๐——๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ – ๐—ฃ๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฑ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ.

๐——๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ – ๐—ฃ๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿฑ ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ.
๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ช๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ.
โ€œTattoo this inside your eyeballs* so that you know what weโ€™ve promised to deliver. ” ๐Ÿ‘€

“Understand what we are supposed to do and the approval process. Highlight anything that you are worried about โ€“ such as anything thatโ€™s unclear or that might pose a risk to the Discovery or Project (if we win it).”

Project Manager Vi sent out the Statement of Work for the Discovery to every member of the team.

โ€œI was not involved in the initial bid team that put this together, so I think it would pay to be cautious.โ€

Rooj looked at the SoW.

1.     Definitions
2.     Scope of Services, including
     a.     Activities to be undertaken
     b.    Project approach
3.     Deliverables
4.     Key Milestone Plans
5.     Acceptance Procedures
6.     Charges
7.     Client Obligations
8.     Governance
9.     Scope & Change Management Procedures
     a.     Change Control Processes
     b.    Backlog Item Approval Process

It looked like a legal contract but was written in quite an accessible manner (where Rooj came from, legal documents were written in English but was practically indecipherable!). 

She was pleasantly surprised that she was able to read and understand it easily.

โ€œIt needs to be written clearly so that everyone knows who is doing what and there is no ambiguity. If there is, you need to highlight that to the PM immediately. 

โ€œDonโ€™t assume that just because youโ€™re new, everyone knows more than you. The SOW needs to be written in a way that any lay person can read it and understand it.

I totally agree!

Documents that are written in a convoluted manner with big words usually only create confusion and are generally written by people who
– aren’t quite sure what they’re talking about, or
– need to show how smart they are.

Have you ever read an SOW that you could really understand?

*Yes – I had a manager who’d say this ๐Ÿ˜‚ I now use it all the time!

#OnThePeiroll

I’m on a ‘Publish a book in 45 days’ challenge and writing a book called “๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐——๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿญ – How Consulting Partners execute Discoveries that set the Projects up for success”

Am on day 25, and the first draft will be done within the week!
Ooof it’s been a tough few days! ๐Ÿ˜ฐ

ANYWay… you can support me by
(1) signing up to the waitlist below so you’ll find out about when the book launches, or

(2) securing a SIGNED COPY (when it’s published) by donating ยฃ50 to #Samaritans – a charity that supports emotionally distressed callers who may be going through suicidal thoughts.

Links can be found in comment ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿป

๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐›๐ž ๐ฌ๐š๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž๐ฌ โค๐Ÿฉบ

Thank you Joddy AppiahLarry Lee, CSMยฎ, LSSYB, Manasa and Ibrahim Abdi for your support – you don’t know how many lives you’re touching ๐Ÿฅฐ