A leadership consulting statement of work should make the selected engagement understandable to the people who will deliver and support it. An RFP asks providers to respond. A statement of work records the work the parties actually agree to undertake. Neither document should be treated as a substitute for an appropriately reviewed contract.
The critical distinction is between producing an output and changing an operating result. A consultant might deliver an agreed decision map. The organization still has to authorize its use, communicate it and observe whether it helps. A useful scope document names both responsibilities rather than implying that a delivered document guarantees improved performance.
Write deliverables that can be examined
Replace "improve accountability" with a concrete output and a review process. In a hypothetical engagement, an output could be a map of one cross-functional approval process, reviewed with the participating managers, showing decision owners, boundaries and unresolved questions. The sponsor can examine whether the agreed work was delivered without pretending the map establishes the root cause of every delay.
For each deliverable, record its purpose, format, intended users, delivery point and acceptance criteria. Name who reviews it and how questions will be handled. Acceptance should reflect the agreed scope, not an unrelated expectation introduced at the end. If a pilot is included, distinguish completion of the pilot from evidence that an approach should be expanded.
Name the client-side prerequisites
A work-based engagement may require access to meetings, appropriate operating information and protected manager practice time. List the actual prerequisites and their owners. Include when the provider needs each item and what decision follows if it is unavailable. "The client will cooperate" does not tell a supervisor whether coverage has been arranged for a working session.
Limit information access to what the work requires. Decide how confidential material will be handled through approved arrangements; do not paste personnel details into an ordinary scope worksheet. Use the consulting cost guide to account for internal time as well as provider fees.
Use a delivery-and-acceptance row
Copy this structure for each output: Deliverable: [specific output]. Provider action: [work included]. Internal prerequisite: [input, owner and due point]. Acceptance evidence: [what the reviewer examines]. Reviewer: [authorized role]. Questions or exclusions: [what remains outside scope].
For the illustrative decision map, acceptance evidence could be a completed map and a recorded review of disputed boundaries. A reduction in approval time is a separate evaluation question requiring a starting condition, comparable observations and attention to other changes.
Agree how the scope can change
Discovery can reveal an issue that the original brief did not anticipate. Define how either party raises a proposed change, who can approve it and what happens to cost, timing and responsibilities. A recommendation to investigate another process is not permission to start billable work. Equally, an internal change in participation may require a deliberate decision about what can still be delivered.
Use the RFP template when you are still selecting a provider. Once selected, review the actual scope and commercial terms through your normal procurement and qualified advisers. If the operating problem itself remains unclear, discuss the situation with Shannon before treating a longer deliverables list as the answer.
About this resource: Prepared with AI-assisted drafting. Examples and templates are illustrative, not reported client outcomes, a validated assessment or a substitute for required policies and qualified supervision.