From time to time it happens that a project team member exceeds the project scope and goes beyond initial requirements ' this practice is known as gold plating.
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As gold plating is a common practice in project management, and both project managers and project team members should be aware of it, some basics should be covered.
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In this guide, we'll tackle the following points:
So, let's dive in.
What is gold plating in project management?Gold plating involves adding more features to a deliverable than was considered in the original scope plan.
Imagine that you work in an IT company and that you're developing a new app.
You've already met project requirements, and the client is satisfied.
However, the story doesn't end here.
You're a perfectionist, and you feel the need to keep polishing the work to impress everyone around you.
As a result, you end up going over budget, or even worse ' creating something entirely different that the client won't accept.
This practice in project management is called ' gold plating.
Is gold plating good or bad?Due to its name ' gold plating ' people often think that gold plating is good.
However, despite the term ' all that glitters is not gold.
So, if you're in doubt about whether gold plating is good or bad, the answer is ' gold plating is bad.
To elaborate, gold plating can be extremely harmful to the project management process, causing several negative consequences ' such as:
Instead of adding bonus features, project team members should follow the scope plan and deliver what the client has actually asked for.
Note: Not all changes are bad ' just those that aren't officially assessed. As long as they're regulated through official procedures ' additional changes can be good and aren't considered gold plating.
What's the difference between gold plating and scope creep?Gold plating and scope creep are terms often used interchangeably. However ' they are not the same.
Gold plating is when a project team member voluntarily adds more features than the client has requested.
On the other hand, scope creep is a situation where the client or any other project stakeholder requests that certain changes be made ' without proper prior authorization.
Both practices are considered bad in project management ' without considering the consequences first, changes can lead to project failure.
3 Examples of gold plating in project managementTo help you better understand what gold plating looks like in real life, we've prepared a couple of examples.
While going through the following examples, try to think of all the negative consequences this bad practice can have on both the current project, and all projects in the future.
Example of gold plating #1Imagine an IT company being hired to create a simple website.
Without previously consulting with the client, the team working on the project decides to voluntarily add a digital clock on the website, assuming that the feature would be both useful and visually appealing.
However, there's a solid reason why this feature wasn't requested by the client in the first place.
Not only will this bonus feature trigger additional costs in the future, but it will only create confusion when the website is used in different countries and time zones.
Example of gold plating #2In scenario #2, the IT company is hired to develop an app for desktop users.
However, as team members finish early, they decide to do some extra work to fulfill their time, so they voluntarily develop a simple mobile version of the app.
At first, the client is happy about getting this bonus service for free.
But, soon enough, certain technical issues start to appear in the mobile version of the app, and the client now asks the company to fix these bugs for free.
The company has to either disappoint ' and potentially lose a recurring client ' or they need to spend extra money to fix something the client hasn't even requested or paid for in the first place.
Example of gold plating #3The third scenario would be the same IT company being hired to create a new and complex business website for their client.
During the project, one team member decides to add some creative videos to place them on the landing page, assuming this would cause admiration and praise.
However, instead of being happy about getting bonus work done, the client ends up being completely dissatisfied with the final result, as the page, complex that it is, now takes even longer to load.
The client must ask the company to redo the project, and unfortunately misses the planned launch date for the website.
' Gold plating is one of many project management phenomena that can be useful or damaging to your project depending on how you use it. To explore other similar topics and deepen your knowledge, you can visit our Project Management Glossary of Terms.
Causes of gold plating in project managementNow that you understand what gold plating is ' as well as what it's not and how it looks like in real life ' it's time to move on to what causes it.
We already touched upon this in the examples and definitions above.
So, here are the 5 common reasons that trigger gold plating:
Project team members sometimes voluntarily make free additions to a project deliverable, assuming that this would impress other team members, or the client themself.
However, instead of just showing off, this practice can cause negative consequences, such as client dissatisfaction with the final deliverable.
Cause #2: Seeking recognitionSometimes, project team members gold plate a project hoping to:
Whether you're a project team member or a team leader, you should avoid perfectionism.
It's important to know that, in the context of project management, being sufficient is enough.
