Gold Plating
Gold plating is the practice of adding extra features, functionality, or work to a deliverable beyond what was specified in the project scope, typically done by the project team without customer request or approval.
Explanation
Gold plating occurs when a project team member or the project manager adds extras to a deliverable that were not requested by the stakeholder or included in the approved scope. While the intention is usually to impress the customer or add perceived value, gold plating is considered a negative practice in project management because it consumes time and resources without authorization and introduces risk.
The key difference between scope creep and gold plating is their source. Scope creep originates from stakeholders or external pressure pushing additional requirements into the project. Gold plating originates from the project team itself, voluntarily adding features or enhancements that no one asked for. Both result in work beyond the approved scope baseline.
Gold plating can lead to schedule delays, budget overruns, increased defect risk, and scope management issues. Even if the customer appreciates the extra features, the project has still consumed resources on unplanned work. PMI considers gold plating inappropriate because it circumvents the change control process and adds risk without stakeholder agreement.
Key Points
- •Adding extras beyond the approved scope without customer request
- •Initiated by the project team, not stakeholders
- •Consumes unauthorized time and resources and introduces risk
- •Considered inappropriate by PMI standards
Exam Tip
Gold plating comes from the team; scope creep comes from stakeholders. Both are bad. On the exam, if the team is adding unrequested features, the answer is gold plating.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Topics
Scope Creep
Scope creep is the uncontrolled expansion of project scope without adjustments to time, cost, and resources, typically occurring when changes are made without going through integrated change control.
Control Scope
Control Scope is the process of monitoring the status of the project and product scope and managing changes to the scope baseline.
Scope Baseline
The scope baseline is the approved version of the project scope statement, work breakdown structure (WBS), and its associated WBS dictionary, used as a reference for measuring project scope performance.
Accepted Deliverables
Accepted deliverables are completed deliverables that have been formally accepted by the customer or sponsor through the Validate Scope process, confirming they meet the defined acceptance criteria.
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