Working with external parties, clients, and customers is never easy. No matter how hard you try, presumptions, miscommunication, and confusion can always creep in.
When working with high-profile clients or high-budget projects, even the slightest error could lead to disastrous results. This is why project managers rely on documents like the SOW or Scope of Work.
In order to successfully finish projects on time and deliver what is required, smart project managers rely on a scope of work document to make sense of the turmoil and bring a methodical approach to project execution.
The scope of work document lays the grounds of a project, defines exactly what needs to be done, by whom, and by when. This ensures that everyone who is part of that project is on the same page with what is expected and on board with all its details.
Given the significance, a statement of work document is carefully written by project managers and includes every little detail of the upcoming project. Since creating such a document can be daunting, we decided to help you by creating a free, plug-and-play scope of work template.
But, before we jump into our awesome template, let us first understand what exactly is a scope of work document and what to include in such documents. Read on…
What is the Scope of Work Document? (Definition)
The scope of work document is an agreement between two parties on what needs to be done in a project. The scope of work helps teams to successfully implement a project by taking a 360-degree look over the project.
It includes the background, statement of work, requirements, deliverables, timelines, budget, and more. Since the SOW is used when working with outside clients, it’s imperative to make it as clear as possible, using easy-to-understand language and detailed information regarding deliverables.
Why is the Scope of Work Document Important?
The scope of work document is an important method of making sure the team on the project and the stakeholders of the project are all on the same page.
All the parties involved (clients, vendors, contractors, agencies, etc.) should have the same vision regarding the project so that there’s no confusion and no costly redos at the end.
It provides timelines, deliverables, task allocations, terms & conditions, budgets, etc. to help everyone know what needs to be done, why it’s important, and when to get it completed.
Documents like these are created by project managers as they are helpful to ensure that nothing is missed and that all moving parts of the project are thought through.
How to Create Scope of Work in 5 Simple Steps?
To ensure the successful execution of a project, the documentation done prior to it is crucial. Thus, it’s essential to make sure your scope of work document includes the following elements:
Step 1. Introduction
Provide an introduction to what you’re looking to accomplish.
- Background: Provide a background of why it’s important and how it fits into the company’s overall mission.
- Scope of Work: Add the deliverables and timelines of the work entailed with this project.
- Requirements: Explain the requirements that must be met in order for this project to be completed.
Step 2. Compliance
Outline the criteria that must be met for the team and other third parties.
Step 3. Project Deliverables
Describe how you will deliver the project, what will be the roll-out of it.
Step 4. Project Timeline
What is the timeline for the project to be completed? Include phase completions in necessary.
Step 5. Project Budget
Include the budget for the project.
Now that you know the importance and elements of a scope of work document, it’s time to put that information to test by using a documentation tool like Bit.
Read more: How to Create an Effective Operational Plan for Your Business?
Key Benefits of Creating Your Scope of Work Documentation on Bit.ai
For creating a scope of work document, you need a proficient tool that can help you create, share, and collaborate with stakeholders and get work done efficiently. This is where Bit comes in!
Bit.ai is a new-age documentation and knowledge management tool that helps teams to collaborate, share, track, and manage all company knowledge in one place. Project managers can use Bit to create a scope of work documents, collaborate with the team in real-time, and store all project assets in one place for easy and fast access.
Whether your team is creating the scope of work documents, project documentation, operational plan, release notes, roadmap, project charter, product requirements, API documentation, product launch marketing documents, pitch decks, business plan, SWOT analysis, competitive research, project management plan, etc, they can easily add spreadsheets, Slideshares, Google Slides, YouTube videos, PDFs, maps, charts, graphs, and more to your documents and make them visually stunning.
Simple, Clean UI: Bit has a very minimal design aesthetic to it, allowing a newbie to quickly get on board with the platform. Even though the platform is feature-rich, it does a great job to not overwhelm a new user and provides a systematic approach to work.
