The importance of the Scope of Work (S.O.W.)

I am sure most of you have cooked something at some point, right? Well, the S.O.W is like the recipe the Cook receives from the Chef that makes possible the preparation of a fine dessert. It is the equivalent to the Script on a movie and the set of instructions that the Director gives to the Editor so he can deliver what the Director had in mind.

In the AV industry, a well written scope of work will provide to all your key players the same set of instructions and goals; reducing the amount of time that you will need to spend on the job site at the end of the job fixing all the "misunderstandings". It could be the difference between coming under-budget or highly over it; and eventually it could be the difference between a happy customer or a very unhappy one.

There are different approaches when it comes to write a S.O.W.. For some people is nothing but a description of where the displays are going to be installed and for others is as simple as "See Customer..." and this normally creates a lot of chaos and discomfort among all the parties involved. The Installer -who has never talked to the client about this project- has a different point of view than the Programmer, or the Engineer, or the Sales Rep, about how the system suppose to work.

In order to make a valuable and useful S.O.W. you need to give as much detail as possible; from the physical location of the displays to a full explanation in how the control system suppose to work, including passwords that the client may have requested, or any particular way that the Video Conference Codec needs to be configured. Sometimes, a fully documented and detailed S.O.W could be many pages long.

There's an old image that represents very well how everybody has a different appreciation about how the project should be put together.

But, who should be responsible for writing the S.O.W. when there is not consultant involved in the project?

The answer is not very simple, the person who understand the system the most is normally the “Engineer” and he/she is more than capable to write it, however, it is a process that may require the input from the customer, the Sales rep and even the Control System Programmer. This is specially difficult when you have clients with unrealistic expectations and Sales Reps that will do or say anything just to get the sale (sounds familiar, uh?)

Is up to the engineer to come up with a System that will satisfy the client’s expectations -functionality and budget- and to write an Scope of Work with all the characteristics listed in previous paragraphs.

The Scope of Work is the document that will help us understand the project, that will guide us, and protect us in the end.

Alex Rodriguez, CTS-I