Strategies for Minimizing Scope Changes in Project Management: Case Study of Jafurah Downstream Pipelines Project

Abstract A prevalent difficulty in project management is uncontrolled changes or constant growth in a project's scope. Stakeholder misalignment, inadequate risk management and undefined scope in the early stages of the project are some of the main challenges that frequently results in missed milestones, cost overruns and overall project derailment from intended plan. This paper presents a case study for Jafurah Downstream Pipelines project, a mega project under Jafurah Development Program in Saudi Aramco. Software based tool was efficiently used to implement exchange of information and interface agreements to manage the constant design development during the execution phase. Global Interface meetings were organized at regular intervals to align program stakeholders, contractors and project entities within the company. Moreover, numerous Value Improving Practices (VIPs) have been conducted beside the lessons learned utilization of Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) verification reports for similar pipeline projects. Focus teams formed to perform extensive site visits periodically for brownfield areas to assure the functionality of design reflected the actual conditions. As part of an accelerated program, adopting such techniques can be overlooked due to time constraint and excessive workload, however, positive gains in project performance will far outweigh the costs of utilizing teamwork to implement these strategies.