• Procurement and Contract Management
• Administering Contracts
• Managing Outsourcing Engagements
• Managing Risks in Contracts
• Negotiating Contracts
• Selecting Vendors
• Managing Contracts
• Managing Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• Contract Management Applications
• Writing Statements of Work

Writing Statements of Work

Course Duration: 3 Days (8:30am-5:00pm)

Professional Development Units (PDU): 22.5

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You'll Learn How To:

• Identify the most common errors found in confusing, misconstrued or incomplete narratives
• Employ easy techniques and ‘best practices’ that will help you maintain consistently high quality in your SOW documentation
• Assist managers in understanding when an SOW may be appropriate and how it should be framed
• Identify what a ‘breach of contract’ entails
• Identify uses in an organisation where an SOW is applicable
• Perform quality assurance tech­niques in addressing SOWs, which will ensure that the docu­ments comply with standards of acceptability

Program Objectives:

Widely considered the heart of the contract, the Statement of Work (SOW) is the foundation of the relationship between buyers and sellers. The pur­chase or sale of products and services can only be executed by skilfully documenting the requirements in the SOW. This course is designed for practical use by requirements developers, in-house SOW team members as well as contract managers and project managers. It is designed for those individuals whose responsibilities include properly identifying needs and turning them in to high-quality contracts. It provides the information you need to consistently develop and administer effective SOWs.

This course implements challenging team exercises and case studies that will take you through the process of building solid statements of work. You will learn how outsourcing needs emerge within companies and how those needs are recognised and articulated. You will identify methods by which needs are analysed using proven tools to yield contract objectives that generate logic, flow and consistency in the resulting SOW.

The skills learned in this practical course can be immediately applied by anyone involved in writing, negotiating, awarding or administering Statements of Work and changes to SOWs.

Course Outline:

1. The Basics of SOWs in Business Essential elements of a contract, Basic concepts in Contract Law Service contract agreements, Contract types Spectrum of risk in contracting, Contracts are written to mitigate risks, Breach, Contract interpretation guidelines, Master Agreements, Relationship between Master Agreement and SOW, Purpose and Importance of the SOW, Perspectives in an SOW
2. Evolution of the SOW Wants and needs, Requirements, Evolution of an SOW, The Statement of Objective (SOO) and the SOW, SOW statements from a WBS, Purpose of an SOW outline, Different approaches to SOWs, Goals in Writing an SOW, A well-written SOW
3. Creating the Narrative Checklist before writing an SOW, Writer preparation questions for an SOW, Words to watch & words to use, Buyer and seller perspectives of an SOW, Compliance Matrix sample, Guidelines for writing SOWs, Master checklist for the SOW writer
4. Managing the SOW after Award Administering the SOW, Implied relationship in the SOW contract, The contract baseline, Principles of change management, Change process identified in the SOW, Potential constructive changes, Results of evaluation, Authority to approve changes; privity, Documentation mandated in the SOW, When relationships break down, Master agreement dispute process, Writing SOWs to reduce the potential of disputes, Writing administration into the SOW