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- A project brief is an easy to digest document
that outlines the critical components of a project
for your team and stakeholders.
While a project plan details how a project will get done,
a project brief defines the who, what, when, where, and why.
As the project manager,
you'll want to create a project brief
right at the start of an engagement
before your team gathers for an internal kickoff meeting.
The length and format and even the elements you include
will depend on the size and complexity of your project
and client.
While you might be tempted to include
all the good details you uncover from your sales team
and your project brief, this isn't the place for it.
The key is to make it approachable enough
for your team and stakeholders to understand
without leaving any critical information out,
challenge yourself to keep it to one page
so people will actually want to reference it.
After all, any info beyond that
is up to you to track not everyone else.
Like a project brief,
a creative brief is a document that outlines
high level details of a creative project.
It focuses on the strategy and design aspects
of the project, and may include information
about target audiences, competitive differentiation,
strategic direction, messaging, and more.
If you're managing a project that involves creative work,
you'll likely create both documents.
The project brief will paint the broad strokes
of your entire project, while the creative
or strategic brief provides more specific direction
for the creative portion of your project.
You might also be wondering about the difference
between a project brief and a project charter.
Think of your project brief
as a high level summary of the project charter.
A project charter is longer, more formal,
and goes into all the extra information
you left out of the brief.
Its goal is to outline all the project details
and secure client approval.
While it's not the official project contract,
it often serves as a scope contract
between a project manager and their client
and as a go-to reference when scope creep happens.
The project brief should align with your project charter
but live as an abbreviated less formal version.
Your project might have both documents or just one.
It really depends on what makes sense for your team,
process, and project.
The project brief can serve many purposes.
Here are three reasons a project brief is important
in project management.
Outlining the who, what, when, where,
and why of a project gets your team up to speed
on the work they'll soon be involved in.
It also clarifies each person's role in the project
and how they can best contribute.
If you're not doing a project charter,
you can use the project brief as a sort of agreement.
Review the brief together and confirm your scope, goals,
and more, all while addressing any gray areas and red flags.
Getting everyone on the same page helps reduce project risk
and avoids wasting time in areas outside the project focus.
Sharing the project brief in a pre-kickoff meeting
allows you to introduce everyone
who will be involved in the work
and establish a unified vision for the project.
This goes a long way towards creating
a we're all in this together environment.
So who should create the project brief?
Well, that depends on how your team is structured.
Ultimately, the project manager should own responsibility
for the brief.
That being said, your sales team
or account manager might start filling out the template
with the information they have
as part of your sales production handoff process.
At the end of the day though, it's up to you
as the project manager to make sure the brief
is fully complete and that your team and stakeholders
understand all aspects of it.
As I noted before, what you include in the project brief
will depend on your team, client, and project complexity.
Here are some common elements that typically make up
a project brief.
The hardest part about writing a project brief
is striking the right balance between information overload
and giving team members something they'll actually read
and reference.
Do your best to keep it short, simple, and accessible,
while ensuring the information you include is truly useful.
These steps can help you focus
on the details that matter most
when creating a project brief.
Start with a short elevator pitch that outlines
what the project is all about.
Use this section to explain why the project is happening now
and how it'll provide value to the organization.
Here's an example of what the project's summary
might look like for a website redesign brief.
It's a whole lot easier to deliver a project win
when everyone's working towards the same goal.
Show your team what success looks like
by listing the top three to five goals
the project must accomplish.
If you can, tie these project goals to business objectives,
that way your team understands how their work
will impact the company as a whole.
You don't have to unpack your client's whole backstory here.
Instead, explain who the project is for
in two to three sentences.
Feel free to include any quick facts the team should know
about your client's organization or market
as bullet points like we've done
in this sample on screen.
Your project brief is a great place
to give everyone a quick rundown
of who's who on the project.
Try breaking these introductions down into two groups.
The project team where you'll list each core team member's
name and role and include an image to help clients
put faces with names more easily.
Also, noting percent allocation
will give the client a clear picture
of how much time each team member has dedicated
to this project.
And key stakeholders where you'll list the name, title,
and project role for each key stakeholder on your project.
Be sure to identify the decision maker
and main point of contact for your client
if those roles have been decided.
Stakeholder photos may be tough to come by,
so don't sweat it if you can't include them
in your project brief.
You can see what these sections might look like
in the project brief example on screen.
You may not be ready to commit
to a full blown project plan at this stage,
but it's important to sketch out a timeline
for major deliverables.
Aim for five to 10 items to keep your timeline high level.
Many people process images better than text
so try creating a quick visual timeline
and a project management tool like TeamGantt.
Simply add key deliverables
as milestones on your Gantt chart.
Then throw a screenshot of that timeline
into your project brief.
Before you wrap up this section,
be sure to mention any major out of scope items
and/or project breaks.
In our sample project brief, we called out of scope items
out in a different color so they don't get overlooked.
Finally, add any keynotes that you can provide
clarification or insight about the project.
You might outline risks with mitigation strategies,
possible phase two items
or recent shifts in the marketplace.
This section of the project brief will likely be a group
of random items, and that's fine.
You just don't wanna lose anything
that could spark an important conversation or idea
for the project.
On screen are a couple of additional notes we included
in our sample project brief.
This sample project brief shows you what your final product
might look like when all the elements come together.
Now that you've got the basics down,
let's review a few ways you can add even more value
to your project brief.
Your time is best spent thoughtfully adding content
to your project brief, not messing with a tool
and fixing formatting.
Creating a project brief template is an easy way
to make your process repeatable.
This saves you and your fellow project manager's time
while establishing brand consistency
across your organization.
We created a free project brief template
to help you get started more quickly.
You can choose between landscape or portrait format,
then make a copy of your own in Google Docs
or download it as a Word document.
Simply drop in your logo
and customize the details to fit your project.
Links to the templates are in the description of this video.
Let's be honest, as project managers,
we're often overloaded with projects and to-dos,
especially at the start of a new project.
You might be inclined to just fill in the blanks
and call it a day, but that's defeating the point.
The thing that really brings value to a project brief
is the experience and thought you put into it.
Consider who the client is, what the project's about,
and what information will help your team
get to work with confidence.
Remember, this document sets a foundation for the project.
It's worth spending the time to get this right.
As a project manager, you have access to lots of resources
whether it's the sales team, new client, RFP,
project proposal, CRM, et cetera.
Take time to talk to the right people
and dig through all the documentation.
Most existing documents will likely be set aside
as you and your team start creating new ones,
so make sure key info from the past comes forward
and gets shared.
Your project brief will likely evolve over time
as you incorporate this document into your process.
You may start to see that some information isn't helpful
while other important details are missing.
Revisit the brief's value every couple of projects
to make sure you're making the most out of the choose.
And that's it for this video
on writing a simple project brief.
I hope you found it helpful.
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