workadditional

Workadditional is a term used in project management and software development to denote tasks or effort added to a project beyond the originally planned scope. It is typically treated as a separate category from baseline work to help distinguish new or extra work from what was initially approved.

In practice, workadditional is tracked in project tracking systems as a data element that may include fields such as description, estimated effort (hours or story points), status, date added, link to the related baseline work item, reason for addition, and the approver or change-control authority. It often appears alongside other scope-related fields like workplanned and workactual, and may feed into overall schedule and cost forecasts.

The handling of workadditional is usually governed by change-control or governance processes. Identification can occur during reviews, stakeholder requests, bug fixes, or new requirements. Evaluation considers impact on schedule, budget, and risk. Approval typically involves a change-control board or equivalent authority, after which the additional work is integrated into the backlog or sprint plan and tracked to completion.

Benefits of explicitly tracking workadditional include improved visibility into scope creep, better budgeting, and more accurate forecasting. Drawbacks can include potential for alarm if overused, data fragmentation, or double counting if not carefully integrated with baseline metrics.

Examples of usage include mid-sprint scope additions in agile environments or post-approval enhancements in waterfall-style projects. See also: baseline, change request, scope management.