The Scope Creep Conversation
By f i n l e y · Published · Updated
Prepares a freelancer to handle scope creep on a fixed-price job: what to absorb, a priced change order, a spoken script and a reply to the likely pushback.
Tags: Freelance, Communication, Business
Prompt template
## Scope Creep Conversation Plan A client keeps adding to a fixed-price job. I need to have the conversation without damaging the relationship. - What was agreed: [textarea: The original scope in whatever detail you have] - What they have asked for since: [textarea: The extras] - Relationship so far: [dropdown: Great, Fine, A bit tense, Actively difficult] - I want to keep working with them: [toggle: Yes, No] - Original price and deadline: [text: e.g. 3000 dollars due 14 March] Compare the two lists item by item and measure how far past the agreed scope the job has gone, as a rough percentage of effort. Sort extras into those small enough to absorb as goodwill and those that need pricing. Price the rest at the original rate implied by the first quote, with a revised delivery date. Give me, in this order: 1. One line on how far past the original scope we are. 2. The two or three additions small enough to absorb, if any. 3. A change order for the rest, with a price and a new date. 4. What I say out loud, written the way a person talks and not like a legal notice, adjusted to the relationship and to whether I want to keep the client. 5. The reply I am most likely to get back, and my answer to it.