Project Statement of Work

Ever wondered what happens before starting any project.

Picture this that one bright morning (or evening for who are late sleeper) you went to a Fitness center, join there and start pumping the iron….
What will happen after couple of month? Will you continue going to gymnasium?
Well that depends on what results you get...right...
So then how do you decide if you got the results..I mean how will you verify that?

That depends on the goals or objective you have set.

So the first thing that is needed to start any project is know the goals that you want to achieve and that means a well defined objective should be mentioned.

Now taking example of fitness, your goals or objective may be different, it may be any of the below:

• You may want to go for Body Building...
  
• You may want to stay just fit and flexible.
  
• You may want to join a weight loss program.
  
• You may want to have a mind and body experience like in yoga...
  
• You might like to have a body like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Demi Moore...
  
• You might like to have Sports related Fitness...
  
• Or you can add any goals or objective you want to achieve...

So depending on your goals or objective you might plan for or choose different type of fitness regime...but your goals must be clear as what ever fitness regime you select, at the end of certain duration you can compare if the results matches your expected goal... If that happens the project is successful and the results are accepted. If it doesn't happens dont worry it is just to tell you either some of the tasks to achieve results were not done sincerely or you just discovered at least one way how not to achieve your goals.

Now that your objectives are clear, now you have to define your requirements. Again taking example from the Fitness Center, suppose your goal is to join a weight loss program then you might specify following things:

• You need to loose 5 pounds per month for next 3 months.
  
• You want to fitness trainer to specify the nutrition details(or you might want to take this seperately with a dietician).
  
• You might specify your medical conditions like Blood Pressures, Back ache etc. that needs to be taken into consideration.
  
• You might specify the time you will be available for the workout.
  
• You migth specify if you want personal training or you will be comfortable working out in a group.
  
• You might also tell the budget you want to spend for this fitness training.

Now what we did just now is defined all the requirement, specification and constraints  within which you would like to meet your goals. It is not necessary all your requirements will be met but it will definately help your Fitness Adviser to plan things optimally to meet your goals.

Now in the world of Project Management a Project Statement of Work (SOW) is a document where the sponsor (or the client or business) specifies the objectives they want to achieve through this project, they will describe the product or services to be delivered by the project and will provide a comprehensive high level requirements.

The SOW document is then referred by the Project Manager or Vendors to understand what exactly is required and what is the project objective. This also give clear indication on what requirements must completed in order the sponsor will accept the project as completed.

Further Reference: How to Write the Project Statement of Work (SOW)

Posted in: Project Statement of work