What is a Scope of Work?

Writing a Scope of Work requires some thought and consideration in preparing so that a vendor understands the nature of the work and what specific terms and conditions they must follow in order to accomplish the work. The following is the basic categories that you should include in a scope of work document.

Your company's background should be provided in detail so a vendor can understand what type of work your company does. Also, in this section you need to define the purpose of the project and give a vendor the reasons why this scope of work is being developed. Provide them a generalized view of where you are now and where you want to be upon a company providing the requested services.

The next section should be objectives and this section you should provide a concise explanation for the purpose of your scope of work and restate in a more in-depth view of the goals you hope to achieve from the project.

You should form a list of definitions and spell out what they mean to you. Also, you should capitalize all defined terms so that the vendor understands that the term means what you have defined. This helps both parties in understanding what the other side means when they say a certain word.

Next would be the scope of work spelled out in explaining what you want and the parameters around the company that is performing the services. Give the vendor a detailed view of the work environment in general terms. You should describe any company policies and objectives affected by the company performing the scope of work.

Next section would be the approach or methodology that the company should consider when preparing a response to your requirements. You should allow the vendor some creativity here in preparing a solution to meet your overall objectives.

Next section would be where you spell out the deliverables based on a schedule that a vendor must provide if they're given the work. You should spell out everything in detail such as if any reports are required and what format. Don't assume a vendor knows what you want.

Company responsibilities and support should be defined in the scope of work so that the vendor understands what commitment they have from you. If what you propose is insufficient to accomplish the vendors proposed solution they can offer another approach in their proposal and request additional resources by your company.

Contractor responsibilities should be defined in general and what requirements they should provide when working at your site. Identify their roles and responsibilities in performing and delivery their proposed solution within project timelines.

You should have a change management process defined in your scope of work as well so that the vendor understands the process of change if they can't or need to make a change on the project timeline. Approval processes should be defined and spelled out for a vendor.

Also, the term of any resultant agreement should be spelled out such as start date and end date.

Writing a scope of work requires you to provide just enough information in laying the foundation of the expectations of your company. Allow a vendor to craft a solution based on your needs, but don't constrict the methodology in which they propose to accomplish the work. Developing a scope of work takes time so allow yourself enough time to cover all the requirements so that the vendor understands upfront the deliverables and expectations of your company. Don't assume they know what you mean without you spelling it out in the scope of work.