A scope statement is one of the most critical pieces of a project, and writing one can be a difficult task for a project manager. But, an effectively written scope statement can help the rest of the project flow along with minimal problems. Lets take a look at how to write a good scope statement, its necessary components, and the pitfalls to avoid during its creation.
The firsts step on writing a scope statement is filling in the project name, project charter, and a listing of the project owner, sponsors, and stakeholders. Next, A project justification will need to be identified, as well as project requirements, milestones, and deliverables. Any non-goals - items that fall outside of the scope of the project - need to be identified here. And finally, cost estimates need to be provided within the scope statement. This information may be readily available or it may need to be compiled from various sources, but the scope statement is where it needs to be documented all together. This can be a cumbersome task, but it is a necessary one. As the project progresses, everyone involved knows where they can look should a question arise.
A scope statement is just one of many project management forms.
A scope statement needs to be very clear and concise, and the project name is a good place to start. An effective project name reads something like 'Create a Marketing Plan For Increasing Sales of Widget X in Chicago'. This is much better than 'Marketing Plan Project', which is definitely concise but by no means clear. The aim of the project name is to document the project so that everyone involved is aware of what is expected during the life of the project. A good project name also helps provide a vision of where the project is headed. You can download an example of a scope statement by clicking here.
A project charter needs to be drafted next. A charter is usually used for three different reasons:
- Authorizing the project
- Providing a high level overview
- Identifying the main stakeholders
The charter often includes the name of the project owner as well as project sponsors. It also identifies objectives or goals, and constraints on resources or time. Finally, the charter is used as a focal point throughout the life of the project, which can be especially useful during change control meetings for minimizing scope creep. Scope creep is a phenomenon where the scope of a project gradually increases over time.
The scope statement needs to identify the reason for the project. This is often called the project justification. It is usually a statement or two identifying why the project is being created. It’s important to have the project justification identified because this helps to give overall direction to the project as well as emphasizing the final goal. The project justification should be clear and precise manner so that it identifies a quantifiable measure of success for the end of the project. An effective justification might read like the following:
This project is to create a successful marketing plan for the month of August 2008, in order to increase sales of Widget X by 15% in the Chicago metropolitan area. This is a good example of an effective justification because it is quantifiable and qualitative. Distinct boundaries are set as to what is the expected result of the project so there is no ambiguity.