Statements of Work that Work

Outsourced strategic planning and research projects can fail for more reasons than they can succeed. At the end of a project that fails to meet expectations, people tend to sift through the smouldering ashes to look for the initial cause. This is not a high moment in human behaviour, with client and contractors showing courage to accept responsibility. It is usually marked by defensiveness, doubt and uncertainty with each party hoping to clear their name and pin the blame elsewhere or at best hope the blame falls somewhere else. It doesn’t have to be this way and it can be easily avoided.

The first step to successfully outsource a contract is to define the project scope at the outset. This means to draft a stable, clearly written statement of work (SOW) that both parties can review and agree upon. Many times the SOW is an outcome from dialogues between the client and contractor to review the undefined, nebulous but gradually coalescing requirements. In traditional library terms, this is the reference interview: the stage when an information professional listens to the client describe their information need. In this stage the information professional walks the client through a series of questions to narrow their options and focus on priorities and outcomes. The key to do this properly is to understand that most times people have difficulty expressing their information need. They may have an idea of what they want but the words to describe it in relation to secondary and tertiary needs are often misunderstood. By the end of the reference interview both parties should have a clearer sense of the client’s requirements and priorities.

After this process a detailed statement of work should be created. In most cases it is the client’s responsibility to do this. :) This is an important activity, and if done poorly it can condemn the project to failure, so beware.

Statement of work writing is a skill. Along with the request for proposal the SOW is the first part of a dialogue to establish the scope of the project. The second part of the dialogue is the contractor’s proposal. Done properly the proposal should reflect the SOW including its aims and objectives. The SOW not only defines the deliverables but also sets the tone for how the final report will be used and by whom. One of the most common problems I have seen with poorly drafted SOWs is that they aim too high and use lofty, hyper-academic writing styles. Maybe this is born from the fear that unless the SOW is written to sound like it is the most important project ever conceived that the contractor won’t take the project seriously, or serious enough to do a decent job. But good intentions can be misguided. From what I have seen, if the SOW is written in a style that sounds lofty, far reaching and GRAND, then the odds are that the final report will be same. In some cases the final report should be grand with fantastic, far reaching plans for a bold future that challenges the reader. In most cases, however, the final report just needs to be actionable; something that can be translated into practical terms to achieve a very real end. This leads to my first maxim for writing statements of work:

If you need someone to build you an X-wing fighter, don’t ask for the blueprint to develop a Deathstar.

This means, don’t make a big problem out of something small. If the project is small, then let it be small and don’t try to build it up into something grander than it is. Just because it is a small requirement does not mean it isn’t important, after all. The converse of the first maxim is also true but much less common:

If you ask for a nuts and bolts report you will get a nuts and bolts report.

The SOW sets the tone so it must be clear in its needs, audience, and the intended use of the final deliverables. The style and language used is important so that the client and contractor can coordinate their vision for the final deliverables.