THE STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW):

A BRIEF REVIEW OF RESOURCES FROM THE WEB

“A properly developed statement of work represents 80% of a successful public solicitation. The remaining 20% is just mechanics.”

                               Terry Davenport

The Statement of Work is critical to the success of any procurement process. It is, however, a neglected area. Many, if not most, of the 80,000 public entities in the U.S. provide NO TRAINING to program or procurement staff. This lack of training is a significant contributor to procurement problems, delays, project overruns and litigation.

This document identifies SOW resources. It is not comprehensive but only a beginning. If you know of other resources that should be included in this document, please send an email to Michael Asner. My email is: institute@rfpmentor.com

[The full article first discusses the characteristics of a successful statement of work. It then identifies SOW resources in 4 major categories.]

In searching the web, we found a number of different types of resources:

1. Training – There appear to be 2 types of training: instructor-led, and web or CD-based. This report identifies 6 sources of instructor-led live training, and one source of CD-based training. The CD-based training is a new product which we released Sept. 15, 2005.

2. Templates – We identified 4 different templates, of varying complexity and sophistication.

3. Guides & Manuals – We identified 5 different ‘how to’ manuals published by federal, state and local jurisdictions and available on the web.

4. Other Stuff – This category contains all of the entries which didn’t fit easily into the other categories. It contains books, kits, and other web sites.

[In this extract, we present the material from one type of resource only.]

Part 4 – Books, Kits and Other Sources of Information

The first three sections of this report contain information about templates, guides, and training. In this section, we present sources of information which didn’t easily fit into templates, guides, or training. So this section contains information from books, a kit, and a web page.

1. How to Write a Statement of Work (BOOK)

By Peter S. Cole, CPCM

Fifth Edition

Hardcover

6” x 9”, 360 pages

July 2003

ISBN 1-56726-148-5

Price: $99

http://www.mgmtconcepts.com/publications/acquisition/sow.asp

Content Highlights:

1. Overview:

2. Planning and Preparation

3. Writing a Performance Work Statement  for Performance-Based Service Contracting:

4. Using a Statement of Objectives (SOO) and Related Issues:

5. The SOW Format:

6. Common Problems in Writing SOWs:           

2. Delivering Project Excellence with the Statement of Work (Book)

By Michael G. Martin, PMP

Hardcover

6"x9", 272 pages

October 2002

1-56726-113-2

Price: $79

http://www.managementconcepts.com/publications/project_management/deliproj.asp

Included with this book is a bonus CD-ROM with sample SOWs, templates, and forms to help you manage change to the project throughout its life cycle.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Understanding the Fundamentals of the Statement of Work

1. Defining the Statement of Work

2. The Importance of the SOW in Managing Projects

3. When to Do an SOW

4. Who Should Develop the SOW

Part 2: Building the Statement of Work

5. Building the SOW Foundation

6. Framing the SOW

7. Finalizing the SOW

8. Sample SOWs: The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Ugly

Part 3: Maintaining the SOW for Project Excellence

9. Managing Change to the SOW

Part 4: Changing the Paradigm

10. Selling the Importance and Benefits of the SOW

3. State of Kansas (Document)

Policy and Procedures Manual

Section 5.4.4 Statement of Work (4 pgs.)

This Manual identifies the information required in a SOW within the context of the basic contents of an RFP.

http://da.state.ks.us/purch/PPM.doc

4. The Statement of Work Process Kit (Manual, template, checklist)

http://www.ittoolkit.com/statement_of_work.htm

Features

The Statement of Work Process Kit is an easy to use, flexible solution for project planning and documentation, geared to one result - to ensure that projects are defined and approved before costly work begins. 

Using the Kit, you will be able to create standardized SOW documents for any project, promoting productivity, consensus and success.  First, the Kit provides useful content guidelines to help you quickly prepare relevant SOW documents, suited to the size and scope of the project at hand.  You will also find a complete sequence of steps and strategies to help you plan the SOW preparation process, covering tasks, resources, requirements, naming conventions, collaboration and document processing procedures.  And, finally, you will find all the tools and templates you need to execute planning tasks, prepare SOW drafts, collect review comments, produce final versions and obtain "documented" signature approvals.

