The Art of Planning and Writing Specifications and Requirements

Session Code: CITHE ART OF PLANNING AND

WRITING SPECIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

Thomas L. Tanel, C.P.M. President and CEO

CATTAN Services Group, Inc. Monday, April 26 2010, 10:40 AM

• Introduction• Internal or customer needs• The importance of a scope of work• SOWs and work requirements• The Statement of Work• Writing specifications and requirements• Conclusions and Q&A

Presentation Outline

http://www.ism.ws/confplanner/conf.cfm?confID=34

• Most critical part of the solicitation and contracting process

• Each purchase requires its own specification

• The specification communicates the user’s requirements to the service provider

Development of Specifications and Requirements

• It is an evolutionary process

• Involves continuous liaison among: – Internal customer or user– Specification writer– Procurement/purchasing staff

Internal Customer or User Needs

• Purchasing staff should be involved from the beginning:

1. Internal customer should consult because it saves time and money in long run

2. Early Purchasing Involvement (EPI) to assure a meeting of the minds

3. Over 70% of potential cost savings occur during the concept, design or SOW stage


• Purchasing must drive the efforts

• Purchasing needs to understand what attributes are relevant and significant

• Purchasing must focus on creating just what users want


• Why is it important?– Converting user or internal customer needs to new

specifications and requirements

– Converting user or internal customer needs for existing or given specifications and requirements

Importance of the Scope of Work


Scope of Work—What To Include

• Provide background information

• Specify contractor deadlines• Ascertain how contractors

identify costs• Identify unique requirements• Require confidentiality or

non-disclosure• Warrant or verify licenses,

certifications, etc.

Minimum essential

elements to include in the

Scope of Work


• An RFI is generally used for market exploration

• It is used to notify contractors of an opportunity.

• It may be used to help a purchaser determine, based on the responses, which contractors will be invited to submit a detailed RFP.

Scope of Work & Issuing the RFI


• Scope of Work definition—The work involved in the definition, design, and production of the components for a project’s deliverables and their assembly into a satisfactory working whole.

• A scope of work describes the work to be performed usually includes a timeline and level of effort so a supplier or vendor can respond to the RFP with a proposal and cost estimate.

Structuring A Scope of Work


Scope of Work—Components

• Project Background and Objectives

• Project Description• Timetable/Schedule• Vendor or Contractor Cost

Proposal• Political or Business

Environment• Additional Contractor

Qualifications• Additional Contractual Terms• Contractor Liability Issues• Evaluation Criteria • Administrative Items

What does the Scope of Work

include? Is there a

time phased requirement for

completion?


• Describes the essential technical requirements for items, materials or services including the procedures for determining whether or not the requirements have been met

• Specifies, in a complete, precise, verifiable manner, the requirements, design, behavior, or other characteristics of a system, component, product, result, or service

Specifications Defined—A Document

• Simple specification defines the requirement with less information

• Complex specifications are written, lengthy documents for one-off requirements

Simple Versus Complex Specifications


• SOWs will rarely consist of pure functional, performance, or design specifications.

• They will almost always consist of a predominant type or some combination.

• It is important that their legal and practical significance be understood.

The Statement of Work (SOW)


Three Generic Classes of Statements of Work (SOWs)


• The broadest type of work description that requires only that the contractor achieve an end result.

• Does not specify the means of achieving that result, nor does it specify the processes or procedures which the contractor is required to use in performance.

Functional Specifications

Next in the breadth of the types of SOWs is a performance specification.

Differs from the functional specification in that it specifies the means by which the performance objective is to be achieved.

Performance Specification

The most restrictive of the three types because of the level of detail.

Not only is the means of performance specified, the processes and procedures which must be used in performing the work are prescribed.

Design Specifications

Benefits of a Well Written Statement of Work (SOW)


Statement of Work—Performance Based Contract

The key factor in the success of the Performance Based Contract

is your ability to write good Statement of Work requirements.

The key factor in the success of the Performance Based Contract

is your ability to write good Statement of Work requirements.


Performance Based Requirement—Example

Required Service Standard

Maximum Allowable Degree of Deviation from Requirement

(ASL)

Method of Contract

Surveillance

Deduction from Contract Price for Exceeding the ASL

Operate Taxi

Customer must be picked up within 4 minutes of the

agreed upon time.5% 8%

Operate Scheduled

Bus

Bus must not arrive at the stop later than scheduled time or depart earlier than

schedule time plus or minus 2 minutes.

4% 10%

Operate Unplanned

Bus

Bus must arrive not later than 4 minutes from

agreed upon time between customer and dispatcher.

5% 4%

ASL (Authorized Service Level)


• Writing a statement of work (requirement) or specification (spec) to make it “contractible’ and “administrable” is a serious challenge to the cross-functional writing team.

• We recommend the following 7 steps on the next 3 slides.

Planning the Statement of Work or Specification


1. A review of the requirements and documents

2. A review of the various documentation

3. The identification of potential cost drivers and items subject to price volatility


4. The establishment of a preliminary work breakdown structure (WBS).

5. Identification of the participating functional departments


6. Description of work tasks in terms of data to be delivered

7. Specification of work tasks in performance terms


Attributes of Good SOW Requirements

• Complete• Consistent • Correct• Clear• Traceable• Modifiable• Verifiable • Implementation free


Guide to Preparing a SOW—Elements

• Introduction & Background

• Objectives• Scope of Work• Task Identification• Timeframe &

Deliverables• Contract Budget• Other Factors to

Consider

Minimum essential

elements to include in the Statement of

Work


• Remember, you are writing specifications.

• Try not to you use words that allow a broad range of interpretation

• Avoid vague and ambiguous adjectives and adverbs

The Language of Specification


• Rewriting and editing are, literally, half the battle.

• It is important that it is perfect: – no spelling errors, – no grammatical errors, – no logic errors, and – no mock up errors either.

Specifications & Requirements—Write, Edit, … & Rewrite


Some basic things to do during the editing process:

1. Check your table of contents.

2. Edit from beginning to end at least three times after you think it is done.

3. Have someone else proofread for you.


4. Review it.

5. Avoid self-conflicting input.

6. Check for tiering specifications.

7. Identify paragraph cross-references which cite other paragraphs within the same document.

8. Complete your final editing



• Finally, prepare the functional spec or requirement for another review.

• Have everybody sign off on it once a consensus has been made.


• No pattern, structure, or chronological order

• Wide variations in different task descriptions

• Having tasks, specifications, and special instructions scattered throughout the SOW

• Failure to use a table of contents

• Failure to obtain independent 3rd party review

• Using imprecise language

Common Causes of SOW Misinterpretation

Conclusion and Q&A

• Conclusions

• Questions and Answers

• Thank You

• Upcoming Track Sessions

© 2010 CATTAN Services Group, Inc.


Track 5: Services Procurement

• Monday– BI 9:20 – 10:20 am Strategic Sourcing for Entertainment – CI 10:40 – 11:40 am Planning & Writing Specs & Requirements

• Tuesday– EI 10:20 – 11:40 am Can Creative Vision Help Your Bottom

Line?– FH 1:30 – 2:40 pm Optimizing Meetings Spend– GI 3:00 – 4:00 pm Another Way to Negotiate Service

Contracts