In other words ' all that you need to do is to meet all the originally established requirements, and nothing above that.
Getting stuck in details and always striving to 'make things better' might throw you off track, causing unwanted results, such as time or budget overruns.
As stated by Mark C. Layton in Agile project management for Dummies:
'With agile project management, the term barely sufficient is a positive description, meaning that a task, document, meeting, or almost anything on a project includes only what it needs to achieve the goal. Being barely sufficient is practical and efficient.'
Cause #4: Hiding project flaws from stakeholdersSometimes, the reasons behind gold plating are intentional.
Gold plating might be done on purpose, to divert the attention of the client from certain project flaws and weaknesses.
Cause #5: Poor communicationPoor communication is one of the most common gold plating triggers.
It can be the root of many problems and misunderstandings occurring both among team members, and in communication with project stakeholders.
Without a clear picture of what is expected of them, project team members might easily turn to gold plating.
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Learn moreWhat are the consequences of gold plating?Doing more work than initially agreed upon rarely goes without consequences ' as we've already discussed earlier.
Many unnecessary project risks can occur due to gold plating. These risks can further endanger either the current project or any other future projects.
So, let's dive deeper into the consequences gold plating causes, such as:
If you decide to upgrade a project without consulting the client first, chances are you're going to end up missing key deadlines.
As time overruns seem rather unprofessional in the eyes of clients and stakeholders ' you might as well avoid spending valuable time gold plating the project.
Apart from that, schedule delays will most likely require other project area readjustments, such as budget readjustments. Moreover, they might push back certain other projects you have lined up in the future ' which might mean more missed deadlines.
Consequence #2: Budget overrunsProject team members who're adding extra features to a deliverable tend to underestimate the costs of that practice.
Supposing that some extra features are at fault for some reason ' the project team would have to spend money on removing, or correcting these additions.
In other words ' gold plating frequently includes unforeseen budget overruns.
' Plaky Pro Tip
To avoid budget overruns, you may want to consider a cost forecasting method known as estimate at completion (EAC). Read about it here:
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Essentially, gold plating a project with some minor additions may consequently affect other project areas.
Voluntarily adding a feature to a project deliverable might cause a chain reaction, triggering some other project area requirements, such as:
Adding your own flavor to a project can be tolerated, but only if you follow official procedures.
Otherwise, introducing changes on your own, and not sticking to what you've initially agreed upon ' the client may no longer feel confident that you'll follow their instructions the next time they hire you. As a result, they might stop hiring you in the future.
So, to establish trust with your client, be extra careful to avoid gold plating the project.
Consequence #5: Threat to future projectsThough at first glance it seems generous to provide additions or upgrades for free ' in reality, this practice might jeopardize your future projects.
Scenario number 1 is that the client starts believing they paid too much money for your services since you obviously have a lot of spare time to do extra work. Maybe they could just pay less and get what they really need, right?
Scenario number 2 is that the client gets accustomed to the perks of getting extra work done ' so next time when you don't gold plate a project, they'll be disappointed.
Either way, you'll most likely set a bad precedent for your future projects, or what's even worse ' you could lose them.
How to avoid gold plating in project management?As gold plating might happen unintentionally, often causing a series of negative consequences, we say ' it's better to prevent than to cure.
So, if you prevent gold plating on time, you'll save yourself from dealing with unnecessary issues later on.
Luckily, we've prepared a couple of tips any project manager should have up their sleeve.
Tip #1: Raise awareness about gold platingIf you wish to avoid gold plating, each team member should first be familiar with the phenomenon.
Not being aware of its existence, you won't be able to prevent it.
Any skilled project manager should focus on raising awareness about gold plating by identifying possible gold plating situations and spreading knowledge about its causes and consequences.
This way, each team member will think twice before making any additions on their own.
Tip #2: Have a clearly defined project scopeThe very first thing a project manager should do when starting a new project is to define the project scope by creating a detailed plan on what is needed to develop a product or service.
Scope determines all work and tasks that need to be done to finish a project.
By having a clearly defined scope baseline, you'll manage and control the scope, as well as all change requests and modifications that occur during the process ' which will naturally prevent the occurrence of gold plating.
