Project Brief

What is a project brief?

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Definition: A project brief is a document that outlines the scope, objectives, timeline, and deliverables for a given project. It should communicate key project details with all stakeholders involved and help them meet expectations, goals, and requirements for successful completion. 

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, it is essential to create a project brief at the onset of an engagement, before your team assembles for an internal kick-off meeting. 

The elements, length, and format of the project brief depend on the size and complexity of your client's project. See how the project brief is different from a design brief by reading more about design brief here.

Key components of a project brief

1. Project name and overview – Title & brief project summary (it should help answer the ‘why’ for the project)
2. Goals, objectives, and deliverables – Set up SMART goals, OKRs (objectives and key results), and trackable deliverables
3. Scope of work – Write down crucial project activities
4. Timeline for completion – Include project milestones and final deadline
5. Required resources & budget – Be specific with resources needed and budget allocated
6. Roles and responsibilities for each team member – Specify who is involved in the project and what their responsibilities will be

Example of a project brief

Project name and overview: 

Content production for a new service line a company X has developed.

Company X introduced a new service line 30 days ago. The goal of this project is to promote this line with SEO and content production. 

Goals:

1. Increase the number of monthly organic visitors by 25% in the next 6 months. 
2. Increase the number of active users for the new service line by 300% in the next 6 months.

Objectives and deliverables:

1. Publish 10 blog posts per month. 
2. Publish 50 glossary pages per month. 
3. Promote content on social media.

Scope of work:

1. Keyword research;
2. Keyword prioritization;
3. User research and interviews;
4. Topic ideation;
5. Analytics setup;
6. Hiring writers or agency;
7. Content QA;
8. Content publishing;
9. Tracking & reporting.

Timeline:

• Planning: Week 1 & 2
• Research: Week 2 & 3
• Content production: Week 4 onward

Required resources & budget:

The total available budget for the project: $300,000

Roles & Responsibilities:

Content manager: Aya S.

• Perform target audience analysis
• Ideate topics
• Create content briefs

Writers:

• Jeremy
• Lena
• Stela

SEO team: 

• Perform keyword research
• Write URLs, meta titles, and meta descriptions. 
• Optimize content for search engines and publish it.

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