Go-to project brief template
As you start a project or initiative, documenting the goal, scope, and team comprising the project is essential for creating a shared agreement around what you're all doing and why. This provides clarity to everyone on the team.
You’ll find a duplicate-able project brief template in our Toolkit. Here, we’ll walk you through how to complete the template and what’s important to include. If you’re interested in tips on how to have these conversations, dig into our Project Management Handbook.
Background
Start by outlining the problem you are trying to solve with this project. What’s the history of the issue? Who does this impact? And how does solving this problem align with current business priorities?
Goal
Outline the goal of the project. What are you trying to create, and how will it solve the problem or issue you outlined? What priorities for the organization as a whole does this support? Consider including items that are not goals of the project in order to create a narrow, specific goal.
Scope/Requirements
Define the required elements to build a successful project. List out the work that will need to be completed and by whom, specifying what teams will need to be included.
Think through how you will measure project completion and the impact of the project’s completion and outline those criteria here as well.
Project Roles
Specify who will fulfill what role in the project. Add roles as needed to outline your project team in full.
Project owner: The project owner is ultimately responsible for delivering the project. They make day-to-day project decisions and work with functional leads to execute the project.
Stakeholders: These are the leaders who identified the need for the project, authorized its resources and set its requirements. If there is a needed change in scope, timeline, or resources, stakeholders will weigh in.
Project manager: The project manager owns developing and driving the project infrastructure, which is to say they will facilitate defining the project requirements, resources, and timeline, ensure the team is working together towards implementing poject work, facilitate communication and decision making when red flags or major issues arise, and step in to handle administrative issues that otherwise don't "belong" anywhere else.
Functional leads: When multiple groups (whether departments, teams, locations, etc.) are represented in a project or initiative, identify a "lead" from each group to act as their representative. This person will monitor all the work happening within their group in addition to whatever work they're driving themselves, and be able to participate in regular status updates and project discussions.
Consider if there are external parties (such as partners, vendors, or customers) with expectations from this project and how they should be included.
It may be useful to outline a RACI matrix in this section to ensure you're fully clear on communication expectations.
Timeline
First, define milestones. Are there any deadlines for the project as a whole or the component parts? How flexible are these deadlines? Then, define your project phases and estimate timelines; outline and keep updated throughout the project. Here's an example timeline to kickstart your thinking:
Define project logistics - September 1
Kickoff meeting - September 15
Finalize project brief - September 20
Implement project -
Milestone 1 - November 1
Milestone 2 - December 15
Pre-launch testing - January 1-15
Launch - February 1
Retro - February 15
Project Communication
Outline how your project team will communicate and how often. Will you hold a recurring meeting? Will you expect folks to share updates in Slack on a recurring basis? Who's accountable for completing those updates?
Links
Share links to any essential project tools/resources, such as a Trello board, Gantt chart, or Slack channel for this project.
