Scope the consulting engagement

Scoping the work is the core of the contracting process. Define the work you’ll do for the client. Do so in great detail, with a high degree of specificity. Leaving things open to interpretation can lead to disputes, scope creep, and excessive expenses you’ll have to incur to meet the terms of the contract. At thoughtLEADERS, we were serving another consulting firm as our client. I knew there was a lot of risk for scope creep. When we wrote the contract, we were very specific about what we would deliver. We said it’s going to cover these functions and not these functions. We said here are the documents we’re going to provide. Here are the topics that will be covered in each document. When we thought the engagement was over, of course, the client came and said, “Oh no, we want all this additional work, too.” At that point, I was able to go back to the scope document and say this is what we contracted for. Here are all the deliverables that tie to that contract. Now, we’re happy to do all these other deliverables, and by the way, here’s the price. Having a good contract help us mitigate the risk of scope creep. Some tips for writing this section include specify timing by when things will be delivered. Define the number of hours you’ll put into the work. Describe the deliverables as clearly as possible. Explain which business units, functions or groups are in or out of scope. And define who’s allowed to make scope changes and the signoff required for doing so. When it’s clear the scope needs to change, amend the statement of work to reflect the revised scope. Don’t forget to change the pricing accordingly. If you don’t scope things clearly, you might find yourself investing much more effort than you expected, without additional compensation. If you scope your work well, you’ll perform a fair amount of work for a fair price.