Building Project Management Centers of Excellence

Writing a Scope Statement

One of the first activities that should be undertaken when projects are started is documenting the Scope Of Work (SOW). Defining the work that is included in a project as well as specific work that will not be included is critical to the successful completion of the project. The SOW is contained in a document referred to as a Statement of Work, which typically contains the following elements (a sample is included in Appendix B):

• Project name

• Project identification number

• Project sponsor or champion

• Project manager assigned to the project

• List of project stakeholder representatives

• List of project team members

• List of steering (management oversight) team members

• Description of corporate strategic objective driving the project ...