells your client that you know what needs to be done and ensures they understand that additions will be treated separately.
3. NOT UNDERSTANDING THE COMPLEXITY OF THE WORK
This happens most often when we take on bigger projects that we don’t have as much experience with.
If you’re used to doing kitchen renovations and suddenly get asked to take on a new build, it stands to reason that you won’t understand how complex this new type of project will be.
This leads to massive amounts of scope creep because most likely you didn’t understand the project enough to quote it accurately initially.
SOLUTION:
When you’re embarking on a new type of project or a project that’s bigger than you’re accustomed to, go slowly when it comes to the contract. I always recommend doing a mixed contract until you’re comfortable with this larger, newer project type.
My favourite mixed contract is the flat fee plus hourly. If I were taking on a new project that was outside of the norm I’d propose a flat fee for all the design work with revisions. Additionally, I’d suggest an hourly fee for any sourcing, meetings and site visits.
This allows you the time to grow into this project type without your profits taking a hit.
HOW TO STOP SCOPE CREEP
SPEND more TIME than you think you need IN THE PLANNING PHASE
By taking your time at the early stages of planning you have a better chance of understanding all the needs of your clients. Have a lot of discussions that include examples of work that may come up.
For instance, a kitchen design project may sound straight forward to your client but seek to truly understand what they want. Explain that moving plumbing is very costly, that backsplash tiles can vary by hundreds of dollars per tile, that a delay in making a decision could send your trades to another worksite. The more they understand, the more refined and precise your contract will be.
When a project begins too early you are setting yourself up for failure. You may not truly understand the degree or extent of what your client perceives will be done. When there’s a misalignment in your expectations you’ll run into roadblocks so try to avoid these by being thorough at the early stages.
SPEAK UP EARLY
Clients don’t remember what’s written in the contract. Let them know when you’re being asked to do something outside of the scope. It’s a learning experience for them and this practice will eliminate A LOT of resentment from building.
While it seems easier to sneak in a little freebie for this client, there’s a good reason to avoid this. It’s harder to speak up once the first amendment is done for free. I often found it set me up in a trap if I let the first one pass by without comment. Soon I was overwhelmed with little changes that were adding up and I felt embarrassed to say anything because I hadn’t spoken up earlier. And that’s where the resentment starts to brew and we all know that resentment can lead to broken relationships down the road.
HAVE A CHANGE ORDER OR AMENDMENT IN YOUR TEMPLATE LIBRARY
Don’t be caught without a quick way to include new work. If you feel like it’ll take too long to write up the change order, you’ll end up doing a lot of work for free. Create it once and you’ll never have to worry.
I hope this helps you to move past most of the occasions but when scope creep does occur, you’ll be able to recognize it and deal with it.