Ways To Make Effective Statement Of Work
The nature of the project directly affects the planning and execution of work. The project specific activities, deliverables and timelines should be properly documented and must be communicated to the client. This document which is also called as Statement of Work (SOW) can be made out of any hardware or software and can be written in any type of format. Companies generally create their own version of statement of work which aims to grant the requests and suggestions of the stakeholders.
Statement of Work is a legal document and a very powerful project tool. This covers the requirements and expectations that the project should achieve. The written and specified details of the statement of work must be agreed upon by the parties involved. The statement of work must be created in a certain level making it more comprehensible. This must include the work required, the duration of the work involved, the deliverables, and the timeline to be followed in order to succeed in the project.
The way statement of work works
Statement of Work can be written by addressing the common areas of a project. First, the scope has to be developed. It must include the systems to be sued in the project. If technology is involved in accomplishing a project, it must be written in the statement of work. Another factor to look at is the location where the work will be performed and the description of the resources and how these are to be used. Timeline is another crucial factor in the development of the SOW. It shows the time frame or the duration of the entire project. This illustrates when the project started and when it did finish. Timeline also includes the schedule as to when the deliverables are to be sent out to the customers. Next is the acceptance criteria where the deliverables are being tested and verified before it reaches the customer. It has to ensure the quality of the product. There must not be any defects or glitches before it is given to the customer. Mode of contract and payments must also be considered when creating statement of work. There can be fixed bid or a retainer. The former is when everything remains constant and the provider will be the one responsible for the optimization of the available resources, while the latter is concerned with meeting the delivery schedule and not with the number of products to be produced.
Creating a statement of work is not an easy thing to do, but it has to bear in mind this document is very essential to any project that a company will have to undertake. This statement is fundamental to determine the success or failure of the project, depending on how the stakeholders respond to the responsibilities being given to them, and how the resources are being utilized, and lastly the communication level that the parties have built to exchange information. The statement of work defines the scope of work required and the time it has to be accomplished. It allows to meet the expectations and goals of the parties involved in the project.