The SOW Process Kit is produced in PDF and Word formats, and contains the following components:

* GUIDELINES & INSTRUCTIONS:

The SOW Process Kit Manual

*

* PLANNING FORMS:

The SOW Standards Checklist

The SOW Process Plan

The Content Requirements Checklist 

The Reviewer's Checklist

*

* DOCUMENTATION TEMPLATES:

The SOW Quick Form Template

The SOW Long Form Template

The SOW Approval Agreement

5. Acquisition Packages (Web site)

http://www.ntsc.navy.mil/Resources/Library/Acqguide/acqpack.htm

The primary objective of the acquisition package is to assemble all documents needed to acquire supplies or services to satisfy approved requirements in a timely, efficient manner and at the most reasonable cost to the Government.

Acquisition packages contain documents which are used internally by the government and other documents which are included in the official solicitation made available to the public. The solicitation generally takes the form of a Request For Proposal (RFP).

This web site contains hotlinks to the following documents:

* SOW Checklist

* MIL-HDBK-245D: Handbook For Preparation of Statement Of Work (249k)

* MIL-HDBK-512A: Parts Management (81k, 14 pages)

* Generic SOW For New Training Systems                 

* Generic SOW For Training System Modifications (363k)

* Configuration Management Requirements for the SOW

* Change to Delivery Order (DO) SOW

* Streamlining Language for the SOW

6. Where in Federal Contracting

http://www.wifcon.com/ofppp4_ack.htm

http://www.wifcon.com/ofppp4_ch3.htm

The full report is 23 pages long. It is contained in Issue 50 of The RFP Report. It can be viewed and downloaded from our website:

www.rfpmentor.com

Click on RFP Report.

*****************************************************************

**********ANNOUNCING A NEW TRAINING CD**********

How to Develop an Effective Statement of Work:

A Best Practices Training CD by Terry Davenport

http://www.rfpmentor.com/institute.html

 one hour PowerPoint presentation narrated by Terry Davenport

 60 page Resource Guide

 License

 $195

"If I could choose one person to write a Statement of Work for me, it would be Terry. As Contract Administrator for Western States Contracting Alliance, he wrote Statements of Work for major procurements involving hundreds of millions of dollars. And they were solid and they worked!"

      Jim O'Neill, CPPO, FNIGP

      Director of Procurement, Ft. Collins (CO)

      Past President of NIGP

*********************************************************************

*****ANNOUNCING A NEW INTERACTIVE WEBCAST*****

How To Develop An Effective Statement Of Work:

A Best Practices Webcast by Terry Davenport

http://www.rfpmentor.com/webcast.html

A live, 90 minute, interactive web conference that you can join from your office on Thursday, November 17th, 2005

Many procurements fail, are unnecessarily complex, or result in complaints and litigation because the Statement of Work was deficient. Terry Davenport knows the key to success is simple: prepare a SOW that balances functionality with budgetary requirements, policy restrictions and the legal issues. This seminar will show you the step-by-step process that leads to an effective statement of work.

Our Agenda

By the end of the seminar, you will have learned a step-by-step process for creating an effective statement of work. This process is described and illustrated with examples from Terry’s 60-page Resource Guide. (Each participant gets a copy of the Resource Guide.)

* Workshop Objectives

* Important Definitions

* Market Research

* Do’s and Don’ts

* Purpose/Objectives

* Scope of Solicitation

* Invitation for Bid Specifications

* RFP Specifications

* Contract Scope of Work

* Contract Protections

* Examples

* Questions to Guide SOW Development

* How to Use Example Directives

Participants (buyers and program personnel) will gain an understanding of the components of the SOW for various types of solicitations as well as useful guidance and writing tips for each. The 60-page Resource Guide is a handy reference tool. This course will take the mystery and misery out of the statement of work development process. It has been designed for use by both buyers and program/user personnel.

Site Map | Disclaimer | Customer Service Privacy Policy | Refund Policy | Deliver / Shipping