Tip #3: Use a project management tool to assign tasks to team membersAnother proven way to avoid gold plating is to assign tasks transparently, which means it should be crystal clear who's doing which task at all times.
One way to achieve transparency in task management is to use an intuitive project management tool such as Plaky.
Plaky enables you to assign different tasks to different team members, and further specify these tasks.
Here's an example of what it looks like to manage a project in Plaky:
Project task tracking in PlakyIn the example above, you can see how one marketing project is organized in different groups (i.e.. this month's tasks and next month's tasks), and custom fields, e.g.:
Keeping all important information in one place ' such as a Plaky space ' you'll know exactly what stage of the project you're at, and thus control its development.
There won't be room for unplanned changes and gold plating, as all team members will know exactly what their assignments and deadlines are.
Tip #4: Insist on following official procedures for introducing changesThere will come a time when project team members will suggest certain changes be made for the good of the project.
And, of course, changes can be good, especially in agile ' as long as they've been evaluated and authorized first.
However, making changes without prior revision will be considered gold plating.
So, all project managers should insist on following official change procedures, and create a clearly defined change control protocol, 'i.e. a plan for regulating proposed changes.
During this process, the proposed changes will be evaluated, and either approved or rejected.
Following official procedures, the project manager:
It goes without saying that good communication in project management is key to the success of any project.
Another tip on how to enhance it is to focus on giving constructive feedback to project team members.
Receiving enough feedback, team members won't feel the need to gold plate a project in an effort to earn praise from their managers or clients.
Tip #6: Listen to your clients and stakeholdersListening skills are crucial when starting a new project.
This is the moment when you differentiate what your client wants or doesn't want you to deliver.
In other words, it's important to differentiate what is:
By understanding the client, you'll know exactly what it is that you're creating.
This will help prevent gold plating a project with additional non-requested features.
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Learn moreOptimize your processes and adapt more efficiently with PlakyAs mentioned earlier, specialized project management software can do a great deal to help you avoid gold plating.
Not only does it ensure transparency among the team, it also ensures transparency with clients and other stakeholders, as the app allows you to add guest viewers to your spaces.
Additionally, it improves communication by allowing important information to be exchanged directly on the platform, all of which is recorded in the potentially unlimited activity log.
Want to see Plaky in action? Register a free account today and try the app for yourself. You'll get access to all of Plaky's premium features during the 14-day trial, after which you can pick the plan that suits your needs, or continue using the Free plan indefinitely.
References
Beware of the allure of gold plating
When it comes to project management, the pursuit of excellence can sometimes lead to a common pitfall known as "gold plating."
Whether you're a seasoned project manager, team member, or stakeholder involved in project execution, understanding gold plating, most likely causes and consequences will set the tone of how you navigate around it to avoid falling into this productivity-draining trap.
Let's dive in and learn how to sidestep the pitfalls of gold plating in project management.
Gold plating in project management refers to the unnecessary addition of extra features, functionality or any type of enhancements to a project that are beyond its agreed-upon requirements.
Project team members may go beyond and above the original project scope with the desire to exceed expectations, impress stakeholders or showcase expertise.
While gold plating usually comes from good intentions, it can ultimately undermine the project timeline, inflate costs, and dilute the core objectives.
To illustrate the concept of gold plating further, let's look at a few examples in the context of software development:
1. Feature creep: During software development, the project team decides to add extra features that were not initially part of the requirements or user stories. These additions may include complex functionality, unnecessary integrations with third-party apps, or fancy design elements. While these features may seem impressive, they can significantly extend development and make the app more complex and difficult to maintain.
2. Over-engineering: In an effort to showcase technical expertise, developers may over-engineer certain components or modules of a software system. This can involve implementing sophisticated solutions that surpass the actual needs of the project. Over-engineering can lead to bloated codebases, increased maintenance efforts, and potential performance issues, without providing any tangible benefits to the end user or project objectives.
3. UI/UX enhancements: While a well-designed and user-friendly interface is essential for any digital product, gold plating can occur when excessive time and effort are spent on visual enhancements that don't significantly improve user experience. Examples include incorporating complex animations, fancy transitions and visual effects that don't contribute to the core functionality or usability of the app.
