Re: Newbie contractor question re: Scope of Agreement or Letter of Intent?

[Andrew Plato <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> I have been offered a short contract extension and want a written document
> from him that specifically outlines his expectations of me in terms of
> services, duties and role. Is this called a Scope of Agreement? Or is it
> part of the Scope of Agreement? Is it a Letter of Intent? Or is there any
> particular name for this document I want? I've sent him a letter accepting
> the contract extension provided that several conditions are met. One of
> the conditions is provision of a specific written statement of my duties.

 I call it a Scope and Assessment Report. It has the following components:

1. Executive Overview
2. Project Deliverables (what you will do)
3. Project Requirements (what you need to do the job)
4. Timeline
5. Cost & Payment
6. Summary

Although, from the sounds of it, you're in a CYA job and in CYA mode. That's
not a very productive way to work. If you think in CYA mode all the time, you
end up doing CYA-quality work. 

You might want to consider moving along to greener pastures. The mere
suggestion that you want a scope letter of this nature may just cause more
problems then it solves. Besides, it probably won't be contractual and you
couldn't realistically fight it even if it was.

Moreover, changing, dynamic environments are a fact of life in many corporate
environments. And many managers don't have the time or resources to be 100%
consistent with their expectations. You might want to consider looking for work
at organizations that are a little more stable - like a big company or
government. 

Andrew Plato 

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