Project scope management begins at the initial stage of project scope creation, extending far beyond initial deadlines. Use project scope templates from the onset to aid you through the tumultuous execution stages.
Project scope templates help define work plans in form-fitting structures. They organize all aspects of the project scope, from goals and dependencies to exclusions and restrictions, so that you can have a smooth project kickoff.
“37% of projects fail due to the lack of defined project objectives and milestones.” — PMI Share on X
The article showcases the best project scope templates for 2024, highlighting their unique features, benefits, and use cases. By exploring these templates, readers can enhance their project management techniques and set their projects up for success.
At SnackNation, we believe that team collaboration and transparency are two key components of the modern workplace experience. Our teams harness the power of the best online collaboration tools to help increase productivity and efficiency.
So, let’s dive in and discover the templates that can streamline your project planning and execution.
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How We Chose the Best Project Scope Templates
We chose templates that are structured to create a strong and complete initial project scope. These templates have extra features that boost effectiveness throughout each project creation stage.
✅ Why trust us? The SnackNation team has been testing and reviewing thousands of templates for over a decade.
✅ Our selection process: We’ve hand-picked the project scope templates included in this article using the following criteria:
- Can be shared with the team; externally or with internal stakeholders
- User-friendly interfaces
- Visually appealing
- Customizable
- Great for collaboration
- Save time
- Add value
Pro-Tip: Use “Command + D” to bookmark this list – we update it often with the latest and most useful project scope templates!
Best Project Scope Templates
12. SoW Template by ClickUp
✅ Best For: Defining project goals, outlining work expectations, and automating stakeholder communication
This ClickUp-based template helps ensure that all stakeholders involved in a project are on the same page and working towards the same goals. It provides a structured approach to defining the project’s scope and objectives, outlining timelines, tasks, and deliverables, and automating communication with stakeholders. The template utilizes ClickUp’s Docs, Tasks, and email features to gather requirements, assign roles, track limitations, and regularly review and revise the Scope of Work document.
❤️ Why we love this project scope template: The template’s organization, with a table of contents and color-coded sections, makes it easy to navigate and understand the scope of the project.
👍 Pros:
- Provides a structured and organized approach to defining the Scope of Work
- Integrates ClickUp’s task management, communication, and collaboration features
- Enables regular review and revision of the Scope of Work document
❗️Cons:
- The template may require some initial setup and customization to fit the specific needs of a project
11. Project Scope Baseline Template by Smartsheet
✅ Best For: Establishing a comprehensive project scope baseline, including a project scope statement, work breakdown structure, and WBS dictionary
This Smartsheet template provides a structured approach to defining and managing the project scope. It includes a project scope statement, a work breakdown structure (WBS), and a WBS dictionary. This template helps you manage scope creep by establishing a clear baseline for the project’s deliverables, constraints, and objectives.
❤️ Why we love this project scope template: The template’s clear instructions and Excel-based format make it easy to use, even for those with limited experience with project management templates. The visual WBS diagram enhances the understanding and communication of the project’s scope.
👉 Try This Smartsheet Template
👍 Pros:
- Excel-based format with clear instructions
- Includes a work breakdown structure and WBS dictionary
- Visually depicts the project’s hierarchical structure
❗️Cons:
- Requires Excel proficiency for certain customizations, such as adding rows and expanding cells
10. Project Scope by Miro
✅ Best For: Collaboratively developing the project scope through a series of workshops with key stakeholders
This Miro template is part of the Project Management GameBoard, a proprietary system designed to train non-project managers and senior managers on project best practices while fostering a culture of psychological safety. The template focuses on obtaining collaborative input from key stakeholders to ensure the project’s success is aligned with corporate objectives. It utilizes various visual methods and instructional examples to guide the creation of the project scope.
❤️ Why we love this project scope template: The template’s comprehensive visual blueprint for scope creation and its unique visual templates for different aspects make it a valuable tool for collaborative scope development. The whiteboard-style format allows users to add their own documents and artifacts to the template, further enhancing the collaborative experience.
👍 Pros:
- Utilizes a variety of visual methods to illustrate scope creation
- Enables collaborative input and brainstorming through the whiteboard format
- Provides a comprehensive visual blueprint for the scope development process
❗️ Cons:
- The template may be less suitable for creating a formal, standardized project scope document and is more focused on the brainstorming and collaborative aspects of scope development
9. High-Level Project Plan by monday.com
✅ Best For: Establishing a project’s deliverables, requirements, and timeline
Create a clear overview of the project’s scope and necessary resources. Manage a project’s goals, resources, budget, and timeline, allowing you to build an action plan effectively and ensure excellent team communication.
