Where it shows up
A request keeps expanding because no one named the audience, task, decision, evidence standard, or constraints early enough.
Look for audience, task, source material, owner, timeline, evidence, dependencies, and explicit out-of-scope items.
No technology
Write one sentence: this work helps this audience do this task in this situation, and success looks like this.
Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
Capture scope in a one-page Word, Docs, Sheet, or intake record before production starts.
AI-assisted
Ask AI to draft an in-scope and out-of-scope list from the request, then confirm it with the requester and owner.