Scope statement
In project management, scope statements can take many forms depending on the type of project being implemented and the nature of the organization. The scope statement details the project deliverables and describes the major objectives. The objectives should include measurable success criteria for the project.
01Overview
A scope statement should be written before the statement of work and it should capture, in very broad terms, the product of the project (e.g., "developing a software-based system to capture and track orders for software"). A scope statement should also include the list of users using the product, as well as the features in the resulting product.
02Contents
As a baseline scope statements should contain:
- The project charter
- The project owner, sponsors, and stakeholders
- The problem statement
- The project goals and objectives
- The project requirements
- A bill of quantities
- The project deliverables
- The project non-goals (what is out of scope)
- Milestones
- Cost estimates
In more project oriented organizations the scope statement could also contain these and other sections:
- Project scope management plan
- Approved change requests
- Project assumptions and risks
- Project acceptance criteria
The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines the project scope statement to include
- the description of the project scope,
- major deliverables,
- assumptions, and
- constraints.
and is part of the project scope baseline.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Scope statement”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.