Organization of information: Organizational information is often scattered in cloud storage apps, emails, Slack channels, and more. Bit brings all your information in one place by allowing you to organize information in Workspaces and folders. Bring all your documents, media files, and other important company data in one place.
Brand consistency – Focus on the content and let Bit help you with the design and formatting. Bit documents are completely responsive and look great on all devices. With amazing templates and themes, Bit docs provide you with the type of brand and design consistency that is unheard of in the documentation industry
Smart search: Bit has very robust search functionality that allows anyone to search and find any files, images, documents, etc quickly and easily across all of their workspaces. Users can search their digital assets using keywords, titles, descriptions, or tags. They can even search for files based on their source. (i.e., YouTube).
Media Integrations: Companies use an average of 34 SaaS apps! No wonder why most of our time is spent hopping from one app to the next, looking for information. This is why Bit.ai integrates with over 100+ popular applications (YouTube, Typeform, LucidChart, Spotify, Google Drive, etc) to help teams weave information in their documents beyond just text and images.
Sharing: Bit documents can be shared in a live state meaning that all changes that you make to the document will update in real-time. If you are sharing your documents with clients, they will always get your most up-to-date changes. You can even embed Bit documents on any website or blog.
Tons of other features: Bit has a plethora of amazing features like document tracking, cloud-upload, templates, and themes, document locking, document expiration, and much more, making it a well-rounded documentation tool.
Bit provides a common workplace for project members to collaborate, document, share their knowledge, brainstorm ideas, store digital assets, and innovate together. The best part is that this knowledge is safely secured in your workspaces and can be shared (or kept private) with anyone in your organization or the public!
Here are some of the main benefits of using Bit:
- Collaborate in real-time
- Interlink scope of work documents and other documents
- Create fully responsive documents
- Create a private scope of work documents only visible to yourself or your team
- Track engagement on the scope of work documents shared with consultants, partners, etc.
Scope of Work Template
To make the process of creating your scope of work documentation easier, we have created a ready-made scope of work template for you! Check it out below:
How to Use the Scope of Work Template with Bit
The process of creating a scope of work document on Bit is insanely easy! Just follow these four simple steps to create your document quickly:
Step 1: Create a Bit Account
Go the home page of Bit.ai and click on Get Started for Free or Sign Up to get started. Enter your email address to sign up. Once in, you can create your personal profile.
Step 2: Create a Workspace
Workspaces are where the work gets done. Click on the ‘Create Workspace’ button on the right. A popup will show up prompting you to add a name for your new workspace.
You can create a workspace around a team, department, large project, client, partner, etc. Inside each workspace, you can create an unlimited amount of Bit documents and access your content library (storage area for all of your digital assets – web links, files, cloud files, rich embeds, etc.).
Step 3: Add Team Members
Bit allows your team members to collaborate in real-time and get work done. Collaboration starts at the workspace level.
You create private workspaces by default. However, you can invite others to join you inside of a workspace and collaborate together with the knowledge, projects, documents, and content inside of the workspace.
Step 4: Create Your Desired Document
Once you are in the workspace, click on the ‘Create New’ button. Select ‘From Template’ in the dropdown. A pop up will display allowing you to select a template from the gallery.
In the search box on the top left corner, you can search for an “scope of work template”. Once your desired template pops up, click on it and click on the “Use Template” button on the bottom right corner.
That’s it! Your scope of work document is ready for use!
🎥Watch this video to learn more👇
Over to you!
The scope of work is an important document to ensure the successful execution of the project and at the same time, maintain a harmonious relationship with the client. When both parties are clear on what a successful project looks like, it removes all ambiguity, miscommunication, and confusion around it.
This is why project managers turn to documentation tools like Bit to manage all critical resources associated with a project and bring all stakeholders under a single roof for smooth execution. If you need any help with the scope of work template or want to know how Bit can help your business, let us know by tweeting us @bit_docs. Cheers!
Further reads:
- How To Create An Effective Status Report?
What is a Product Requirements Document & How to Create One Effectively?
- Scope of Work vs Statement of Work: Differences and Examples
