The Number 1 Critical Thing You Need For Your Project - Scope of Work

A project can be a very complex and difficult animal to manage and cost out, given the amount of resources that may be needed. Properly defining the project objectives and goals is crucial to meeting expectations.

Before beginning any project being large or small, it is imperative you develop a concise scope of work to ensure that you and the customer are on the same page with regard to the end deliverable.

Since a project can span several months and involve a variety of resources and skill sets, your role as a PM is to outline the project deliverables based on customer requirements. To breakdown a simple scope of work you might include:

1. Customer Summary - Overview of the customer or business entity
2. Current state/issue - The current issue or reason why the customer is seeking to have the work completed
3. Customer Requirements - The specific requirements needed to be addressed to resolve the issue
4. Proposed Solution - The proposed work effort and schedule to address the needs of the customer based on discovery and analysis
5. Approval/Sign off - Signature lines from both the customer and the provider to signify the document properly outlines the issues and solutions the project will address.

In summary, a few simple paragraphs can make all the difference in the world when it comes to meeting customer expectations. With a scope document, the project champion and PM are now aligned together to kickoff and begin the project with a one common goal.

If the project begins to veer off track due to new requirements or direction, the PM can go back and adjust the schedule and or work effort as a change to the initial scope and possible deliverable.

A Project Scope of work can make it easier for the PM to manage expectations throughout the project.

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