There are more than 33 million professionals who comprise the non-employee workforce in the U.S., representing more than $250 billion in project spend. Unfortunately, many of these projects do not meet their objectives and lead to significant cost overruns.
In our experience, these projects do not meet expectations and have a high degree of failure because organizations did not take the time to fully plan and define the project in the beginning.
Statement of Work (SOW) management is the key to bringing these important projects in on time and on budget. No matter the size, scope or budget of the project or program, creating a well-defined SOW forms the foundation for success by providing the basis from which both parties can effectively manage the project, while supporting a compliant, independent engagement between the two parties.
We recommend you incorporate the following as you move forward with your SOW program.
- Develop a framework. A basic framework will drive consistent performance standards from the start.
- Have a process in place. Begin developing it early on. You should also have a process established for milestones and deliverables management.
- Educate managers early and often. This is fairly straightforward. Education is your best defense against misclassification.
- Ensure compliance throughout the process. The key word here is process. Compliance is a process, not an event.
