Scope of Work | Statement of Work

A Statement of Work (or SoW) is an important project management tool that outlines a project's work requirements. It touches on timelines, project-specific services & activities, deliverables, and budgetary information. A SoW is one of the first documents exchanged between company and client and acts as an informal work contract.

In this guide, you will learn everything you need to know about SoWs, even how to create one that is effective and clear.

Using a SoW for your project is beneficial for many reasons. They help teams get organized, increase the quality of communication between all parties involved in a project, inform other parts of your project planning process, and even save you time and resources.

Nevertheless, the most important benefit that SoWs offer is the transparency they ensure between clients and companies. Both of these parties being happy is the essential foundation to any successful project, and a great statement of work is key to making that happen.

The statement of work ensures that all key parties involved in a project know exactly what's included within the bounds of a project and what isn't. This represents a step ahead of a project proposal and sets clear expectations for project deliverables, expected outcomes, communications, and timelines on both sides. It also helps avoid scope creep, which is music to any project manager's ears.

Statements of work, scopes of work, and project plans are often talked about together but are not quite the same. In order to write a great statement of work, it's essential to know the differences between these important documents.

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Statement of work

As discussed, statements of work are detailed documents that lay out all the different elements of projects. They include multiple sections on things like deliverables, payments, tasks, objectives, and timelines and are agreed upon by companies and clients.

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Scope of work

Statement of work and scope of work are sometimes used interchangeably and are both confusingly abbreviated as SoW (for the purposes of this article, it will refer to a statement of work). However, they are a little bit different. A scope of work is a section within a statement of work. It serves an extremely important purpose because it defines what work is included within the scope of your project and what isn't. This is key for both the company and the client as it defines exactly what should be expected by both parties within the framework of your project.

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Project plan

Project plans also get thrown into the mix when talking about statements of work and scopes of work. This is because both elements are normally included within project plans. Project plans are go-to documents for entire projects. They give clear and comprehensive outlines of all the different aspects of projects throughout their entire lifecycle.

As previously mentioned, the SoW is a document that comes at the very beginning of a project. It's usually one of the first official documents of a project. It comes after you've had an initial meeting with a company, have discussed some project details, and perhaps even decided on a quote.

However, it's worthwhile to keep in mind that SoWs include a fair amount of detail. Owing to this, you'll need to make sure that you discuss all the elements that will go into your SoW with the company you're planning to work with before you start writing it. You may need to schedule a meeting for this purpose.

It's advisable to draft, write, finalize, and send off your statement of work to the company you're working with as soon as you can. It will lay the foundation for a lot of other project documentation in the future, so get it out of the way early on.

The contents of your statement of work are flexible depending on your project needs. All you need to do is ensure that you include all the elements that you need to reflect the different aspects of your project. Some common inclusions include:

• Basic information about your project like project name, current date, projected completion date, project manager, high-level team members, key service providers, and client names.
• A brief introduction or project outline that describes your project context and approach, and establishes who will be working on it.
• Relevant project background information.
• A purpose statement that describes the purpose of the project and outlines why it's interesting, necessary, or useful.
• A scope of work. This is especially key because it helps avoid the dreaded scope creep.
• A timeline that encompasses key deliverables, milestones, project objectives, due dates, and projected end dates. This is sometimes stylized as a period of performance section. It also sometimes includes references to payment scheduling.
• A task breakdown, work breakdown or work breakdown structure (WBS).
• Project budget, payment terms, or other financial information. This can also include details about scheduling and resources.
• Any special requirements, resources, or specific terms and conditions.
• General communication criteria and expectations.
• Criteria for modifications of the statement of work (it's best to account for this before it happens).
• Project closure protocols that describe the framework of how it will ultimately be concluded, as well as expected outcomes.
• SoW acceptance criteria & authorization documents.

As discussed, the best SoWs are developed together. If you're a project manager, don't make the mistake of trying to write the entire document yourself. While you might be capable, you won't produce the best result.

If you truly want to produce an excellent SoW, be sure to harness the power of your whole project team. For example, if a specific team member or sub-committee is working on the project scope, make sure they define the scope for the purposes of your SoW as well. This will ensure consistency and accuracy in your SoW, and also make sure that all the work doesn't fall on one person's shoulders.

Let's face it, beginning work on a SoW is intimidating. It sets the stage for your entire project, so you want to be sure that you don't miss any tasks and deliverables or misrepresent anything. It's also usually the first formal document that's exchanged between company and client, and can even act as a contract management tool by laying the groundwork for a master service agreement or contract where applicable.

In order to give yourself a break when getting started, use a statement of work template. It'll give you some guidance, provide you with direction, and even present you with a format to build off of.

If you ask us, one of the most difficult parts of writing a great SoW is striking the right balance between detail and length. Because your SoW may be included as part of a large piece of documentation (like a project plan), it's a good idea to keep it as concise as you can. A few pages is ideal when possible.

However, as you probably noticed in our SoW elements section, there's a lot to cover in a statement of work. You'll need to include a relatively high degree of description and details about the products or services in development. Owing to this, writing a concise SoW should not sacrifice the inclusion of any key details or information relating to your project.

In the vast majority of cases, a large number of people will read your SoW. Complex projects involve teams of important people with expertise in different areas, and many of them will likely be charged with reviewing and signing off on your SoW.

Owing to this, make sure that your write clearly and concisely in your SoW. Use language that you know a variety of people from different industries would be able to understand. Otherwise, it looks like your documentation is confusingly written and lacks accessibility.

Projects are dynamic; they go through many different phases, evolutions, and project requirements before they're ultimately concluded. You can almost guarantee that the first version of your SoW will not be the last, no matter the amount of time you put into its development (yet another benefit of using a software to help you write it).

In order to face this challenge before it comes up, take the time to establish criteria for the modification of your SoW with your client. This will protect you against miscommunications in the future and make sure everyone's on the same page regarding work requirements.