4. Unrequested customisations: In projects that involve off-the-shelf solutions, gold plating can occur when developers make modifications that were not explicitly requested by the client or end user. These customisations may go beyond the scope of the project, introducing complexities and potential compatibility issues with future updates or integrations.
5. Optimising prematurely: Gold plating can also manifest as premature optimisation, where developers invest significant time and effort in optimising code performance or system efficiency before it becomes necessary. While optimisation is important, prioritising it too early in the development process can divert resources from delivering the core functionalities, leading to delays and increased costs.
Scope creep and gold plating are common issues in project management resulting from adding extra features outside the original project scope. These can easily throw your project off-track resulting in major headaches and delays. But while the two terms are very similar, they have distinct differences and implications.
The main distinction is that gold plating involves adding extra features that are outside the project scope, while scope creep involves expanding the original project scope with new requirements without proper evaluation, risk assessment and change procedures.
Scope creep usually begins with a request from the client or stakeholder either due to changing requirements, evolving user needs, inadequate project planning or unclear deliverables. On the other hand, gold plating is driven by the project team or team member's initiative to exceed expectations and impress the client or stakeholders.
Gold plating can deviate the project from its core objectives, introduce unnecessary complexities, and hinder progress. While additional elements in scope creep may seem in-line with the overarching objectives, this can still negatively impact the project timeline, cost and quality if not managed effectively.
Gold plating can cause major project setbacks. Understanding some of the key drawbacks can help you recognise the signs of gold plating and put in place proper procedures in your project management approach.
Probably the number one drawback would be increased costs and project delays. Additional features require additional resources, time, and effort to implement. This will inevitably put a strain on finances and may even impact the profitability of the project. Not only that, but the diversion of resources can cause delays in the schedule, leading to missed deadlines and dissatisfied stakeholders.
Speaking of which, gold plating can create a mismatch between stakeholders' expectations and project deliverables. Stakeholders may view the extra features as unnecessary or as a distraction from the main objectives. This misalignment can lead to dissatisfaction, strained relationships, and a loss of trust.
With each addition of unnecessary features, the complexity of the project also increases. Complex systems are often harder to understand, maintain, and troubleshoot. Gold plating can introduce unnecessary complexities, making the project more challenging to manage and prone to errors or defects. This can hinder the project's stability, scalability, and reliability.
1. Create a well-defined scope: Clearly outline boundaries and deliverables of the project, document what is included and what is excluded from the scope. This provides a reference point against which any proposed changes can be evaluated and prevents unnecessary deviations.
2. Develop a robust change management process: Establish clear procedures for assessing and approving any changes to the project scope. This way any additions can be thoroughly reviewed to make sure they align with project goals and provide measurable value before being implemented.
3. Encourage open communication: Encourage team members to voice concerns and make suggestions related to the project scope and requirements. Maintain regular communication channels so everyone is informed and engaged throughout the project lifecycle.
4. Emphasise delivering value to the end user: Encourage the project team to prioritise features that directly contribute to meeting user needs and project objectives. By keeping the user top of mind, the team can avoid unnecessary additions that don't provide significant value.
5. Make use of project management software: Using PM software to assign tasks and track progress will provide transparency and direction into who is working on what task as well as keep the project team on top of the high-level goals.
6. Gather data to inform decisions: Make sure to base decisions on data and evidence rather than subjective opinions. This can help you assess the impact of any proposed changes on project goals, schedule, resources, and budget.
To avoid the negative consequences of gold plating and ensure project success, it is crucial to implement effective mechanisms to deal with changes to the original scope. Clear project requirements, well-defined scope statement and robust change management procedures provide a solid foundation for project execution and delivery.
Remember, effective project management is about delivering value within the defined scope. At All Front, we understand the importance of building digital products that cater to your user's needs.
Through techniques such as Contextual Interviews, Focus Groups, Technical Tooling and Customised Solutions we can help you identify and prioritise features your users actually want so you can avoid gold plating and deliver value-driven projects.
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