What is a project scope statement?

Project scope statement

A project scope statement is a formal document contains the crucial aspects of a project and defines all the components of the project scope. It's a memory tool that keeps track of all the requirements and is used by the teammates and stakeholders for retrospection. Additionally, it is a part of the much bigger project plan document.

Why is it useful?

Some may consider a scope statement irrelevant or unimportant because a whole project plan already exists. The following are some reasons why a project scope statement comes in handy:

• It's an official record of what was agreed upon and finalized between the customer, company, and any stakeholders involved.

• It reduces ambiguity, and all the essential features are highlighted.

• It decreases the chances of over-delivery or under-delivery by the project members.

• It ensures that every person is exposed to the same information and is on the same page.

The project manager is responsible for curating this statement document by incorporating the customer's and stakeholders' input.

Outline of the statement

A project scope statement requires to have a proper structure to it. The following are some main components of a scope statement:

Objectives

The scope statement should start with a clear reasoning/objective of why this project is important, what goals it wishes to achieve, or what good it will impart to the industry and society.

Requirements

The requirements for the project are finalized by the company and the stakeholders and included in the scope statement.

Scope description

The main roadmap of the project is described here. It includes all the tasks needed to complete the whole project. It may include the work breakdown structure (WBS), baseline plan, and so on.

Note: You can learn more about the baseline project plan here.

Deliverables

Depending upon the requirements and the scope description, deliverables are designed by the project manager. They're supposed to be concise and use case driven, keeping in mind the workload on every team member. The following is a sample scheduling sheet:

Exclusions

To clarify, major exclusions are to be included in the scope statement so that no one assumes anything.

Constraints

Every project has its restrictions. Therefore, they need to be listed in the project scope statement. It's the environment in which the project is to be curated, such as the time and cost are fixed, and things need to be done according to them.

Assumptions

Assumptions are created in order to assist the constraints. These are basically formal statements that explain a task that is to be completed within a given period.

Drawing signoffs

In the end, the official completed project scope statement document is signed by all the members involved to communicate things effectively.

Template of the document

The following is a sample structure of a scope statement document:

Conclusion

The project scope statement is supposed to be easy to read and understand. Keep it concise and ensure it contains all the milestones to be achieved.