❤️ Why we love this project scope template: This template is highly adaptable, making it suitable for project managers of all experience levels. Its visual nature and integration with various tools make it an efficient choice for managing projects from initial design to final approval.
👉 Try This monday.com Template
👍 Pros:
- Easy to export and import data between Excel and the template
- Drag-and-drop functionality for rearranging items and columns
- Integration capabilities with popular productivity tools
❗️Cons:
- This template is so customizable that it could be confusing to someone who just wants a more basic option
8. Project & Goals Hub by Notion
✅ Best For: Defining goals and assigning tasks to team members
This Notion-based template helps teams align their projects and tasks with the company’s overall goals. It provides a system for visualizing how individual team projects contribute to the achievement of broader organizational objectives. The template includes features such as a roadmap database, task assignments, and timeline management, enabling teams to plan with clarity and execute with confidence.
❤️ Why we love this project scope template: The template’s strength lies in its ability to connect each task to the overall project scope, ensuring a clear line of sight between the team’s work and the company’s goals.
👍 Pros:
- Provides a roadmap database to visualize project distribution and timelines
- Includes features for assigning tasks and monitoring progress
- Enables transparency by aligning team projects with company goals
❗️Cons:
- The template focuses more on the execution and task ownership aspects of project management instead of providing a comprehensive project scope document
7. Change Request by Wrike
✅ Best For: Managing and processing project change requests
❤️ Why we love this project scope template: The template’s ability to automate the intake of change requests, prioritize them based on impact, and provide a comprehensive overview of the change management process makes it a valuable tool for project managers.
👍 Pros:
- Streamlines the change request intake and management process
- Allows for the organization and prioritization of change requests
- Provides customizable workflows to oversee the change management process
❗️Cons:
- The template may require some initial setup and customization to fit the specific change management needs of a project
6. Scope Management Plan by ClickUp
✅ Best For: Enterprise management
Organize and document the project’s scope in a central location in a template that provides rich formatting options such as banners, buttons, tables, and custom styling. The template also offers task management and Gantt chart functionalities, enabling you to create an employee directory for assigning tasks, create a detailed project timeline, and monitor budget and expenses.
❤️ Why we love this project scope template: The ability to cross-link documents, apply privacy and access controls, and collaborate in real-time makes this template a powerful tool for project managers.
👍 Pros:
- Highly customizable and feature-rich
- Integrates with ClickUp’s task management and Gantt chart tools
- Enables real-time collaboration and document organization
❗️Cons:
- There is one additional feature, A.I assistant, which requires payment
5. Project Scope Template by Miro
✅ Best For: Defining and documenting the project’s scope
An organizational template for the details of the project scope, managed in columns on adjustable square text boxes, color-coded and prelabeled. These columns are filled in to include criteria like scope description, acceptance criteria, deliverables, exclusions, assumptions, and all the remaining essential elements of the project scope.
❤️ Why we love this project scope template: The template’s layout, which can be challenging to replicate in traditional word processing software, makes it easy to view the entire project scope at a glance.
👍 Pros:
- Visually appealing and easy to navigate
- Facilitates collaboration and scope updates
- Covers all the essential elements of a project scope
❗️Cons:
- It may require extensive customization for certain types of projects. Also, it is not as suitable for projects that require more complex or specialized scope management
4. Project Charter Template by Notion
✅ Best For: Initiating a project and reaching mutual agreements on the project’s tasks and responsibilities
A digital and collaborative platform that makes it easy for project stakeholders to jump in and review, discuss, and approve the project charter. By making the charter accessible online, team members can peer review the exact terms, suggest edits to their roles and responsibilities, and create a standard operating procedure for following through on a project scope.
❤️ Why we love this project scope template: As the project progresses, any suggested changes or edits to the charter can be easily incorporated, ensuring all parties are aligned on the project’s goals, deliverables, and expectations.
👍 Pros:
- Provides a digital and collaborative platform for project charter development
- Allows team members to review, edit, and approve the charter
- Integrates a calendar view to improve timeline visibility
❗️Cons:
- Lacks a dedicated section for project constraints and out-of-scope items, which are typically included in a comprehensive project charter
3. Scope Management by Notion
✅ Best For: OKR Management for project scope strategy
Have a centralized place to manage project charters, requirements, plans, and change requests. This employee template includes Gantt charts, work breakdown structures, and additional views to monitor charters, requirements, activities, and change requests across your project portfolio.
