Scope of work (SOW) is often the difference between your project failing and meeting your goals.
Without a clear SOW, it’s possible and likely that there might be a misunderstanding between you and your client. Organizations certainly don’t want clients thinking they were getting something that they weren’t because the scope of work didn’t outline properly what they were getting.
There are many essential elements in a scope of work, none more important than defining resource and budget.
How much in terms of resources is needed to achieve your objectives with this project? A critical part of your scope of work involves defining how much it all will cost and what is the budget your company has set aside for it. The budget of a project should be enough for it to be concluded successfully within the planned characteristics. It also means making sure that the right resources are spent on the appropriate areas of your project.
Scope of work must also define deliverables – what an organization’s project delivers. Whether it’s a product or a service, it’s the reason you’re executing the project for your customer, stakeholder or sponsor.
Deliverables should clearly identify the expected output. It should also include the technical specifications of the deliverables, though the level of detail will depend on the complexity of the project. Creating a work breakdown structure can help.
Listing milestones is crucial as well, and not spending enough time here can bring about trouble down the line.
The scope of work document is part of the Statement of Work (SOW). Documents like these are created by project managers as they are helpful to ensure that nothing is missed and that all moving parts of the project are thought through.
Want to learn more? Tonex offers Scope of Work Training Workshop, a 2-day course that provides participants with key concepts, approaches, tools and configuration of the Scope of Work.
You will learn best practices, analyze case studies, and recognize the impact your work has on cost, schedule, and quality. You will leave equipped with the ability to write a Scope of work that reflects actual requirements, elicits competitive proposals, and guides contractor performance.
Additionally, participants practice writing each part of the SOW through a hands-on workshop, as well as examine a Scope of work from a contractor’s perspective.
Also, Tonex offers a Scope of Work Writing page and several SOW courses, such as:
Scope Training Workshop (2 days)
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.