❤️ Why we love this project scope template: By consolidating all scope-related information in one place, it eliminates the need to search through multiple sources, improving efficiency and transparency.
👍 Pros:
- Offers a complete view of all projects, scope, and project requirements
- Includes Gantt charts and work breakdown structures for visualization
- Provides additional views for monitoring charters, requirements, and change requests
❗️Cons:
- The template may have a steeper learning curve for users unfamiliar with Notion’s functionalities
2. Scope of Work Template by Miro
✅ Best For: Defining a contractual agreement that outlines the expectations, deliverables, and other key details of a project
This Miro template is a well-structured Scope of Work document. It covers all the necessary elements, such as company details, project deliverables, exclusions, milestones, stakeholders, and costs The real-time collaboration and version control features make it easy to manage multiple projects with many parties involved.
❤️ Why we love this project scope template: The template’s layout positions each item in a way that ensures all the necessary information is provided because if a field is left blank, it becomes immediately apparent.
👍 Pros:
- Includes all the necessary fields for a comprehensive Scope of Work
- Enables real-time collaboration and version control
- Provides a clear and organized structure for the SOW document
❗️Cons:
- Customizing the existing fields by adding rows and columns can be a bit cumbersome and requires careful positioning to maintain the overall organization
1. Project Scope Whiteboard by ClickUp
✅ Best For: Visually organizing and collaborating on project scope information
The Project Scope Whiteboard template provides a visual and collaborative workspace for managing project scope details. It allows you to organize project activities, resources, timelines, and deliverables on a whiteboard-formatted template.
❤️ Why we love this project scope template: The ability to segment projects into phases and set milestones further enhances the template’s usefulness for project planning and execution.
👍 Pros:
- Visually engaging and collaborative whiteboard format
- Integrates with ClickUp’s task management and timeline features
- Allows for phased project planning and milestone tracking
❗️Cons:
- The template may require some initial setup and customization to fit the specific needs of a project
Benefits of Project Scope Templates
🏅 Efficiency
These templates have all the necessary fields for a pre-built comprehensive project scope, saving time and effort. The digital format and increased organizational features further streamline the scope development process.
🏅 Shareable
Project scope templates are designed to be easily shared and managed across teams, enabling better communication and collaboration among stakeholders.
🏅 Transparency
The customizable nature of these templates allows users to add any necessary fields, share the document with relevant parties, and facilitate real-time editing and review.
Tips on How to Use Project Scope Templates
To maximize the effectiveness of project scope templates, consider the following tips:
👍 Utilize Additional Tools
Many templates integrate with other project management tools or offer features like Gantt charts, task assignments, and progress tracking. Explore these additional functionalities to enhance project planning, execution, and monitoring.
👍 Collaborate and Communicate
Encourage team members to contribute, provide feedback, and make updates in real-time using the collaborative features offered by the templates. Clear communication gets everyone aligned on the project scope and expectations.
👍 Regularly Review and Revise
Schedule regular reviews of the project scope with key stakeholders to keep it accurate and up-to-date. As the project evolves, be prepared to make revisions to the scope document to reflect any changes or adjustments.
Common Mistakes to Avoid with Project Scope Templates
While project scope templates can be powerful tools, there are some common mistakes to be aware of and avoid:
❌ Not Involving the Right Stakeholders
The project scope should be developed in collaboration with key stakeholders to capture their requirements, needs, and expectations accurately.
❌ Using Vague Language and Terms
The project scope statement should be clear, specific, and measurable. Avoid using ambiguous or overly general terms that can lead to misunderstandings.
❌ Omitting Guidelines for Handling Project Changes
Ensure that the template includes a clear process for managing and communicating changes to the project scope. This can help maintain control and alignment throughout the project’s lifecycle.
By addressing these common mistakes and following the tips outlined, you can effectively leverage project scope templates to enhance your project management practices and achieve successful project outcomes.
People Also Ask These Questions About Project Scope Templates
Q: What is a project scope template?
- A: A project scope template is a digital project scope document. Many templates have features that add extra organization and functionality, improving communication and planning throughout the execution stages. All of the added functions benefit the key elements of a project scope.
Q: What elements are typically included in a project scope template?
- A: The key elements of a project scope template begin at the foundations of project scopes: project objectives, deliverables, scope boundaries, constraints, project budget, and project schedule. These elements are always necessary for a project’s scope.
Q: Can a project scope template be customized?
- A: Yes, project scope templates can be customized based on your preferences. Some modifications include changing the language of subject headers, the number of rows set for employees, and the space given for each section.
